Guess The Map

“Countries with samovars or samovar-type tea brewing”

“Countries where cats are more popular than dogs, as pets”

“Countries where ‘Peter’ is more common than ‘John’”

Anvil the real answer had better be good I puzzled and googled this for over an hour last night

ILX: come for the zings, stay for the comparison of legal systems between Aruba and Curacao...

Is it amount of inward investment by China in these countries?

How old is this map? South Sudan isn't marked, though it may be covered up by that yellow blob.

I think the map is from 2020, but its accurate for today.

South Sudan is on the map isn't it? I assume the map is just a base template map

wait, I have it! Is it Earth?

Surely for a 'Guess the..' thread, this has to follow the "Guess the City" thread where you post an image of the inside of someone's shoe then disappear for a month?

Ok, let me think of a suitable hint on the way home. I'll post one in a couple of hours unless anyone wants a bit more time

Has anyone been in the right ballpark?

I think all of the answers so far have been in the same ballpark as each other, but none of them in the same ballpark as the answer

IIRC, Perú's biggest exports are copper, gold, oil and fish-related products (fertilizer, animal pellets).

Countries that don't have Starbucks yet

jk I know that's wrong

I really thought Dominican Republic would give me some big clues but it didn't.

If it’s like all countries with nickel deposits or something I’m going to hurl the computer through the window

Countries that have an even number of McDonald's restaurants

The DR and anvil's hint makes me think it's baseball or Olympic related.

If that is a reference to the ballpark reference, that isn't a hint. Dan Worsley introduced that reference and I was just replying in kind

Although neither answer is close, Josefa and StanM have been the closest with their suggestions

'incidences of certain businesses' would be quite a letdown

Is it countries Amazon don’t operate in?

No, because Germany is there

(Germany is purple fwiw)

Countries that perpetrate(d) genocide?

oh wait, you said green is what matters.

been trying to focus on the Ghana presence but getting nothing.

Google maps / satellite / streetview coverage? even though I've already disproved this myself.

I forgot about this after trying to think how to do a clue

'incidences of certain businesses' would be quite a letdown

It might be considered as a letdown

It really is a strange subset of countries. I can't decide if "green" means "has" or "has not". What could Western Sahara, Russia, Bonaire and Mauritius have in common? But if it is a "has not", then what the hell is going on in CAR and Chad and Niger, but not Ghana?

If there is a boat for those of us who are saying "I give up, tell us the answer already" I'm on that boat

Green means the country has it

*removes bookmark*

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LC_Waikiki

LOL ok I’m mad haha

I’ve never even heard of that thing

*re-removes bookmark, throw laptop out window*

With approx 54,000 employees worldwide, LC WAIKIKI directly employs nearly 0.000007% of the world's population!

Ok, my turn...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LC_Waikiki#/media/File:Lcw_magazalar_turkiye.svg

I'll come back in a few months if anyone needs any hints.

It is a great thread idea anvil tbqph

but but

what do the colours mean?

blue = yes, blue = no, grey = yes no

oh, that makes perfect sense - thank you :-)

https://thumbor.bigedition.com/heat-map/F9R3hm2lWqVzDdyoWqrseR-4AVQ=/800x504/filters:format(webp):quality(80)/granite-web-prod/80/67/80679f12a6eb4d3ebf279c64676a13fb.jpeg

ignore the markers i think, all about the heat map

Number of lights on at a certain point of the day.

no :)

it looks very city/ population related - could be so many things

guessing McDonald's restaurants again?

availability of bratwurst

Places Where Germans Go On Holiday

places introverts should avoid

Number of Volkswagen cars

honestly the only thing that makes sense is population density

adam t. is on the right track

Is it misleading that it looks like a map of might lights, then, if it's a cultural thing?

Dhaka isn't lit up, though it might be covered by the country label

The Canary Islands are lit up

South Korea, Java, New Zealand are a couple of locations that seem more lit up than expected imho

Mauritius & Réunion, east of Madagaskar, too

South Korea is a hotspot, is it something like mobile phone use?

now pondering what south korea and southeast england have in common

does south korea have Nando's? I know Mauritus has like the most per capita in the world (don't ask how I know)

afaik continental Europe is Nando-less?