Problems with puzzle states or puzzle countries during
the realization of the states puzzle Lucy's Globe

There are around 200 states in the world. Sometimes you encounter an exact
number, but then it should be questioned, which criteria have been taken to define a
state. This question itself is already a puzzle or headache of its own which I had as I
realized the countries puzzle Lucy's Globe.

The notion state is not so clearly defined. The USA is a state which is composed of
states. And even the little Switzerland is a confederation of tiny states called
cantons. Admittedly, in these two cases the decision was very clear that, seen from
the outside, the USA and Switzerland are respectively exactly one state.

In other cases I had to find compromises and had to solve a number of geographical
puzzles. At the end I succeeded reasonably, but a few tiny details are still left where
the graphical representation does not show the real facts.

Puzzle countries Greenland and the Faroe Islands

One of these puzzle states was Denmark with Greenland and the Faroe (or Faro)
Islands. On one side the two countries of Greenland and the Faroes are
internationally not seen as states of their own. For example, they leave the foreign
politics to the motherland Denmark. One time the Faroes were close to declare
independence, but as they realized that money would no longer come from
Denmark, they thought at it a second time. I planned the geographical puzzle Lucy's
Globe not only to be a states puzzle, but also planned a graphical representation of
states groups like the EU, the Arab League, the ASEAN states... So I hat a big
problem with the two countries... Greenland and the Faroes are not a part of the EU
at the difference of the motherland Denmark. And by the way: Who thinks at the
huge Greenland, when one is talking about Denmark? If I would represent all states
of the EU in one color, then the huge Greenland as part of Denmark would
completely falsify the representation. I just solved this states puzzle by declaring
these two puzzle countries and headache countries to states of their own. This way I
was able to represent the EU realistically. But if anyone looks at the tiniest details
of the EU representation and knows the matter, he will perhaps say: „Hey, that is
wrong! The British Channel Islands which are close to Normandy don't belong to
the EU“. He would be right but some little details are not so easy to solve. When
you think at it, even the concepts of England, Great-Britain and United Kingdom
can produces knots in the brain. To satisfy the pedants among us as myself, to solve
this states puzzle problem with the Channel Islands, I put a comment which can be
seen in the infobox, that they don't belong to the EU, even if it seems to be the case.

Puzzle countries Netherlands Antilles and Aruba

The Netherlands Antilles were a similar problem (but rather a little one) as
Greenland and the Faroes. On one hand they belong to the Kingdom of the
Netherlands, but on the other hand they are perhaps even more independent than
Greenland and the Faroes. And they too are not part of the EU. As if this was not
yet complicated enough, the tiny island of Aruba declared independent from the rest
of the Netherlands Antilles, because, as it seems, they didn't want to share their oil
revenue. (What will they do if the oil has gone? On their tiny island, there is not
even a little river...). I solved this Gordian knot in a way that now there is a state
Netherlands Antilles and a state Aruba in Lucy's Globe.

Puzzle countries Morocco and Western Sahara

What's with the Western Sahara? „But that's not a state at all!“ If I just take this
country as a part of Morocco, to simplify, people will also say, that I can't do that
because the final status is not yet fixed... As a compromise, to get out of this states
puzzle, I just made the Western Sahara to be a state and made El Aioun to its
capital. But in the standard color representation, I chose the same color as for
Morocco.

Puzzle countries Niue and the Cook Islands

In the Pacific area, there are two Countries, Niue and the Cook Islands, which are
currently linked to New Zealand. But it seems that this has been a free choice which is
reversible. As Niue has only a few inhabitants (only a few more than 1000) and the
population is decreasing, Niue could soon be a state without inhabitants with a
capital without inhabitants. Probably, then, this country will be definitely a part of
New Zealand as there will be nobody to reverse the free association with New Zealand :-D.
The good thing with the puzzle states Niue and the Cook Islands is that they were
not an unresolvable Problem for my countries puzzle as the English channel
islands. It would not have been a problem to represent them as an integral part of
the state New Zealand.

Puzzle countries Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands

Real puzzle countries are Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands. At the
same time they belong and not belong to the USA. Who has ever seen the island of
Puerto Rico as part of the USA on map? Near Puerto Rico, there are the American
Virgin Islands which belong to the USA for real. Same problem with the Northern
Mariana Islands. The biggest island of the archipelago of the Northern Mariana and
the most southern one, namely Guam, is not a part of the Northern Mariana Islands,
because it belongs to the USA for real, whereas the Northern Mariana Islands
belong less real to the USA. I just solved this country puzzle by making these two
countries, Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands, to be two independent
parts of the states puzzle Lucy's Globe, in other words I just treated them as two
independent states.

Puzzle countries 2x Bosnia and Herzegovina

A really strange puzzle country is Bosnia and Herzegovina. Always and everywhere
one speaks about Bosnia and Herzegovina as if it was just a state as other states. In
reality, there are two states – one so called Serbian one and another so called
Bosnian-Croatian one – with a complicated borderline. As I didn't have more work
in always drawing new borderlines anywhere else than in former Yugoslavia, I also
just do as if there was only one state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. So, the states
puzzle with these two puzzle states is solved.

Potential problem country The Maldives

A potential problem is the Maldives. If anyone wanted to represent all states with at
least a given percentage of Muslims in one color, it will not be possible to see, if the
Maldives belong to the group – although the Maldives are even more than a 100%
Muslim country. The numerous islands of the Maldives are in fact so tiny that I was
not able to draw any of them. That is the reason I put a rectangle around them as
with the countries in the Pacific Ocean. Otherwise there would not have been a
possibility to click the Maldives in the states puzzle game. Whereas you find the
same rectangle-like structure for the Pacific countries in most of the Atlas, the
rectangle around the Maldives only exists in Lucy's Globe.

In the case of the Seychelles, I also drew a rectangle around them which you do not
find in any Atlas and which would not be entirely necessary because there are a few
islands I drew which could be clicked on when solving the states puzzle game. But
there are also many islands, which can not be represented. So, the rectangle can be
taken as a hint that there is much more then the few drawn islands. This has also the
benefit that, when solving the states puzzle, the user does not have to struggle with
aiming on a little island with the mouse.

Puzzle countries Palestine and Israel

I made Palestine to a state of its own – whether it is really an independent state or
not. Nevertheless, one problem was the capital, so that I just invented the capital
„Gazah + Ramallah“ which of course is not completely wrong, to solve this capitals
puzzle.

Puzzle countries France and French oversea territories

Even France was a puzzle state. The problem with France is that it is the only state
in the world where the sun never disappears under the horizon. And this is easily
forgotten. This was not a problem of graphical representation but a problem of data.
The whole state of France has some millions of inhabitants more than just the part
of the world one thinks about when hearing the word France. And the surface of the
whole state of France is close to 700000 km², whereas France as European country,
as the French themselves learn in school, has only 555000 km². So, if especially a
Frenchmen used Lucy's Globe, opened the infobox for France and saw a much
bigger number than he had to learn in school, he would just say: „Lucy's Globe is
shit. The info it offers is completely wrong“. But also Non-Frenchmen would think
this is not possible. So, now, when the European continental part of France is
clicked, the information offered is about this part only and not the whole state. The
surface number of 547026 km² can still seem a bit wrong to a Frenchman, as in
France, France without oversea territories, still comprises Corsica, which makes the
difference between 547026 and the number of about 555000 km².