Rahul Gandhi, in his obsession, to prove that Adani and PM Modi’s government have some quid-pro-quo dealing going on, has recently brought up some utterly bizarre claims. He has been trying to make everyone believe that the Republic of China(Taiwan) and the People’s Republic of China (China) are the same things.
Well, China does claim that Taiwan belongs to them, and Taiwan calls itself the ‘real China’. But that doesn’t mean they are the same thing. For the rest of the world, for official purposes, they are 2 separate nations. Taiwan is a friendly country to India, and China, unfortunately, is not-so-friendly.
For an aspiring Prime Minister to confuse two totally different countries and try to claim that they are the same country is really sad. Geography can be a difficult subject for many and a lot of kids struggle to memorise the names of countries, rivers and their locations. We understand.
We have, therefore, compiled an easy reference guide for Rahul Gandhi in case he needs to make political statements on complex geopolitical issues in the future. We cannot save his political prospects, but the ‘geo’ bit we can help with a bit. Here is a quick and easy guide to similar-sounding country names and how to remember them.
Monaco and Morocco
Yes, there is a country named after the salty biscuit. It is buried deep in the complicacy that is the map of Europe. It is really tiny, just another overrated sea-side city with pretty buildings and tourist-trap streets. Very Karan Joharish. Monaco is a biscuit-sized country in Europe.
But Morocco is not so biscuit-sized. Morocco is in Africa, though very close to Spain. But Morocco is big, very big, and dry, and it has a lot of sand. In Hollywood movies, they always show Morocco in sepia tint, because it is not white like Europe and North America.
Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and Papua New Guinea
It is a bit more complicated than Monaco and Morocco. Because Guinea and Guinea-Bissau are neighbouring countries in Western Africa. They are on the Atlantic side, close to other nations like Sierra Leone, Gambia and Liberia. We have no idea why they are different countries, but it is what it is.
Papua New Guinea has no common borders with either of the above. It is an Island nation far, far away in the Pacific Ocean, and has a lot of forests. It is Australia’s neighbour.
Australia and Austria
See, it is Western colonisation that is the reason behind all the confusing names on the World Map. Austria is a European country, in Europe. It is Germany’s neighbour. It doesn’t play cricket at all.
Australia is down south, at the bottom of the globe, where kangaroos and many IPL players live. You know what Rahul ji, Adani owns ports in Australia too. Australia’s PMs are always being nice to Modi ji. There must be some connection that you can use to campaign for the 2029 general elections.
Niger and Nigeria
They are different countries that just wanted to name themselves after the same river. There is only one Niger river, that flows through Niger, Nigeria, and Mali too. But Niger and Nigeria are 2 different countries. Niger is landlocked, and Adani is yet to buy ports in Nigeria. So Rahul Gandhi can ignore these countries for now.
North Korea and South Korea
North Korea is called the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or DPRK. It has a dictator. No, not Modi ji, the other one. The one who just keeps firing missiles for no particular reason at all.
South Korea is where the good things, like BTS, Samsung, K-Dramas, etc come from. South Korea is rich and it is a democracy. It is US-friendly, so Hollywood never uses the sepia filter for them.
Turkey and Turkmenistan
Turkey is well, as you must be knowing, where Congress has an office. Pakistan loves Turkey, because they made an Islamic Game of Thrones sort of series called Ertugrul. Turkey the country is not the same as Turkey the bird that American people roast on Thanksgiving.
Turkmenistan is among the ‘never in news’ countries located beyond Afghanistan. Modi ji had visited the country in 2015.
There are many other sets of countries, with needlessly similar names. For example Slovakia and Slovenia, Ireland and Iceland, Mali and Malawi, Zambia and Gambia, etc etc. If Rahul Gandhi ever becomes the PM of the country, he should bring an ordinance asking those confusing countries to call themselves by easier-to-remember names.
