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Few month ago, I was on vacation visiting an old friend in his own country. We were sitting on his balcony enjoying the sea view from up the hill and listening to his old favorite music when he asked me:

"Do you like the view from here?"

"You have a beautiful sunset", I replied. "Can we spot the island of your neighbours from here?"

"Noo !! I don't think that's possible! There are more than 150km to the nearest land"

"I see.. and what is that music genre you're listening to?"

"Those are musics that never die in this country. They are traditional folk music. You should probably learn more about our culture since you have the occasion of visiting me now."

"Yeah.. You're right! There are a lot that I don't know yet. From where should I begin?"

"Well.. self education is sometimes better than formal education and since I heard you are great at solving puzzles, I want you to learn by yourself"

He then writes down on a piece of paper the following numbers:

131110
142611
???811

What are the three missing numbers and why ???

Note:

  • You may deduce the pattern easily, but it will only make sense when you find the country they're talking about. So try to find that first.
  • You should surely explain how you obtained the solution. The title and the story are a hint.

Hint 1:

The island is a country !

Hint 2

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    $\begingroup$ The number of countries referred to by their inhabitants as a 'fatherland' rather than a 'motherland' is relatively small. Given the title, should we be looking at one of those countries? $\endgroup$
    – LowIntHighCha
    Jun 23, 2015 at 11:55
  • $\begingroup$ Not necessarily. You probably don't know a lot about that country, The aim of this puzzle is to discover a new culture. $\endgroup$
    – CAS
    Jun 23, 2015 at 17:39
  • $\begingroup$ It sounds like we're looking for a country that is 150 km across the water from the nearest land mass, has traditional folk music, and has water to the west. That doesn't really narrow it down a lot... $\endgroup$
    – GentlePurpleRain
    Jun 23, 2015 at 21:23
  • $\begingroup$ Actually, I thought the info of the island was obvious and where people will start searching. I'll add that as a hint. I'm also surprised no one spotted the pattern of the numbers yet. It will all connect together at the end. $\endgroup$
    – CAS
    Jun 24, 2015 at 5:21
  • $\begingroup$ Does the hint mean that the one island makes up the entire territory of the country? $\endgroup$
    – f''
    Jun 24, 2015 at 9:29

2 Answers 2

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I believe I have found the country in question, but I can't figure out the numbers just yet.

The country is:

Norway

because:

1.

The Norwegians refer to Norway as fedreland (refering to the title "Cultural Patrimony")

2.

Nordic countries are known for their stunning sunsets. Because they are so far north, the sun can take an entire night to set and is considered to be one of the most beautiful sunsets in the world.

3.

The western coast of Norway is full of very small islands that are usually connected with bridges or tunnels. Generally, the closer they are to the continent, the closer they are together as well, but some can actually be 150km from each other as written by the OP.

4.

Folk music is the name given to a very old although still popular music genre (music that never dies) that is characteristic to Nordic countries. It mainly uses traditional instruments such as the accordion and the bagpipes. Norway considers non-formal education (work experience) as something to be valued. As seen in a referencedocument of the Norwegian Qualifications Framework. Take a look at the first few paragraphs of page 16.

Will update soon..

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  • $\begingroup$ Nice effort ! +1. But unfortunately it's not Norway. It's nice to know about their beautiful sunset but I only mentioned that along with THE island to state that there are water to the west of that country. $\endgroup$
    – CAS
    Jun 23, 2015 at 17:32
  • $\begingroup$ Try to think smaller. You probably don't know a lot about that country !! $\endgroup$
    – CAS
    Jun 23, 2015 at 17:33
  • $\begingroup$ I'm going to say it can be either South Korea or India. In South Korea it is general belief that non-formal education is as important as formal-education in terms of personal advancement. The island-country is Japan. In India there is an active non-formal education programme and the island-country is Sri Lanka. Both countries have water to their west and both have their Folk Music considered Cultural Patrimony by UNESCO. $\endgroup$
    – Ricardo Giro
    Jun 24, 2015 at 14:47
  • $\begingroup$ It's the opposite way around (check my last comment in the question). $\endgroup$
    – CAS
    Jun 24, 2015 at 15:01
  • $\begingroup$ Wait... In the comment you say they are in a country that can or not be an island, but that the land mass that is 150km away is definitly an island. Right? I'm saying that they ARE in South Korea or India and that the island they talk about is either Japan or Sri Lanka. $\endgroup$
    – Ricardo Giro
    Jun 24, 2015 at 15:05
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I can't figure out the numbers but the country seems to match:

Mauritius

it is about:

185 km to the east of Reunion

it has a popular traditional music called:

Sega https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Music_of_Mauritius

and

it meets the requirement of small and unknown from the comments

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  • $\begingroup$ It's good .. not wrong so far. I searched the possible countries that meet my requirement and it's one of them (I won't say so far if it's true or wrong). When you or someone found out the pattern of the numbers, it will directly make sense. $\endgroup$
    – CAS
    Jun 24, 2015 at 15:59

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