Hi everyone,

welcome to the April 2024 edition of #fridaygeotrivia, our a social media geotrivia contest. We play on the final Friday of every month.

The game was played on Friday, 26th of April, at 17:00 Berlin time, 4pm London time, 12 noon New York time.

See how to play below.

The April 2024 geotrivia question:

Today we consider the curious case of country calling codes - the telephone number prefixes used to route calls to different countries. For example +49 for Germany, +61 for Australia, etc.

What is the longest chain of countries such that each successive country in the chain shares a land border with and has a calling code greater than the previous country?

Example chain: FR ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท (+33) - ES ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ (+34) - PT ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น (+351)

You may use maps of calling codes (click to see on wikipedia):

"World map of country calling codes from wikipedia"

As always:

  • Only one answer per toot

  • You must include the hashtag #fridaygeotrivia and the emoji flag of the countries

Prizes

#fridaygeotrivia is a game with two prizes:

  1. the sheer joy of geographic knowledge and pedantry.

  2. the bragging rights of getting the answer first.

The #fridaygeotrivia Mastodon thread:

The winner

Was Thomas Preece. Well done!

This monthโ€™s geotrivia answer:

The longest chain discovered was 27:

NL ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฑ (31) - BE ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ช (32) - FR ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท (33) - ES ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ (34) - MA ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฆ (212) - DZ ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฟ (213) - MR ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ท (222) - ML ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฑ (223) - GN ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ณ (224) - CI ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฎ (225) - BF ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ซ (226) - TG ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฌ (228) - BJ ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฏ (229) - NG ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฌ (234) - TD ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฉ (235) - CF ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ซ (236) - CM ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฒ (237) - GQ ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ถ (240) - GA ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ฆ (241) - CG ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฌ (242) - CD ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฉ (243) - RW ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ผ (250) - TZ ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฟ (255) - MZ ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฟ (258) - ZM ๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ฒ (260) - ZW ๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ผ (263) - BW ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ผ (267)NL ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฑ (31) - BE ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ช (32) - FR ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท (33) - ES ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ (34) - MA ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฆ (212) - DZ ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฟ (213) - MR ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ท (222) - ML ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฑ (223) - GN ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ณ (224) - CI ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฎ (225) - BF ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ซ (226) - TG ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฌ (228) - BJ ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฏ (229) - NG ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฌ (234) - TD ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฉ (235) - CF ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ซ (236) - CM ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฒ (237) - GQ ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ถ (240) - GA ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ฆ (241) - CG ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฌ (242) - CD ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฉ (243) - RW ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ผ (250) - TZ ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฟ (255) - MZ ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฟ (258) - ZM ๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ฒ (260) - ZW ๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ผ (263) - BW ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ผ (267)

How to play

Anyone can join in, you just need a Mastodon account.

  • Follow us on Mastodon, our account is @opencage@en.osm.town

  • When the game starts we will post the question here on the blog and on Mastodon, and will embed the Mastodon question here. We highly recommend using a mastodon client you feel comfortable with. Weโ€™ve made the switch to the Elk client and are loving it, but use whatever works for you.

  • Reply to the question thread on Mastodon (it will be embedded above) using the hashtag #fridaygeotrivia in your answer.

  • Only one answer per response (donโ€™t stuff multiple answers into a single reply).

  • Our definition of โ€œcountryโ€ is usually (it depends on the question) any place with an ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code. Read more background about ISO and country codes in our guide.

  • To get full points for an answer it is good form not just to name the relevant country but (if possible) to include the emoji flags of the country.

  • While you can use a map, please do NOT use the internet to just search for an answer. That is cheating and will lead to seriously bad geokarma.

Some people have complained that the format is a bit chaotic and hard to follow. Yes. The mad chaos is part of the fun. Embrace it. The goal is just to have fun and learn. We win by playing

Thanks for playing,

Ed