Trail4 steps
Countries that do it differently
A flag drawn with a compass, a nation that measures happiness, and two that bent time.
Countries are conventions: lines, flags, clocks and measures someone chose. These four show how flexible those conventions are.
- I
Start with the only national flag that isn’t a rectangle.
No. 084ObjectCountriesNepal’s flag comes with geometry instructions It’s the only national flag that isn’t a rectangle, and Nepal’s constitution explains how to draw it, step by step, like a geometry exercise. - II
Next door, a kingdom decides to measure happiness instead of only money.
No. 012ConceptCountriesBhutan measures Gross National Happiness In 1972 Bhutan’s young king declared that happiness mattered more than GDP. The idea reached the UN, and also attracted serious criticism. - III
Meanwhile France quietly holds the record for time zones.
No. 042FactCountriesFrance has more time zones than any other country Not Russia, not the United States: France. And mainland France itself runs an hour ahead of where its geography says it should, because of 1940. - IV
And a Pacific nation simply moves the date line.
No. 073FactCountriesKiribati moved the International Date Line Until 1995 Kiribati was split by the date line, so different parts of the country were on different days. So it moved the line.