Hype for the Future 49O: Chad vs. Romania

Chad and Romania have nearly identical flags, though Chad is a nation split between the Sahara and the Sahel in Africa while Romania is a nation associated with Southern Europe that prefers not to be associated with Eastern Europe to distance the nation from neighboring Ukraine and nearby Russia. Though Romania is, of course, Romanian, Chad is a victim of the Age of Imperialism, first with the Arab spread of Islam toward the Sahara, followed by the French colonization of the nation impacting the Sahel.

Hype for the Future 49H: Indonesia and Monaco 🇮🇩 🇲🇨

The slight differences between Indonesia and Monaco are associated with the significant geographical separation between the two nations. While Monaco is certainly European, Indonesia is generally Asian and Melanesian further east. Monaco is represented in emoji form with a more European shade of red, while Indonesia is generally more vibrant and less of a crimson red.

Hype for the Future 48C: Additional Flag Emojis

Within much of Africa, which has not been covered using emojis on the articles thus far, nearly every sovereign state continentally contains flags and flag symbols within the emoji palette. Subcultural flags also exist, including the white flag 🏳️, black flag 🏴, pirate 🏴‍☠️, and Pride flag 🏳️‍🌈, just to name a few. Another flag representative of an entity that is not a nation is, of course, the flag of the United Nations 🇺🇳.

African flags represented using emojis exist for Morocco 🇲🇦, Western Sahara 🇪🇭 (disputed), Algeria 🇩🇿, Tunisia 🇹🇳, Libya 🇱🇾, Egypt 🇪🇬, Sudan 🇸🇩, Mauritania 🇲🇷, and Eritrea 🇪🇷 within the context of the Arab world; as well as the more Francophone contexts of the southern Sahara including Mali 🇲🇱, Niger 🇳🇪, and Chad 🇹🇩. Within the Sahel region, a transitional zone between the Sahara Desert to the north and the conventional phrase “Sub-Saharan Africa” to the south, are the nations of Burkina Faso 🇧🇫, Senegal 🇸🇳, the Gambia 🇬🇲, Nigeria 🇳🇬, and Ethiopia 🇪🇹. Somalia 🇸🇴 is located yet further to the east, and appears on the map is somewhat drier though not necessarily at the level of the Sahara. Even within nations in the realm of the Sahel, many of the civilizations that extend into the Sahara to the north or into the more forested regions to the south are often based in the Sahel, as is the case with Bamako in Mali, N’Djamena in Chad, and Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. While Kano is not the largest community in all of Nigeria, the city is the principal settlement of the Nigerian Sahel.

Toward the Wolof region of West Africa and surrounding regions often associated with the historic slave trade are modern nations such as Guinea-Bissau 🇬🇼 (Portuguese Guinea), Guinea 🇬🇳 (French Guinea), Sierra Leone 🇸🇱, Liberia 🇱🇷, Côte d’Ivoire 🇨🇮, Ghana 🇬🇭, Togo 🇹🇬, Benin 🇧🇯, and the aforementioned Nigeria 🇳🇬.

Central Africa, perhaps the most stereotypical and quintessential portion of the African continent, is largely iconic through nations including Cameroon 🇨🇲, the Central African Republic 🇨🇫, and South Sudan 🇸🇸 (which had only been separated from Sudan since 2011). Also at this section of the African continent is the modern-day prevalence of Christianity ✝️, a significant contrast from the predominant Islam ☪️ of the Sahara and portions of the Sahel.

Also centrally located within the African continent, albeit further south, is the only Hispanic nation on the continent, Equatorial Guinea 🇬🇶, though portions of the nation are also identified for Lusophone (Portuguese) heritage, including around Malabo. Otherwise, much of the region is often identified as Francophone with a direct prevalence of French history in Gabon 🇬🇦 and the Republic of the Congo 🇨🇬 and of Belgian history in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 🇨🇩. Five countries located further east are often considered part of the Swahili Belt: Uganda 🇺🇬, Kenya 🇰🇪, Rwanda 🇷🇼, Burundi 🇧🇮, and Tanzania 🇹🇿. Madagascar 🇲🇬 is located fairly nearby to the east, though not necessarily with the Swahili influence as much as with the Oceanian influence of the Malagasy people.

At the southern end of the African continent is the region known as Southern Africa, South Africa 🇿🇦 of which is at the very end of the African continent. Immediately to the north of South Africa is the desert nation of Namibia 🇳🇦 and Botswana 🇧🇼 and the significantly lusher nations of Zimbabwe 🇿🇼, Mozambique 🇲🇿, Eswatini 🇸🇿, and the semi-arid enclave of Lesotho 🇱🇸. Only three other nations exist within the African mainland: Angola 🇦🇴, Zambia 🇿🇲, and Malawi 🇲🇼.

Insular Africa also includes the French Overseas Territory of Réunion 🇷🇪 to the east and the sovereign Portuguese state of Cabo Verde 🇨🇻. The Hispanic dependencies of the Spanish Canary Islands 🇮🇨 and the Portuguese Azores Islands are also considered African, along with Spanish Ceuta and Melilla. On the other hand, British Gibraltar 🇬🇮 is located around the closest European point to the African continent. Mayotte 🇾🇹 serves as yet another insular dependency of Africa, fairly nearby to Madagascar and Réunion and also of France. Madeira Island of Portugal and the sovereign Portuguese state of São Tomé and Principe 🇸🇹 are also associated with insular Africa, albeit on the Atlantic side of the continent.