The Tropic of Cancer is a line of latitude about 23 degrees north of the equator, and is one of the five major lines of latitude, along with the Equator, Arctic and Antarctic circles and Tropic of Capricorn. Can you name the countries whose land mass it passes through?
The Tropic of Cancer is a fluctuating line - only nations that always touch the line are included; countries are listed from west to east
That's an interesting one! Both "Morocco" and "Western Sahara" are allowable answers here, because both the Western Saharans and Morocco say its theirs! It had been a Spanish territory until 1975, when Spain withdrew and Western Sahara declared its independence. Morocco then invaded, but no United Nations member country has ever recognised its claim to it. Western Sahara remains a member of the African Union, has been recognised by over 80 countries, and maintains diplomatic relations with about half of those. See also this backgrounder.
The most important step to becoming a country is recognition by JetPunk. Therefore the Western Sahara is not a country.
On a more serious note, by a country JetPunk means a sovereign state. That means that whether the government has control of the country is more important than recognition by other countries. I don't know the exact details of how the sovereignty works in that area of the world, but I'm guessing it's something to do with whether the Western Sahara has an active government that doesn't have to bow to the will of Morocco and enforces its own laws.
Western Sahara does have an active government in tifariti and tindouf, and they do control the areas beyond the green wall, so if you don't count recognition as an important factor to what makes a country, then this should be counted.
However, I don't think there is a consistent criteria for what makes a country in jetpunk. Taiwan, a country recognized by fewer states than Western Sahara, not recognized by the US and a non-member of the UN is counted, and Kosovo, a country recognized by fewer than Palestine and another non-member of the UN is counted while Palestine, a UN observer member like the Vatican and recognized by more than a hundred countries is excluded.
If jetpunk did not care about international recognition and only cared about de facto control, then countries like Palestine, Abkhazia and Somaliland should be counted. If jetpunk followed either US recognition or recognition, why is Taiwan here?
I raised this question multiple times but I don't think it was ever answered
Excuse me WHAT? Syria have control over all its claimed territory except the Golan Heights which accounts for less than a percent of what Syria claims.
Also 'a mix of international recognition and control of territory' seems like no standard at all and still doesn't explain the exclusion of Palestine and inclusion of Taiwan. Palestine is recognized by more than 70% of UN member states and controls 45% of its claimed land and is excluded, Taiwan controls less than 1% of what it claims (entirety of China, de jure).
According to your logic, Syria does not have control over its territory but is counted as a country. If so, then Western Sahara controlling only 20% of what it claims shouldn't be a problem for you. Regarding recognition, yes Western Sahara is recognized by only 84 UN member states, but that still is more than states recognizing Taiwan.
Look, as long as Taiwan is included and Palestine is excluded, I don't think any standard can explain Jetpunk's recognition of countries.
Jetpunk is a very US-centric website. The US government has a crush on Israel, so Jetpunk will never add Palestine even if all countries except the US recognise Palestine.
The United States recognises Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara in exchange for Morocco establishing diplomatic relations and formally recognising Israel
The United States recognises Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara in exchange for Morocco establishing diplomatic relations and formally recognising Israel
The tropic does indeed pass through Chad. The tropics are not fixed lines at exactly 23 degrees, but vary year to year. Currently the tropic of Cancer is at 23°26′14.0″. The northernmost point of Chad is at 23°26′57″. So the Tropic of Cancer passes through Chad by 43 arc seconds. Normally I wouldn't know this, but I made this exact same quiz about a year ago with this qualifier.
Researching this answer has unearthed a remarkable fact: the Tropic of Cancer is itself defined as the northernmost point of Chad! (see this international boundary study). Those who drafted that boundary detail in 1900 would have had no idea that the Tropic moves, so does that mean we have an accidentally moving boundary?! Although your quiz was written after this one, we'll add your qualifying rider, as well as a crediting link, to this quiz.
"Those who drafted that boundary detail in 1900 would have had no idea that the Tropic moves." - Not sure this is right. The ancient Greeks were aware of the Earth's obliquity and had pretty accurate measurements of it. In medieval times both European and Arab astronomers were also aware that Earth's obliquity was not fixed and would also be aware of Greek measurements of obliquity different to those they could then attain (the general view was that it oscillated on multi-century cycles - a view that was not overturned until the time of Copernicus, I believe). The latitude of the tropics, by definition, matches the axial tilt (obliquity) of the Earth, so in 1900 they would have been well aware that the tropics are not fixed.
