What if countries were planets?
While it would be hard to say what their gravitational pull would be or how many moons they would
have, here is what the world would be like if countries were planets instead!
10.
Algeria
Surprisingly, if Algeria were its own planet, it would be a force to be reckoned with!
It would have a surface area of 2,381,741 sq km (919,595.3 sq m).
It would be the 10th largest planet in our solar system of 195 planets (since there are
195 countries in the world today!)
Fun fact: 193 countries are member states of the UN and 2 are recognized as non-member
observer states: the Holy See and Palestine.
Maybe they would be moons or asteroids instead of planets
Algeria is part of North Africa and the Sahara Desert plays a major role in its environment.
If you landed your spaceship on the planet of Algeria you’d definitely need your sunglasses,
and your sunscreen if you don’t want to roast to death!
Over 90% of the planet would be un-inhabited!
The main religion is Islam, so you may have to convert to it, unless you already practice
it, then you’re one step ahead of the game!!
Otherwise, you will be the obvious alien!
You might be in trouble if you were from the planet of France.
Why’s that?
French-Algerian relations go back 5 centuries!
More recently, the French were the colonial power that controlled Algeria and they went
to war in 1830.
To add insult to injury, the French lived pretty separate from the population as an
elite force, so they were pretty snooty.
This resulted in a another bitter war for independence from 1954-1962.
So if you were a French person who beamed down and rubbed people the wrong way, you
might want to get out of there!
A good way of doing that would be to head north to the Atlas Mountains and lay low.
This could be a good time to flag down a passing UFO and try to get out of there…
Other planets would rely on Algeria for natural gas, so it might be a good idea to be friends
with Algeria.
Also good to know, Algeria owes no money to other countries.
How many can say that??
9.
Kazakhstan
If Kazakhstan were its own planet, it’d be a pretty impressive one!
Its surface area is 2,724,900 sq km (1,052,100 sq m).
It shares borders with Russia, China and Uzbekistan, though we guess it wouldn’t need to worry
too much about that if it was floating around in space.
Interestingly, this planet would have no ocean, because it is landlocked.
Fun fact- it is the world’s largest landlocked country!
However, it does have a Navy!
This nation is very geographically varied, with vast plains, and mountains and is very
rich in minerals.
Depending on your planet’s interests, you might want to be friends with Kazakhstan too
because it produces more uranium than any other country.
Northern Kazakhstan is cold and inhospitable, whereas the South is kind of the opposite.
You could visit all the different parts of Kazakhstan and think you were on a new planet
each time.
It probably wouldn’t look out of place on Star Trek!
Combine that with the size of the country, which is as big as all of Western Europe,
and you might agree it would make one terrific planet.
And now for number 8, but first, be sure to subscribe before you leave and feel free to
elaborate on what you think it would be like if countries were planets in the comments
below!!!
8.
Argentina
If Argentina were a planet it would be 2,780,400 sq km (1,073,518.442 sq m).
It could be quite a turbulent place to visit though, as the country has a troubled history
of economic hardship and political upheaval where many people disappeared.
It would also be a fun planet to land on because the famous Tango is an Argentinian invention.
Provided the gravity is okay, you should be able to dance the night away!
There’s also a bizarre religion called The Church of Maradona, which boasts over 100,000
members.
Because who doesn’t want to worship a still-living soccer legend?
Perfect for a science-fiction movie too!
Argentina would be the 8th largest planet in the solar system!
Everyone there would speak Spanish, of course, and historically people from many European
planets immigrated there.
It would also be the 3rd largest producer of beef.
It also has a national sport called Pato, which started in the 1950s.
It uses a ball but in its early days a poor duck used to be placed in a basket and chucked
around by players on horseback.
Even an ET might find that a pretty strange thing to do…!
The planet would have everything from mountains, to oceans, to glaciers and grassland.
7.
India
This planet would definitely be unique!
