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In this list of the world's sovereign states, exactly sixteen of the UN member states and observer states have a certain property P, and so does the disputed territory of Abkhazia.

  • Exactly 2 of these countries are in South America.
  • Exactly 5 are in Africa.
  • Exactly 4 (not counting Abkhazia) used to be in the USSR.

This should be enough to ensure the puzzle has a unique solution; I can add more clues if necessary.

What is the property P? Which are the sixteen countries?

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  • $\begingroup$ 4 downvotes? Really? I wish I knew what was wrong with this puzzle, so that I can improve next time. $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    Commented Mar 11, 2015 at 16:52
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    $\begingroup$ I wouldn't be surprised if the people down-voting the question felt like this was too broad. It also kinda feels like a "guess what I'm thinking" question. $\endgroup$
    – Rob Watts
    Commented Mar 11, 2015 at 17:02
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    $\begingroup$ Too broad ... and yet nobody has come up with a possibility that fits all the information and isn't the intended answer. "Guess what I'm thinking" questions are often more or less undoable without loads of hints, but TNLenny got the correct answer within half an hour! $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    Commented Mar 11, 2015 at 17:03

1 Answer 1

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Contain the letter Z (in the English spelling)

Azerbaijan · Belize · Bosnia and Herzegovina · Brazil · Czech Republic · Kazakhstan · Kyrgyzstan · Mozambique · New Zealand· Swaziland · Switzerland · Tanzania · Uzbekistan · Venezuela · Zambia · Zimbabwe

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  • $\begingroup$ Yes, but the OP said that Abkhazia doesn't count, which does have the letter Z $\endgroup$
    – Anthony Pham
    Commented Mar 11, 2015 at 14:41
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    $\begingroup$ I read it as "Exactly 16 States AND Abkhazia" have the Property - then this would match! Or the Question has to be reformulated if it means "16 States of the Group (UN+Abkhazia)" have Property P $\endgroup$
    – Falco
    Commented Mar 11, 2015 at 15:18
  • $\begingroup$ @PythonMaster and Falco - I've edited the question to make this issue clear. $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    Commented Mar 11, 2015 at 16:47
  • $\begingroup$ Well done TNLenny! How did you get this so fast? $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    Commented Mar 11, 2015 at 16:47
  • $\begingroup$ I looked for commonalities. Started down a rabbit hole of 8 letter countries, but former SSRS didn't match that (there are exactly two 8 letter countries in SA). $\endgroup$
    – TNLenny
    Commented Mar 12, 2015 at 15:09

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