I believe that the Tropic of Cancer lies at 23.5 degrees north, although the actual sun/tropic moves slightly the given tropic stays at 23.5 for geographical purposes. The same goes for the Tropic of Capricorn at 23.5 degrees South.
Just because the northernmost place that gets direct sunlight every year changes slightly (looks like just a few dozen feet from the photo) doesn't mean that the latitude of the Tropic of Cancer changes. The definition doesn't change.
The definition of the Tropic of Cancer is that it's the Earth's northernmost circle of latitude where the Sun can be seen directly overhead. That latitude, and therefore the Tropic, constantly wobbles.
The Tropic (which is currently moving progressively southwards) was 23°27′ N in year 1917, north of Chad's current northernmost point of 23°26′ N. At some point, the Tropic will turn around and head northwards again. See my comments above for yet more complications around this!
If Chad is not included, I don't see how Niger can be, seeing as it is barely any further North than Chad and would fail on the condition of permanently having some of its territory on a tropic that fluctuates.
Why is the tropic fluctuating? I get that the highest point of the sun fluctuates with the seasons, but the tropics are fixed, just like the equator, right?
The tropics of cancer and capricorn depend on Earth's axial tilt (or obliquity), i.e. the angle between the axis of rotation and Earth's orbital plane.
Currently it is 23.4° but it is not fixed in time. It oscillates between 22.1 and 24.5 on a 41,000-year cycle. So it has nothing to do with the seasons. See wiki
It passes between the Hawaiian islands, but does not cross any of them. It runs between Necker and Nihoa Islands, which are small uninhabited islands that lie northwest of Kauaʻi.
Here's the full scientific explanation: The Tropic of Cancer's position is not fixed, but constantly changes because of a slight wobble in the Earth's longitudinal alignment relative to the ecliptic, the plane in which the Earth orbits around the Sun. Earth's axial tilt varies over a 41,000-year period from about 22.1 to 24.5 degrees, and as of 2000 is about 23.4 degrees, which will continue to remain valid for about a millennium. This wobble means that the Tropic of Cancer is currently drifting southward at a rate of almost half an arcsecond (0.468″) of latitude, or 15 m (49 ft), per year. The circle's position was at exactly 23° 27′N in 1917 and will be at 23° 26'N in 2045. The distance between the Antarctic Circle and the Tropic of Cancer is essentially constant as they move in tandem. This is based on an assumption of a constant equator, but the precise location of the equator is not truly fixed.
On a more serious note, by a country JetPunk means a sovereign state. That means that whether the government has control of the country is more important than recognition by other countries. I don't know the exact details of how the sovereignty works in that area of the world, but I'm guessing it's something to do with whether the Western Sahara has an active government that doesn't have to bow to the will of Morocco and enforces its own laws.
However, I don't think there is a consistent criteria for what makes a country in jetpunk. Taiwan, a country recognized by fewer states than Western Sahara, not recognized by the US and a non-member of the UN is counted, and Kosovo, a country recognized by fewer than Palestine and another non-member of the UN is counted while Palestine, a UN observer member like the Vatican and recognized by more than a hundred countries is excluded.
If jetpunk did not care about international recognition and only cared about de facto control, then countries like Palestine, Abkhazia and Somaliland should be counted. If jetpunk followed either US recognition or recognition, why is Taiwan here?
I raised this question multiple times but I don't think it was ever answered
Also 'a mix of international recognition and control of territory' seems like no standard at all and still doesn't explain the exclusion of Palestine and inclusion of Taiwan. Palestine is recognized by more than 70% of UN member states and controls 45% of its claimed land and is excluded, Taiwan controls less than 1% of what it claims (entirety of China, de jure).
According to your logic, Syria does not have control over its territory but is counted as a country. If so, then Western Sahara controlling only 20% of what it claims shouldn't be a problem for you. Regarding recognition, yes Western Sahara is recognized by only 84 UN member states, but that still is more than states recognizing Taiwan.
Look, as long as Taiwan is included and Palestine is excluded, I don't think any standard can explain Jetpunk's recognition of countries.
The most northern point is just on the Tropic and border is just considered as part of a country.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/23rd_parallel_north
Currently it is 23.4° but it is not fixed in time. It oscillates between 22.1 and 24.5 on a 41,000-year cycle. So it has nothing to do with the seasons. See wiki
I was thinking about something in Asia or the Pacific but the Bahamas didn't even cross my mind :D