[mckn1ght]

I was wondering what kind of metric could be used to visualize a nation’s ability to project power. Maybe some ratio involving the furthest distance from the capital city to the nation’s border?

I’m curious why the sqrt of the population in the denominator?

[cperciva]

Square root of the population is because that's what it takes to normalize large vs small countries. Imagine slicing a country into quarters; each slice has a quarter of the population and half the radius.

[MarkusQ]

I think that's supposed to be read as "or"? (I momentarily had the same confusion myself.)