Chad vs Romania

Why people mix them up

This is a flag problem, not a name problem. Chad and Romania both fly a vertical tricolour of blue, yellow and red, and the two flags are so alike that they are regularly cited as the most similar national flags in the world. Chad's blue is officially a darker indigo shade and Romania's a lighter cobalt, but on a screen or in a flag quiz the difference is almost invisible. The countries themselves are on different continents and have nothing else in common.

How to tell them apart

• Chad is in central Africa, landlocked in the Sahara and Sahel; Romania is in south-eastern Europe with a Black Sea coast.
• Chad's flag blue is a deep indigo; Romania's is a brighter, lighter blue. When in doubt, the darker flag is Chad.
• Chad is more than five times bigger, about 1.28 million km² against Romania's 238,000 km².
• Chad's official languages are French and Arabic, and its capital is N'Djamena; Romania speaks Romanian and its capital is Bucharest.
• Chad borders Libya, Sudan, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger; Romania borders Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria, Moldova and Ukraine.
• Romania is in the EU and uses the leu; Chad uses the Central African CFA franc.

Memory hook

Chad is the one with the Sahara and the darker, dustier blue. Romania has the Danube, the Black Sea and the brighter blue of the European flag it sits next to.

On the map

For Chad, find Libya on the Mediterranean and tap the large country directly south of it, with Sudan to the east and Niger and Nigeria to the west; Lake Chad sits on its south-western border. For Romania, find the western shore of the Black Sea, then tap the country north of Bulgaria and south of Ukraine, with the Carpathian mountains curling through the middle. Romania is the one with the Danube delta on its coast.