Editing 2996: CIDABM

{{comic
| number    = 2996
| date      = October 9, 2024
| title     = CIDABM
| image     = cidabm_2x.png
| imagesize = 423x480px
| noexpand  = true
| titletext = There's a heated debate over whether the big island of Tierra del Fuego should qualify for membership.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by A BOT DANGLING AWKWARDLY FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE WIKI - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

The comic parodies intergovernmental cooperations, such as the {{w|G7}} "group of seven" (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States) or the {{w|BRICS}} group (originally '''B'''razil, '''R'''ussia, '''I'''ndia and '''C'''hina, with '''S'''outh Africa soon after rounding off the acronym before further nations attained membership). Such treaties, and other more casual associations between nations, can be based upon some close association in geographical, political, cultural and/or economic terms (or even, in some cases, by little more than sharing a common opposition to a ''different'' {{w|Trade bloc|bloc}} of nations).

The "CIDABM" group, named for the very specific membership criteria, has been formed on a rather more abstract basis than most geographically-focused groupings (e.g. {{w|NATO}} or the {{w|Pacific Islands Forum}}) and (currently) consists of four otherwise disparate islands:
*{{w|Sicily}} is an autonomous region of {{w|Italy}}, which is on the southern edge of the {{w|Eurasia}}n mainland.
*{{w|Sri Lanka}} is a nation in its own right, south of {{w|India}}, which is also on the southern edge of the Eurasian mainland.
*{{w|Hainan}} is a province of {{w|China}}, which is also on the southern edge of the Eurasian mainland.
*{{w|Tasmania}} is a state of the nation of {{w|Australia}}, south of the eastern side of {{w|Australia (continent)|continental Australia}} mainland.

These four islands 'dangle below' their mainlands only because of the convention of having north at the top of maps. If the mapmaking convention had instead been to have south at the top, the islands might have been described as floating above their continents. Conversely, {{w|Madagascar}}, {{w|Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland}} or {{w|Adelaide Island}} might have been applicable members of similar 'dangling' alliances where the basic premise might come from one or other different map orientations.  

The big island of Tierra del Fuego ({{w|Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego}}), mentioned in the title text, is off the southern tip of the {{w|Chile}}an mainland (as well as a small bit of {{w|Argentina}}). Unlike the others in the comic, it doesn't prominently 'dangle' south of a mainland: it has narrow channels separating its northern and northwestern sides from the mainland, and other parts of the {{w|Tierra del Fuego}} archipelago surround its southwestern side and make it appear well-connected to the mainland. In addition, it isn't a single political entity: the island is split between Chile to the west and Argentina to the east. The 'heated debate' mentioned in the title text may be a play on ''Tierra del Fuego'' being Spanish for ''Land of Fire''.

While the banner on stage depicts each of the islands with approximately the same size, Tasmania (68,400 km²) and Sri Lanka (65,600 km²) are much larger than Hainan (35,200 km²) and Sicily (25,800 km²). Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego is in the middle sizewise (48,000 km²). Other islands that didn't make the cut for the comic are {{w|Corsica}} (8,700 km², south of France's mainland), {{w|Cyprus}} (9,300 km², south of Turkey) or {{w|Kyushu}} (36,800 km²) and {{w|Shikoku}} (18,800 km²) that are very close and south of the Japanese mainland of Honshu - like Tierra del Fuego, the status of all these islands as "awkwardly dangling" could be disputed, when regarding the four 'founding members' of the new coalition. {{w|Gotland}} (3,200 km²) and {{w|Long Island}} (3,600 km²) are even smaller and, like {{w|Taiwan}} (36,200 km²), they are arguably dangling more to the east than the south of their respective mainlands. The {{w|Isle of Wight}} (merely 380 km²) probably qualifies for "awkward", but not for "big"; the same likely goes for {{w|Stewart Island}}/Rakiura (1,746 km²), which dangles south of the South Island of New Zealand. {{w|Cuba}} (105,800 km²) which "dangles" south of Florida seems to also not quite fit the theme. {{w|Sumatra}} (482,300 km²), dangling south of the Malay peninsula, might actually be too large to qualify for the club.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[A banner hangs at the top of the frame, labelled C.I.D.A.B.M., with several map segments on it. Four portions of land are shown in grey with a smaller island south of each in black.]
:[Hairbun, Cueball, Megan, and Hairy stand on a podium. The first two are shaking hands and Hairy is waving.]

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Geopolitical news: Sicily, Sri Lanka, Hainan, and Tasmania have joined together to form the Coalition of Islands that Dangle Awkwardly from the Bottom of a Mainland.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Geography]]