You responded to someone who is correct with needless snark and a strange fixation on only one of the answers: many of the countries on the list do not allow you to use that trick, but a number of the more difficult ones allow you to, which is what makes it helpful.
In the case of the US, Australia, Russia, and Ireland there is coastline on both the east and west, Germany and Pakistan* only have coastlines in the north and south respectively, and Denmark is almost totally covered by coastline, but that still leaves China, Senegal, Portugal, Brazil, Peru, Argentina, Syria, and Turkey. That's more than half the questions, and if you guess the side where the coastline is you score 8/8.
*the southern coast of Pakistan is either all or almost all in the western part of the country, so guessing based on that will give you the wrong answer.
Canada is an exception to this rule. With the exception of Vancouver and Halifax the rest of the top 20 largest Metro areas in the country aren't on or near the ocean.
That is a cruel question, as common sense is prevailing. Looking at the population centers and density when drawing a line halfway though the country would give you these particular answers. If you ask: "did anyone do the exact math?" and calculate versus the halfway line, the answer is most likely "no". Wouldn't be necessary either, to still be able to validate these answers (hence no one mentions the share to avoid ambiguity)
It's a fair question if UnitedStatesQuizzes was asking out of curiosity rather than doubt. If there was a source with this data, it could be useful to have to make quizzes.
I stupidly picked east for Syria, because I knew its three major cities are inland, not on the coast. But I guess they weren't nearly as far inland as I pictured, which hindsight and common sense says, "Duh, that's just desert."
I also got 15/15 with only Denmark stumping me. I figured since they have that island connecting with Sweden that people live on the Eastern end (I had no idea where Copenhagen is but just found out its on that island)
The east coast has a lot of people. Honestly I didn't even think of Alaska and Hawaii, they might have pushed the line further west. Even if they weren't included, east likely would've won anyway. Out of the top 10 most populous states, 8 are in the eastern half.
New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, and Pennsylvania are all in the east; Texas is in the middle, but most of Texas's population is in the east of the state, so it might be considered on the east side.
It makes more sense if you think in terms of population density rather than just which side has the biggest states. For example New Jersey has about 1/3 of the population of Texas in 1/35 of the size.
Also depending on where the line was drawn, it's possible that the eastern part of Texas, where most of the state's big cities are, ended up on the eastern side of the line. But even without that the East Coast and Midwest easily have more population than the West.
Got all but Denmark (where I live...). In my defense I had missed the whole "by area" thing, so I started taking the Island of Bornholm into account :))
I didnt think about coastline at all, just major cities. Copenhagen is in the east. Lima is in the west. Dakar is in the west. Sydney and Melbourne are in the east.
It would be interesting to know where the dividing line for Denmark was drawn, since the traditional division between West and East Denmark (Storebælt) leaves more people in the western half.
Got 100% first try! I was only stuck on some such as Argentina and Denmark, but Argentina has mountains to the west and people like living near the ocean (as shown in like half of the countries), and Denmark I factored in low population Denmark XD.
Some countries seem more challenging to guess, without looking at a map. Even if you know general shape & geography.
I could see Ireland, Syria, Pakistan, Denmark, maybe Turkey, and Argentina, being somewhat questionable - especially if you don't know their major cities, or general population distribution (I have no idea about urban vs rural distribution in something like Pakistan/Turkey, or number of major cities)
In the case of the US, Australia, Russia, and Ireland there is coastline on both the east and west, Germany and Pakistan* only have coastlines in the north and south respectively, and Denmark is almost totally covered by coastline, but that still leaves China, Senegal, Portugal, Brazil, Peru, Argentina, Syria, and Turkey. That's more than half the questions, and if you guess the side where the coastline is you score 8/8.
*the southern coast of Pakistan is either all or almost all in the western part of the country, so guessing based on that will give you the wrong answer.
Also my brain defaulted into splitting Turkey into East and West of the Bosphorous which is obviously not in the centre!
Also depending on where the line was drawn, it's possible that the eastern part of Texas, where most of the state's big cities are, ended up on the eastern side of the line. But even without that the East Coast and Midwest easily have more population than the West.
But Santiago is a bit to the east though...
Is there a North/South being made?
https://www.jetpunk.com/quizzes/country-population-north-or-south
I think this might be my first time ever acing one of these quizzes on my very first try. Hurrah!
It sure does help to be familiar with where every countries capital is. That helps a lot too.
Some countries seem more challenging to guess, without looking at a map. Even if you know general shape & geography.
I could see Ireland, Syria, Pakistan, Denmark, maybe Turkey, and Argentina, being somewhat questionable - especially if you don't know their major cities, or general population distribution (I have no idea about urban vs rural distribution in something like Pakistan/Turkey, or number of major cities)