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4 Colour Theorem: All The World’s Countries Can Be Coloured Using Only 4 Colours, So That No Two Adjacent Countries Share The Same Colour

April 11, 2018 3 Comments

4 Colour Theorem: All The World's Countries Can Be Coloured Using Only 4 Colours So That No Two Adjacent Countries Have The Same Colour

Map created by Fibonacci on Wikimedia

The map shows the four colour theorem in practice.

The theorm states that:

… given any separation of a plane into contiguous regions, producing a figure called a map, no more than four colors are required to color the regions of the map so that no two adjacent regions have the same color. Adjacent means that two regions share a common boundary curve segment, not merely a corner where three or more regions meet.

In actual, fact the map uses 5 colours, if you include the white used for the oceans, although it would still technically be possible to draw a world map using only 4 colours, if landlocked countries shared the same colour as the ocean.

Want to read more on the subject? The good news is that there’s a surprising number of books about it:

  • Four Colors Suffice: How the Map Problem Was Solved
  • The Four-Color Theorem: History, Topological Foundations, and Idea of Proof
  • The Four Colour Theorem
  • Graphs, Colourings and the Four-Colour Theorem

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Filed Under: World Maps

Comments

  1. Will Bishop says

    April 28, 2018 at 11:38 pm

    The four-color theorem does not prove that the world map can be four-colored, because some countries consist of non-contiguous regions (like the U.S., Russia, and Azerbaijan). It happens to work out anyway due to the placement of those countries.

    Reply
  2. PabloExpox says

    May 3, 2018 at 4:30 pm

    Certainly. It was and with me. We can communicate on this theme.

    Reply
  3. Jo says

    March 5, 2022 at 10:15 am

    Disgusting map. It even shows Taiwan is part of China. I don’t know how much you have received from the Chinese gov to design such a misleading and disgusting map.

    Reply

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