For a start it would be very noticeable from space, with a surface area of 3,287,263 sq
km (1,269,219.3 m).
India also accounts for a whole sixth of the Earth’s population, so a trip there could
be standing room only!
The other thing about India as a planet would be its diversity.
It’s given so much to the world in terms of innovation and culture, so should be a
blast to visit.
Despite the country’s troubled relationship with the British Empire, which lasted from
the 19th to the 20th century, there are a large number of languages and religions.
Several of the world’s most well-known belief systems started off in this territory.
Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism were established there among many others.
The planet would be the wettest planet in the solar system, have the largest number
of vegetarians, play lots of cricket, and income inequality gap is widening even further.
India’s richest 1% holds 73% of the country’s total wealth.
Random Question: By the way, did you know that there is an Index that measures how much
each of the 125 countries contributes to planet?
Do you know which country is number 1 in the Good Country Index??
Leave your guess in the comments below!!
The answer is coming up!!
6.
Australia
Australia is a popular holiday destination, so it makes sense it would be a popular planet,
right?
It’s much bigger than the other choices too, at 7,741,220 sq km (2,988,901.7 sq m).
But despite its huge size, planet Australia would surely be the most laid back planet
in the galaxy, what with all those nice beaches, surfing, etc.
Don’t be fooled by all the chilled-out behaviour though!
Australia is also known for its dangerous wildlife and if they went up into space with
the general population then you’d better watch your ankles!
That’s because the planet would have 17 breeds of poisonous snake slithering around.
Also you’re bound to run into a Great White shark or two in that warm water.
But you’d also have the honor of having the Great Barrier Reef which is one of the
7 Wonders of the Natural World.
Over 85% of the population of Australia lives near the coast so the rest of the planet would
be pretty empty.
With good reason since it’s hot as heck in the Outback!
So if you enjoy a diverse climate, dramatic landscapes and don’t mind getting attacked
by nature every so often then this is the planet for you…!
5.
Brazil
Who wouldn’t want to go to Brazil?
In fact if it were a planet instead of a country then people would make the effort to jump
on a spacecraft and zoom over there.
It’s one of the ultimate party destinations with the world’s largest carnival, so I’m
sure you’d have a good time over there amongst the stars!
At 8,514,877 sq km (3,287,612.389 sq m), Brazil would be the 5th largest planet in the solar
system.
It has the greatest variety of animals of any country in the world and is home to a
large part of the Amazon rainforest.
There are also a great variety of tribes that populate the forest.
Brazil is the largest coffee producer and was ruled by the Portuguese for over 300 years,
hence why the official language is Portugues.
It is extremely diverse with indigenous tribes, Africans, Europeans, and more recently the
arrival of immigrants from Asia and the Middle East.
It would be the planet with the largest population of Catholics and the 2nd largest population
of Christians after the USA.
With the diverse landscape, cities, and friendly people Brazil is a great place to recharge
your batteries after a long space journey!
4.
China
We all know China is an absolutely huge country, so if it was a planet the sight would be awe-inspiring!
As a land mass it’s impressive enough at 9,596,960 sq km (3,705,407 sq m).
Imagine what that would look like as a planet!
Maybe you’d even see the great wall from your planet, since we can already see it from
space!
This planet’s civilization goes back 5000 years and China has brought many things to
the rest of the world, imagine if it had been isolated the whole time!
It would be the most populated planet with 1.3 billion people so try not to get trampled!
There are many natural wonders in China including the stone forest and ginormous statues of
Buddhas, including the Leshan Giant Buddha.
On this planet, Mandarin is the way to go since most people speak Mandarin (a chinese
dialect) as their first language more than any other language in the world!!
All countries have political upheaval but China seems to attract more attention than
most for its human rights record.
You’d probably be okay as a visitor to the planet but there would probably be a heavy
atmosphere.
Not exactly somewhere to get away from it all necessarily although probably great if
you want to learn more about the culture.
Want to check your Facebook?
Don’t do that here!
