Answer & explanation
The official answer, with Fermi’s reasoning step by step.
Answer & explanation
Official answer
266
minutes
How to estimate it
Fermi’s official “Napkin math”
Start with the number of countries, about 200, and each one has an anthem. How long is an anthem? Picture an Olympic medal ceremony, with the winner on the podium while their anthem plays. That feels like about a minute and a half, so call that the average.
- Countries
- ~200
- Minutes per anthem
- × 1.5
- 200 × 1.5
- ≈ 300 minutes
Rounded assumptions may give a slightly different estimate. The official answer above is the game’s reference value.
Source calculation & reference
- Anthems of every nation at the 2008 Beijing Olympics
- 205
- Total running time (Alex Marshall, Mail & Guardian)
- 4 h 26 min 25 s
- 4 × 60 + 26
- ≈ 266 minutes
Reference cited by Fermi: Alex Marshall, Mail & Guardian (19 August 2008): all 205 national anthems of the Beijing Olympics nations add up to 4 hours, 26 minutes and 25 seconds
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