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I recently met a time traveller from a distant hypothetical future, and we had an interesting discussion about the geographies of our respective worlds. It turns out that the world map is pretty similar in the year 19999 (they may be using a different numbering system) to what it is now. There are a few changes, though. Here are the descriptions of some sovereign states from that future.

  1. I am a landlocked country with significant Turkish and Arabic speaking minorities. I have a violent history and have been ruled by more countries than I can count.
  2. I am surrounded by water on three sides. In my south I have a popular vacation island. For decades I was split through the middle.
  3. My mountainous terrain was for years heavily restricted for visitors. Since our independence we have been opening our doors more to outsiders Mountaineering and spiritual tourism are important sources of income.
  4. A popular Mediterranean tourist destination, my secession spiked an economic crisis in the kingdom I used to be a part of. Relations are better now, even though we had a long dispute over the possession of an important island chain.

Can you guess the names of the countries?

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    $\begingroup$ Tell me, please: Are there flying cars??? :P $\endgroup$
    – Mr Pie
    Commented Aug 24, 2018 at 13:24
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    $\begingroup$ You mean those things people use when the teleporter's broken? $\endgroup$
    – Jafe
    Commented Aug 24, 2018 at 13:26
  • $\begingroup$ Hahahah xD $\color{darkorange}{\bigstar}$ $\endgroup$
    – Mr Pie
    Commented Aug 24, 2018 at 13:28
  • $\begingroup$ "Twenty thousand zero zero party over oops outta time" doesn't quite have the same ring to it, but I guess if we've already skipped a zero anyway.... $\endgroup$
    – Ian MacDonald
    Commented Aug 24, 2018 at 13:58
  • $\begingroup$ Kurdistan was never a country lol... $\endgroup$
    – Oray
    Commented Aug 27, 2018 at 6:54

5 Answers 5

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Could 1 be

KURDISTAN?

I am a landlocked country with significant Turkish and Arabic speaking minorities.

A landlocked region where Kurdish would be the majority language, but there are plenty of Turks and Arabs in the area too.

I have a violent history and have been ruled by more countries than I can count.

The Ottomans, the Soviets, the Turks, the Saudis, the Iraqis, etc., etc.

Could 2 be (Thanks to @Jaap Scherphuis for this wonderful answer!)

UNIFIED KOREA?

I am surrounded by water on three sides.

It's a peninsula in the East China Sea.

In my south I have a popular vacation island.

Jeju Island, a popular tourist destination off the coast of current South Korea.

For decades I was split through the middle.

Split between the North and South Koreans in the 20th century.

Could 3 be

TIBET?

My mountainous terrain was for years heavily restricted for visitors.

Restricted by the Chinese who currently claim it.

Since our independence we have been opening our doors more to outsiders.

Potential future independence from China.

Mountaineering and spiritual tourism are important sources of income.

Because of the Himalayas and the Dalai Lama and Tibetan monks.

Could 4 be (I just noticed @Eutherpy had the same answer!! Full credit to @Eutherpy!)

CATALONIA?

A popular Mediterranean tourist destination, my secession spiked an economic crisis in the kingdom I used to be a part of.

A popular part of the Kingdom of Spain, although it might not take much to push them into an economic crisis nowadays.

Relations are better now, even though we had a long dispute over the possession of an important island chain.

Relates to a dispute over the Balearic Islands.

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  • $\begingroup$ You have exactly $6,000$ reputation! Congratulations! :P $\endgroup$
    – Mr Pie
    Commented Aug 24, 2018 at 14:50
  • $\begingroup$ Thank you @user477343! I'm very excited! :D This has been a really fun community haha! $\endgroup$
    – El-Guest
    Commented Aug 24, 2018 at 14:51
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    $\begingroup$ Yeah, idk, especially today. It seems like everyone's in a fun mood today. A user even decided to create an actual excel formula for this mathematical number sequence that actually works! My brother calls me a nerd and the entire stack exchange community for "geeky professors", but I am the happiest person out of the both of us :D $\endgroup$
    – Mr Pie
    Commented Aug 24, 2018 at 15:00
  • $\begingroup$ Haha it's Friday! That probably has something to do with it! ;) I've been playing around with that too, it looks pretty cool, although I'm the "geeky professor" type that was thinking about a mathematical proof about it ;P (That said, you're one of the chief positivity-bringers, @user477343!) $\endgroup$
    – El-Guest
    Commented Aug 24, 2018 at 15:02
  • $\begingroup$ Well that being said, the user who created the formula figured out that if you picked a number considering $0,1,2\mod 3$ then for $0$, the sequence will loop around the one shown in the puzzle; for $1$, eventually it will reach $1$ and stop there (since $1^3=1$); and then for $2$, the sequence will loop between $8$ and $512$ and $8$ and so on... assuming you are familiar with modulo. But you're right: it's Friday, so let's just enjoy the day while it lasts :D $\endgroup$
    – Mr Pie
    Commented Aug 24, 2018 at 15:06
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The only one that it seems hasn't been answered right now is:

  1. I am surrounded by water on three sides. In my south I have a popular vacation island. For decades I was split through the middle.

My answer:

Korea. I it currently split into North & South Korea, and it is a peninsula with water on three sides.

I had to look this up, but Jeju Island to the South is part of South Korea and a popular vacation island for them.

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    $\begingroup$ I think this is it!! I was too busy looking for pieces to split off and missed jamming things back together. $\endgroup$
    – El-Guest
    Commented Aug 24, 2018 at 13:53
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I think 4 is

Catalonia - the dispute is over the Balearic islands, and today Catalonia is an economically important region of (the Kingdom of) Spain

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(1) is likely to be the area we currently refer to as KURDISTAN
(3) is likely to be (what we currently know as) TIBET
(4) is likely to be (what we currently know as) CATALUÑA

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1. I think the first one is Armenia, its small and landlocked and definitely influenced by Turkish and Arabic languages but the official language is Armenian.

2. I believe this one could be Italy, its gone through many splits and definitely has a couple vacation islands to its south. (Sicily, Malta, and Capri being the first few that come to mind.)

3. Im going to guess this one is Nepal. Just based on the mountaineering and spiritual clues, along with its independence.

4. Catalonia - Full credit to @Eutherpy

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