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If a country conforms to a special rule, I call it a Surprising Country. If it does not conform to this rule, I call it an Unsurprising Country. Here is a list (not exhaustive) of some Surprising Countries and Unsurprising Countries:

Surprising Countries Unsurprising Countries
BRAZIL ARGENTINA
INDIA BANGLADESH
USA MEXICO
CHINA MONGOLIA
SWITZERLAND SWEDEN
TURKEY GREECE
KAZAKHSTAN UZBEKISTAN
VIETNAM CAMBODIA
MOROCCO ALGERIA

CSV version:

Suprising Countries,Unsurpising Countries
BRAZIL,ARGENTINA       
INDIA,BANGLADESH   
USA,MEXICO      
CHINA,MONGOLIA         
SWITZERLAND,SWEDEN        
TURKEY,GREECE      
KAZAKHSTAN,UZBEKISTAN    
VIETNAM,CAMBODIA
MOROCCO,ALGERIA

Find the rule which determines whether or not a country is surprising.

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  • $\begingroup$ Does this follow the What is a Word™/What is a Phrase™ series' typical rules? $\endgroup$
    – iBug
    Commented Mar 11, 2021 at 17:09
  • $\begingroup$ @iBug What do you consider to be the typical rules? $\endgroup$
    – hexomino
    Commented Mar 11, 2021 at 17:10
  • $\begingroup$ For example, the obligatory "that each country can be tested for whether it is a Surprising Country without relying on the other countries". $\endgroup$
    – iBug
    Commented Mar 11, 2021 at 17:16

1 Answer 1

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A Surprising Country is:

A country whose capital city is (surprisingly) not its most populous city.

Brazil = Brasilia (not Sao Paulo),
India = New Delhi (not Mumbai),
USA = Washington DC (not New York City),
China = Beijing (not Shanghai),
Switzerland = Bern (not Zurich),
Turkey = Ankara (not Istanbul),
Kazakhstan = Nur-Sultan (not Almaty),
Vietnam = Hanoi (not Ho Chi Minh City),
Morocco = Rabat (not Casablanca).

For the Unsurprising Countries, their capital cities are also their most populous, which is the most common way of things for countries around the world (and hence unsurprising):

Argentina = Buenos Aires,
Bangladesh = Dhaka,
Mexico = Mexico City,
Mongolia = Ulaan Baatar,
Sweden = Stockholm,
Greece = Athens,
Uzbekistan = Tashkent,
Cambodia = Phnom Penh,
Algeria = Algiers.

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  • $\begingroup$ Damn, that was quick... $\endgroup$
    – TakingNotes
    Commented Mar 11, 2021 at 17:13
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Hey, this was one of the criteria I used for my Connect Wall of Flags! $\endgroup$
    – Prince North Læraðr
    Commented Mar 11, 2021 at 17:24
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    $\begingroup$ @PrinceNorthLæraðr My apologies, I missed the answer to your Connect Wall at the time $\endgroup$
    – hexomino
    Commented Mar 11, 2021 at 21:24
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    $\begingroup$ @hexomino Oh, no need to apologize - I didn't mean to sound as though I was accusing you of copying anything. I just thought it was cool that we had a similar idea :) $\endgroup$
    – Prince North Læraðr
    Commented Mar 11, 2021 at 21:35

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