Are there any countries as "worldbuilding" as Australia?

Question

Just a curious Australian.

Are there any other countries that get referenced as frequently as Australia does?

Australia got mentioned in an answer yesterday to "How can massive forest burning be an entirely terrible thing?"

Australia is mentioned in 178 questions, and is also mentioned in answers that aren't targeted with Australia, such as this one about living underground. The latter (it being mentioned in answers or comments) is more what I'm after, rather than being mentioned in questions, as a serendipitous source of inspiration or information.

This may be a meme of Worldbuilding, but I don't know whether I'm justified in it being an entry without being able to back it up with data.

Answer 1

Not really an answer to the why, but:

• "United States" appears in 257 questions
• "China" appears in 249 questions
• "Russia" appears in 174 questions

so it's not the only country getting much attention.

Obviously, these are much larger and populous than Australia, so on a per-capita basis, you still win. I guess Australia, being the smallest continent, largest island (depending on your definition), unique wildlife, and being the last of the habitable continents to be 'discovered' by the modern world, has some special attractiveness to worldbuilders.

Answer 2

Dude... from the perspective of this American, Australia is the ultimate worldbuilding location!

I obviously cannot speak for all Americans, but from my perspective, Australia is the ultimate worldbuilding location. An ancient continent with modern attachments, a nefarious western culture beginning with wonderful artistic, scientific, and cultural achievements. It's still a land of mystery where it's easy to believe vast tracts have yet to be explored by any but its most ancient inhabitants. From the perspective of the outside, magic may yet be found in Australia!

In my humble opinion, no other modern continent or country has that unique mystique. Thanks to China's cultural revolution, its mystery lies entirely in its past. Russia's mystery lies at the industrial revolution with the Czars. Does America have mystery? How would I know? To me, everything in my country makes sense to the extent of boredom.

And I wouldn't be surprised if you felt something the same, wondering about why Australia is so frequently used in a worldbuilding context. After all, you grew up with it, right? Where's the mystery?

What can I say... Congratulations. The world in which you live has a charm that some of us — perhaps many — believe reflects the fun of worldbuilding.

Answer 3

I believe most users around here are either american, brittish, or from countries that were heavily influenced by either of those in the 20th century. That gives us a perspective which has been well described by JBH.

My particular interest on Australia has to do with biology. From memory I think that Australia has the world's largest and most venomous jellyfish and spiders. The latter sometimes eat birds. You've got bats so big they're called flying foxes. You've got the platypus, which would totally be something we could come up with in this site if it weren't real. And don't get me started on the animal that, for non-australians at least, is the stereotypical representative of your fauna.

Due to its unique position in the world, a lot of Australia's fauna is so unique that it is nearly alien-like to the rest of the world. That will always be a source of inspiration for many biology answers.