The website has been outlawed in China for almost a decade.
However if you were to visit this planet, Ancient China was a land of inventions so
imagine learning about science, technology, astronomy, and math and being able to bring
that knowledge to your home planet!
3.
United States
A planet that would no doubt be getting into arguments with China is the US.
It’s pretty close to acting like its own planet anyway!
It comes in at 9,826,675 sq km (3,794,100.429 sq m).
And I’m sure “The Donald” would be letting the galaxy know about it.
It would be the 4th planet in the solar system and the 3rd most populated!
The best way to describe the US if it was a planet would be as a theme park.
There are lots of memorable attractions, statues, and iconic spots!
There are many of the world’s largest things in the United States including theatres, boardwalks,
buildings etc.
It is home to the 2nd most visited museum in the world after the Louvre, the Smithsonian
National Air and Space Museum.
If you do visit this planet, get ready to eat lots of pizza!!
Also if the US were a planet, it would be the fattest planet in the galaxy with 33%
of the population being obese.
The US consumes 18% of the World’ energy so it would be important to have good relations
with other planets!
It has the largest economy in the world and accounts for 25% of the world’s GDP.
Not only would the US planet have oceans, rivers, and lakes but also a wide variety
of climates and geographic features, pretty much anything you can think of, especially
including Alaska and Hawaii.
But be prepared to defend yourself in the wild west.
The US can get rough, and remember guns are everywhere!
2.
Canada
If you’d had enough of planet US and wanted to go somewhere similar only a little calmer,
you could go to Canada.
Canada is another planet on this made up list!
So whereas on planet US, it’d be all guns blazing struggling to reach that American
Dream, in Canada you might be less stressed (but colder!!).
In fact did you know if Canada were a planet, it’d be bigger than the US?
That’s right, it would be 9,984,670 sq km (3,855,102.639).
You’d be pretty cold, but there’d be plenty of ice hockey to play to keep yourself warm.
It could prove tricky forming a team though.
Canada is big but there aren’t a lot of people, which is great if you need to stop
roaming the galaxy for a while and do some thinking.
Half of the planet would be covered in forests!
Canada would be considered the most educated planet, since over half of its residents have
college degrees.
With an abundance of natural resources like natural gas and diamonds, you could live a
pretty self sufficient life up there.
However anyone who’s seen sci-fi knows that the better the resources, the more likely
it is you’ll be invaded by aliens who want a piece of the action…!
1.
Russia
You might be flying around in your spaceship and notice that Russia as a planet would be
huge.
If Russia were a planet, it would definitely be the biggest, 17,098,250 sq km (6,601,671
sq m).
There was a debate that Russia was bigger than Pluto!!
And it all depends on how you look at it.
Pluto was measured in 2015 by NASA’s New Horizon’s mission.
The diameter of Pluto was 2370 kilometers (1473 miles) across, which would easily fit
in Russia’s largest east-to-west width of 10,000 km.
The surface area of Russia was found to be around the same as that of Pluto.
Although now, none of that matters since Pluto is no longer considered a planet.
While it’s safe to say the planet wouldn’t be the most stable politically, it would make
up for that with its rich history, culture and architecture.
Mind you, if you’re not a fan of ballet you might want to find something else to do.
The quality of life varies enormously in Russia, as it does in other countries around the world.
Russia has that whole spy movie vibe going on that makes people from outside instantly
suspicious.
Having said that, it would also make it kind of cool to go there if you were craving some
intrigue.
Plus with Russians being the first into space they might give you some great tips on how
to get around!
Not to mention the vodka… just make sure you don’t drink while you’re leaving the
stratosphere…!
Answer: Remember that Good Country Index I mentioned earlier??
The winner is...Ireland!!It’s interesting to note that none of these planets/countries
on the list made the top 10 of the good country index.
Thanks for watching!
Feel free to take the metaphor even further!!
Remember, ts all in good fun!!
Let us know in the comments section.
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