Welcome Fiji, the 198th country to visit PhilosFX!

For more information, see this post about PhilosFX's global reach and stretch! Soon, we'll have accepted flags from 200 countries from around the world. I am humbled, amazed, intrigued, and curious....

PhilosFX's Global Reach (and Stretch!)

Readers of PhilosFX come to us from all around the globe. That is a fact that humbles your faithful scribe. I suppose there are lots of reasons why folks visit PhilosFX from far-flung places such as Caribbean Netherlands, French Guiana, and Tajikistan. One hypothesis: they all like my Road King post!  

Figure 1. Flags of the 206 countries with at least one visitor to PhilosFX

Whatever the reason, I am grateful for the global reach of this blog. I enjoy feeling as if I am adding content, rather than merely consuming it, and that my content interests others besides myself. I enjoy swimming in the wide electronic ocean and occasionally finding another swimmer or schools of swimmers. I really love it when someone takes the time to leave a comment or ask a question about a topic of mutual interest. The connections, and feeling connected, are what matter.

According to Flag Counter, there are some 242 unique countries, protectorates, and territories around the globe. This total does not include the states and provinces within the larger entities, such as the 51 states or districts of the USA or the 13 provinces or territories of Canada. So with 206 flags collected so far, there are 242-206=36 countries which have yet to visit. The Flag Counter on PhilosFX lets me know the names of the "Never" countries, so I am going to stretch a little beyond my reach and attempt to connect with some more of these more distant locales.


Table 1. The "Never" Countries: 53 36 countries who have yet to visit PhilosFX

American Samoa		Guinea 12/26/18		Sao Tome and Principe
Angola		Guinea-Bissau		Sierra Leone
Bhutan		Lesotho		Sint Maarten
British Indian Ocean Terr.		Liechtenstein		Somalia
Burkina Faso 12/26/18		Marshall Islands		South Sudan
Cape Verde		Mauritania		Svalbard
Central African Republic		New Caledonia		Swaziland
Christmas Island		Niger 12/25/18		The Gambia 12/26/18
Comoros		Niue		Timor-Leste
Djibouti 12/26/18		Norfolk Island		Togo 12/26/18
Equatorial Guinea		North Korea		Tokelau
Eritrea		Palau		Tonga
Falkland Islands		Republic of the Congo		Turkmenistan
Faroe Islands		Rwanda		Tuvalu
Fiji 2/25/2018		Saint Barthelemy		Vanuatu 12/25/18
French Polynesia		Saint Helena		Vatican City
Greenland		Saint Pierre and Miquelon		Wallis and Futuna
Guernsey		Samoa 12/25/18

So next time one of you is in French Polynesia, Svalbard, or Vatican City, do a brother a solid and visit PhilosFX! I would like to see the number of "Never Countries" slowly reduce to zero and for the evidence of connections in the world of ideas to spread.

What is driving this quest is similar to the passion behind my global stamp collection or the fact that I keep track of all the different beers I've tried from countries around the world. Life is short and precious. We only get so much time. I do not want to live in isolation, Rather, I long to connect, and one way to connect is via the hive mind that is the Internet.

Thanks for reading. If you know someone in one of the 36 countries in Table 1 above, send them a link to your favorite blog! And keep that link handy when you leave home for Saints Barthelemy, Helena, or Pierre and Miquelon! 

My Fascination With Flags

I reckon most bloggers write primarily for intrinsic rewards: it feels good to write, and the satisfaction of writing is its own rich reward. Some bloggers garner tons of followers and maybe even make a living at blogging, but I'd venture to guess that most of us are satisfied with the simple pleasure of contributing content to the stream of human consciousness. 

That said, a little feedback or interaction never hurt anyone--in fact, it's like icing on the cake. 

So although I say I write for the joy of writing, I admit that I am thrilled to know that people all around the globe have stopped by for the unique blend of Philosophy and Special Effects we call PhilosFX. I love travel, geography, and culture--so naturally, I love the way flags represent distinct countries around the world. Flags are fascinating! 

Thanks to my Flag Counter application, we have the following statistics regarding PhilosFX visitors:

• People from 187 of 242 countries have visited, including countries from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.  
• We've collected 250 different flags, including those from the states, provinces, and territories of the United States and Canada.
• There are 55 countries whose citizens have yet to visit PhilosFX, including some I'd have trouble locating on a globe, such as Kiribati, Niue, and Svalbard. Others, such as North Korea, lack sufficient Internet access.
• Some 47 countries have a single visitor representing them. These are often small or remote countries with little Internet footprint. The most recent of these counties were Malawi, Nauru, and Mayotte.

The global dispersion of flag markers is illustrated in the screen capture figures shown below.

Mercator Projection map of the world showing 187 flags, one for each country with one or more visitors to PhilosFX

Close-up of flags in European and the Middle Eastern countries

Close-up of  Flags in several Central America and Caribbean countries.

Why does this matter? Where are we going? Here are some flag-related goals for PhilosFX

• Of course I would like people from all 242 countries of the world to visit and enjoy PhilosFX. I want the list of "never" countries to shrink to zero from 55. This is a measure of the breadth of the site's reach.
• My counter shows the 48 countries with the most visits. As a measure of the site's depth, I'd like to see the 48th ranked country garner even more unique visits. We are currently at 27 and rising!
• My home country of the USA accounts for 63% of the 30,000 unique (non-repeat) visits. I want to sustain the trend that over a third of all unique visitors are from foreign countries around the world. This reflects the site's global appeal. 
• All visitors from all countries are most welcome here! Visit, read, comment, and--if you like what you see--share. This most important measure reflects the quality and impact of the site's content.

BOTTOM LINE: PhilosFX has enjoyed about 134,000 visits total, about 30,000 of whom were unique visitors. That means that about 104,000 people have visited this site more than once. While I am fascinated with flags, I am particularly grateful for the global networked community of people who create and consume blog content.

Thanks for stopping by!