#the.indian.balcony

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How do you say the number 57? 

Taking Asia's case in point, different countries call numbers in different structures in their languages.

The Northern Indian Subcontinent and The Arabian peninsula, would say the units digit first, followed by the tens digit. Like in Hindi, 64 would be Chausath (Chau:4, Sath:60) or Chaushatti (Chau:4, Shatti:60) in Bengali.

While the South of India and Manipur along with Central Asia would say 57 with the tens digit first followed by the units place- as fifty seven, much like in English. So in Tamil, 57 is Ambathi eḻu (Ambathi: 50, eḻu:7) or Malayalam Ampathi ezhu (Ampathi: 50, ezhu:7).

Much of East and South East Asia follows a basic form of number structures. For Example in China, 57 is broken down into 5x10+7 and would be called Wǔshíqī (Wǔ:5, Shí:10, Qī:7). 63 would be 6X10+3. In Cambodia, the number system has been simplified further with Number Names existing just for 1 to 5 and the Tens. 6 is called 5+1, 7 is called 5+2.

Finally to the systems that are farthest from the usual. With Bhutan and Georgia both following a vigesimal system or a 20 base system, just like French. Where in 77 would be called 3x20+10+7. Mind boggling calculations.

Numbers are much more diverse than we think they are. @loverofgeography created a post on how numbers are called in Europe, this one shows Asia's Diversity.

by the.indian.balcony

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What are National Honours named after?

What are National Honours named after? The Highest National Honour of a Country carries immense significance as an award and prestige. But how it is named gives a direct insight to the country's culture.

The Western Asian Islamic Countries name their highest honour after one single important person like King Abdulaziz Saud (Saudi Arabia), Zayed bin Sultan (UAE) or after the country itself Nishan-e-Pakistan (Order of Pakistan) or Order of Merit of Syria. Indicating the relevance of a person and place.

While East Asian countries, generally name its highest honours after something of great cultural importance. Like Polar Star (Mongolia), Mugunghwa Flower (South Korea), Elephants (Laos). Which shows the significance and rootedness of the culture.

India, China, two of the world's most populous countries, chose to go with something which would be more inclusive for varied cultures and beliefs, hence choosing a simple adjective, Bharat Ratna (The Gem of India), The Friendship Medal (China).

While Central Asia, chose something even simpler, they called the person who won the highest national award, A Hero!

by the.indian.balcony

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How were countries named in Asia

The name of the country is one of the main and foremost identities of any country. Although how that name comes to existence is a fascinating story in itself. A country can have an exonym which is how it is known to the world (India, Japan) and an endonym which is how it is know to that country's people (Bharat, Nippon). Taking Asia's case in point with exonyms, a lot of country's borrow their names from the ethnic groups or people that have existed in those lands and are of extreme importance, like Kazakhstan after the Kazakhs and Malaysia after the Malay people. Some countries borrow their name from geographical features that define the country, like how the Indus River defines India, how Vietnam was a land in the South of China and how the Lebanon Mountains make up the region of Lebanon. Other countries, refer to their historical regions, cities and kingdoms for their names, like China and the Qin Kingdom, Syria and the Assyrian Region. While a select few have their names as they aspire to be, like how Yemen yearns to be a blessed, fertile land and how Thailand aspires to be the land of the free.

by the.indian.balcony

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Asia counting systems. How do you say number 57?

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How India's Capital Cities got their names.

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