News:

Thank you for your patience during the Forum downtime while we upgraded the software. Welcome back and see this thread for some new features and other changes to the forum.

Main Menu

This is true? - Geographic oddities that defy conventional wisdom

Started by The Nature Boy, November 28, 2015, 10:07:02 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

bing101

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uttar_Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh, India is the World's most populated Province it's bigger than even multiple countries.



hotdogPi

Quote from: bing101 on March 29, 2018, 02:05:35 PM
it's bigger than even multiple countries.

Better wording: "If it were its own country, it would be ranked 7th in population."
Clinched, minus I-93 (I'm missing a few miles and my file is incorrect)

Traveled, plus US 13, 44, and 50, and several state routes

I will be in Burlington VT for the eclipse.

dvferyance

Quote from: bing101 on March 29, 2018, 02:05:35 PM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uttar_Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh, India is the World's most populated Province it's bigger than even multiple countries.
Same could be said about California.

adventurernumber1

Quote from: dvferyance on March 29, 2018, 06:00:09 PM
Quote from: bing101 on March 29, 2018, 02:05:35 PM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uttar_Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh, India is the World's most populated Province it's bigger than even multiple countries.
Same could be said about California.

As an example, California's population (39,536,653) is slightly larger than that of Canada's (with a population of 35,151,728).
Now alternating between different highway shields for my avatar - my previous highway shield avatar for the last few years was US 76.

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/127322363@N08/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-vJ3qa8R-cc44Cv6ohio1g

freebrickproductions

Quote from: adventurernumber1 on March 30, 2018, 12:52:05 AM
Quote from: dvferyance on March 29, 2018, 06:00:09 PM
Quote from: bing101 on March 29, 2018, 02:05:35 PM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uttar_Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh, India is the World's most populated Province it's bigger than even multiple countries.
Same could be said about California.

As an example, California's population (39,536,653) is slightly larger than that of Canada's (with a population of 35,151,728).

I've also heard people claiming that it's the 6th largest economy in the world, or would be if it were its own country. And that its taxpayers are pretty much subsidizing many other states in the US with the taxes they pay.
It's all fun & games until someone summons Cthulhu and brings about the end of the world.

I also collect traffic lights, road signs, fans, and railroad crossing equipment.

(They/Them)

english si

Quote from: bing101 on March 29, 2018, 02:05:35 PMit's bigger than even multiple countries.
I can say that about my town.

Vatican City - 800
Tuvalu - 10,100
Nauru - 10,800
Palau - 17,800

My town doesn't make it to these, but the urban area does:

San Marino - 33,196
Monaco - 37,550
Liechtenstein - 38,111
St Kitts and Nevis - 46,204
Marshall Islands - 55,000

And the following take us to Wyoming (or my county of Bucks):

Dominica - 71,293
Andorra - 78,264
Antigua and Barbuda - 86,295
Seychelles - 94,205
Tonga - 100,600
Grenada - 103,328
Micronesia - 104,600
St Vincent and the Grenadines - 109,557
Kiribati - 115,300
St Lucia - 178,844
Sao Tome and Principe - 187,356
Samoa - 197,448
Barbados - 285,719
Vanuatu - 289,700
Maldives - 344,023
Iceland - 348,580
Bahamas - 382,460
Belize - 380,010
Brunei - 422,678
Malta - 434,403
Cape Verde - 537,661
Suriname - 541,638
Quote from: 1 on March 29, 2018, 02:09:51 PMBetter wording: "If it were its own country, it would be ranked 7th in population."
5th, probably - the roughly 200 million figure that wikipedia has is from 2011. It's now supposedly about 220 million (10% in 6 years sounds OK with a 1.4% growth rate in India*), which takes it above Brazil's 209 million and Pakistan's 211 million.

*But even if that's a high estimate, two thirds of that would be enough to overtake Pakistan.
Quote from: freebrickproductions on March 30, 2018, 02:01:54 AMI've also heard people claiming that it's the 6th largest economy in the world
Wikipedia saying 5th (ie higher than France and the UK who keep swapping about 5th or 6th) and the figure they give matches that claim.

Chris

From a European perspective it's easy to underestimate the size of countries like Argentina. This trip is approximately the same length as Helsinki to Gibraltar. Or from France to Iran. Or Ottawa to Los Angeles.


mrpablue

Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on March 29, 2018, 05:26:00 AM
Quote from: mrpablue on March 28, 2018, 08:16:46 PM
Cartagena, Colombia is farther north than Costa Rica capital, San Jose.

FTFY.

As a Spanish speaker and a person with a Spanish given name, that was pretty embarrassing.
Maybe I was thinking of San Juan, Puerto Rico - pretty similar place names for capitals in roughly the same region.

freebrickproductions

Quote from: Chris on March 30, 2018, 09:36:13 AM
From a European perspective it's easy to underestimate the size of countries like Argentina. This trip is approximately the same length as Helsinki to Gibraltar. Or from France to Iran. Or Ottawa to Los Angeles.


Apparently a lot of Europeans and Japanese visiting the US will underestimate the distances between some of the largest cities in the US, though it probably doesn't help that the US has several large cities close together in the northeast (similar to Japan and many European countries), while other major cities are on the opposite side of the country with a whole lot of near nothing in between (for most tourists anyways).
It's all fun & games until someone summons Cthulhu and brings about the end of the world.

