Dinar

Several countries use the currency "dinar." Almost all are majority Muslim (e.g., Algeria and Jordan). One is not majority Muslim; what is that country?

Comments

[Martinned]

Two: Serbia and North Macedonia.

[defaultdotxbe]

Technically North Macedonia uses the "denar."

[Gandydancer]

Technically it uses something designated in Cyrillic.

[TwelveInchPianist]

If you look at the Macedonian version of wiki, it spells the Macedonian Dinar with a Cyrillic "e" and the Jordanian Dinar with a backwards N, which is like an i.

[ReaderY]

Both were provinces of the Ottoman Empire until well into the 19th century, just like the Muslim-majority countries that use the dinar (many of whom stopped being provinces of the Ottoman Empire only after WWI.) Their currency doubtless reflects that history. Their population may never have been majority Muslim, but their culture was Muslim dominated.

It reflects the fact that Westerners were hardly the only people who were conquerors and colonists and cultural imposers. The Ottomans conquered and colonized large parts of Europe, imposing their language and culture on Europeans much as Europeans did on Asians and Africans that they conquered and colonized. They also enslaved many white Europeans.

[Frank Drackman]

Serbia, close but no cigar is North Macedonia ("Denar")
Got a bunch of Polish Zloty's, Austrian Schillings, Deutsche Marks, Italian Lira, Czech Korunas, Croat Kuna's. Slovenian Tolars, and some Saudi Riyals (really just Amurican dollars, exchange rate hasn't changed in 50 years, it's always 3.75 riyals/$)
and some of the Iraqui 20 Dinar notes with Sadaam on the front,

Frank

[Orbital Mechanic]

From ChatGPT-3.5:

What country uses the dinar as the unit of currency and is not majority muslim?

Among these countries, North Macedonia and Serbia are not majority Muslim. North Macedonia is a predominantly Christian country, with the Eastern Orthodox Church being the largest denomination, while Serbia is also predominantly Christian, with the Serbian Orthodox Church being the largest denomination. Both countries use the dinar as their official currency.

[Mr. Bumble]

So does spelling count?
EV asks: " [One] is not majority Muslim; what is that country? "
that would be Serbia. North Macedonia is not Muslim majority, but uses the denar.

[Dr. Ed 2]

You have to worry about translation from a non-Roman alphabet -- scholars debate the correct English letter and sometimes the translation is changed. Two examples are Peking vs Beijing and Khadafy vs Gadhafi.

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

Muslims, drag queens, transgender bathrooms, lesbians . . . this blog has some strange and enduring fixations.

[Frank Drackman]

and you're their all time best seller!

[Kazinski]

None.

North Macedonia uses денар, and Serbia uses динара.

I spent more than a month last year in North Macedonia, Serbia, and Montenegro, as well as 6 weeks in Turkey and Greece.

[Frank Drackman]

Know a Surgeon from Montenegro, of course he lived there when it was part of the "former Yugoslavia", loves to talk about how all these crazy Croatians, Slovenians, Montenegros, Macedonians, Bosniacs, Serbs (Know I'm leaving somebody out) talked about having their own countries, of course it could never happen here!

[TwelveInchPianist]

The Serbian Government Website says its currency is the српски динар.

[silverpie]

“Serbia uses динара”
That’s the plural. The singular is динар, which transliterates as dinar.

[The Turtle Dove]

In fairness, Cyrillic isn't universally used in Serbia. Mostly government notices, traditional institutions, etc.

And, checking my wallet, I see that the notes themselves have (in addition to the Cyrillic) "xxxx Dinara".

Mr. D.

[The Margrave of Azilia]

If you have a dinar, can you buy dinner?

Could you at least pay for a date?

[The Turtle Dove]

The influence of many years of Turkish occupation have left a distinct trace on that part of the world. See the novels of Ivo Andric. Also in the day-to-day life--the universal custom of removing the shoes on entering the house traces from then. And, in the other direction, you have the legendary stray dogs of Belgrade, defeating the Turk by swimming back under cover of night after being hauled off en masse. (Having encountered one or two on a morning run when in Belgrade, it's a mixed blessing.)

Mr. D.

[The Margrave of Azilia]

"And, in the other direction, you have the legendary stray dogs of Belgrade, defeating the Turk by swimming back under cover of night after being hauled off en masse."

Why isn't Hollywood vying for the movie rights?

[Burkhard]

The UK might start using it again soon, or at least return to the "£sd" currency system, where the "d" stood for "dinar" (even though the name for the currency at that time was already the pence). Rolling back evil European decimalisation and finally reaping the advantages of Brexit is a key priority in particular for the honourable member for the 18th century. A particularly appropriate move as our currencies would then be pronounced "ell-ess-dee", lawful tender for the unicorn eggs on which we'll rebuild the economy