2QUESTION 2 OF 3
Answer & explanation
The official answer, with Fermi’s reasoning step by step.
Answer & explanation
Official answer
93
countries
How to estimate it
Fermi’s official “Napkin math”
Start with the 193 countries in the UN. New York has about 8 million people. How many countries are smaller than that? There are lots of tiny island nations, so maybe half.
- UN countries
- 193
- Smaller than NYC
- ≈ half
- 193 ÷ 2
- ≈ 97
Rounded assumptions may give a slightly different estimate. The official answer above is the game’s reference value.
Source calculation & reference
- New York City, July 2025 (US Census Bureau)
- ≈ 8,580,000
- UN members with fewer people, World Bank 2024 figures
- 93 of 193
- ≈
- 93 countries
Reference cited by Fermi: World Bank World Development Indicators, 2024 population by country · US Census Bureau Vintage 2025 estimate for New York City (8,584,629)
How close was your guess?
Your comparison will appear here.
Compare by ratio: divide the larger number by the smaller one. The closer to 1×, the better.