divantilya is not talking about if Liechtenstein neighbors Belgium or the Netherlands, but why Luxembourg isn't on this quiz due to it being closer to Spain than the Netherlands, which are on this list for N. So why isn't Luxembourg on the list instead of Liechtenstein? That is I think what divantilya is trying to know...
Thank you, Quaintaene. That was my point exactly. The Netherlands and Belgium ARE on the quiz. Therefore, my question was "why wasn't Luxembourg the "L" choice, rather than Liechtenstein as Luxembourg is immediately south of Belgium.
I mean just look at a map - Liechtenstein is quite obviously closer to Spain than Luxembourg is.
Belgium and the Netherlands are on here because there are no intervening countries beginning with B or N. The fact that you have to "climb over" Luxembourg to get to Belgium has nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that Liechtenstein is closer.
It doesn’t matter whether a country’s neighbors are the closest for *their* letter to compare the closest for another letter. Belgium and the Netherlands make this quiz because they’re the closest for their letter—they don’t have to compete a closer country like Luxembourg does (Liechtenstein).
Liechtenstein isnt beyond the netherlands, or between belgium and the netherlands, it is in a completely different direction between switzerland and austria.
Why isn't Algeria there? It's so close to Spain, just over the sea. Why should the fact, that there is anothet country starting with A closer, mean anything? Zambia is also so far away and still on the quiz.
The government of Spain doesn't recognize the independence of Kosovo... making them the only country in Western or Central Europe that doesn't... but that's of course down to politics and Madrid's fear of losing control over Catalonia, not a reflection of reality, and not indicative of how the average Spaniard feels.
Previously (or currently) under the Serbian government. But with so much political division in that region, it's tricky to say if Kosovo is officially recognized by anyone yet.
The Vatican has full political autonomy from Italy. They have their own government. They make their own budget and manage their own civil services. Sure... if Italy ceased to exist... the Vatican wouldn't be able to feed itself (at least until they worked out some deal to ship in food from France)... but that's not the same thing as political dependency. You wouldn't say that Canada is a dependency of the United States because the US is its biggest trading partner. That's not what the word means in this context. (and besides, Kosovo's biggest trading partners include Italy, Albania, Macedonia, Switzerland, Montenegro, and Germany - not Serbia - so they're not even dependent in that sense)
International recognition is a component of national sovereignty, but it's not the only component or even the most important one.
Croatia is ~890 km away from a cape in Catalonia.
Czechia is 1000 km away from the most northeastern part os Spain.
Cape Verde is at least 1360 km away from the Hierro island in the Canaries. And...
Cameroon is 3370 km away from Fuerteventura
Belgium and the Netherlands are on here because there are no intervening countries beginning with B or N. The fact that you have to "climb over" Luxembourg to get to Belgium has nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that Liechtenstein is closer.
International recognition is a component of national sovereignty, but it's not the only component or even the most important one.