2QUESTION 2 OF 3
Answer & explanation
The official answer, with Fermi’s reasoning step by step.
Answer & explanation
Official answer
11,800
years
How to estimate it
Fermi’s official “Napkin math”
There's one ambassador for each of the 193 member countries. How old is a typical one? They're senior diplomats well into long careers, so mid fifties. Call it 55.
- UN ambassadors
- 193
- Typical age
- ~55
- ~200 × 55
- ≈ 11,000
Rounded assumptions may give a slightly different estimate. The official answer above is the game’s reference value.
Source calculation & reference
- Current UN ambassadors with a published birth date (58 of 193)
- average age ≈ 61
- One ambassador per member country
- × 193
- 193 × 61
- ≈ 11,800
Reference cited by Fermi: UN Protocol list of permanent representatives in New York (as listed on Wikipedia, December 2025), with birth dates from Wikidata for the 58 who have one: average age 61
How close was your guess?
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