I also collect traffic lights, road signs, fans, and railroad crossing equipment.

(They/Them)

Flint1979

Quote from: empirestate on January 21, 2018, 07:53:27 AM
Quote from: GaryV on January 21, 2018, 07:16:39 AM
Quote from: SignGeek101 on January 20, 2018, 11:49:06 PM
Canada's southernmost land border is farther south than Rome, downtown Chicago, and the California-Oregon border.
I don't think you are saying what you mean to say there, since Canada's only land borders are with Alaska, Washington to Minnesota, and New York to Maine.

Canada's southernmost mainland, Point Pelee, is farther south than the California-Oregon border, and about equal with Rome.  It's about a tenth of a degree north of downtown Chicago.  If you include Pelee Island and the smaller Middle Island in Lake Erie, then your claims are true.



Yes, and it seems the southernmost border–land or otherwise–also holds true. In this case, it's a maritime border in Lake Erie.

(Speaking of Lake Erie, a rough glance suggests that its western end is closer to Chicago than to Buffalo.)
Lake Erie's western end is about 60-70 miles closer to Chicago than it is to Buffalo.

Chris

Quote from: freebrickproductions on March 30, 2018, 01:28:34 PM
Apparently a lot of Europeans and Japanese visiting the US will underestimate the distances between some of the largest cities in the US, though it probably doesn't help that the US has several large cities close together in the northeast (similar to Japan and many European countries), while other major cities are on the opposite side of the country with a whole lot of near nothing in between (for most tourists anyways).

A typical misunderstanding is that Chicago would be halfway from New York to San Francisco.

CNGL-Leudimin

About subdivisions that are more populated than entire countries, I've actually been to one country that is less populated than my province. Having Andorra right next door helps :sombrero:, even though I was a child when I went there. I've also spotted Monaco, which is less populated than my hometown, but didn't enter as I was passing through the area on French A8 on my way to Italy.
Supporter of the construction of several running gags, including I-366 with a speed limit of 85 mph (137 km/h) and the Hypotenuse.

Please note that I may mention "invalid" FM channels, i.e. ending in an even number or down to 87.5. These are valid in Europe.

adwerkema

A small portion of Florida is west of Chicago the center of Chicago (Madison and State St intersection).

Westernmost Florida longitude: 87.634631 W
Chicago longitude: 87.6298 W

empirestate

From the files of "not an oddity at all and doesn't defy anyone's wisdom but my own"...

I can't wrap my mind around where the major cities of Illinois are located. I have it ingrained in my head that Peoria is in the southeast, and Bloomington/Normal is in a north-central region (must be pretty close to Rockford, consequently). Don't know where I picked up this errant mental picture, but it sure is stubborn!

english si

Quote from: Chris on March 30, 2018, 02:43:23 PMA typical misunderstanding is that Chicago would be halfway from New York to San Francisco.
Well Chicago is just east of the mid-West and mid-West implies something like 'the middle of the West' or 'the West of the Middle', so a bit east of that would be in the middle...  :-P

kphoger

Quote from: adwerkema on April 26, 2018, 09:01:00 PM
A small portion of Florida is west of Chicago.

Westernmost Florida longitude: 87.634631 W
Chicago longitude: 87.6298 W

Not even counting O'Hare, Chicago goes out to 87.86°W, so no point in Florida is west of Chicago.

However, even the fact that part of Florida is as far west as Chicago totally blew my mind.
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

CtrlAltDel

Quote from: english si on May 04, 2018, 01:42:28 PM
Quote from: Chris on March 30, 2018, 02:43:23 PMA typical misunderstanding is that Chicago would be halfway from New York to San Francisco.
Well Chicago is just east of the mid-West and mid-West implies something like 'the middle of the West' or 'the West of the Middle', so a bit east of that would be in the middle...  :-P

That's interesting. I would consider Chicago to be in the middle of the Midwest.
Interstates clinched: 4, 57, 275 (IN-KY-OH), 465 (IN), 640 (TN), 985
State Interstates clinched: I-26 (TN), I-75 (GA), I-75 (KY), I-75 (TN), I-81 (WV), I-95 (NH)

hbelkins

Quote from: empirestate on May 04, 2018, 12:20:32 PM
From the files of "not an oddity at all and doesn't defy anyone's wisdom but my own"...

I can't wrap my mind around where the major cities of Illinois are located. I have it ingrained in my head that Peoria is in the southeast, and Bloomington/Normal is in a north-central region (must be pretty close to Rockford, consequently). Don't know where I picked up this errant mental picture, but it sure is stubborn!

I'm the same way with California, and to a lesser extent Florida, but not with major cities, but with minor ones.

In California, I can place San Diego, Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Francisco/Oakland, but any of the other cities that are frequently mentioned, I don't know whether they are in the north or the south. For instance, Modesto. That's were former Kentucky basketball player Chuck Hayes was from. I'd have to find it on a map because I have no clue what it's near or what part of the state it's in.

For Florida, the issue is beach towns. Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa/St. Pete, Miami? Check. But name any popular beach city other than Daytona, and I'm clueless. I don't know whether Palm Beach is closer to Cape Canaveral or Key West.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

abefroman329

I really have no idea where any cities in Texas are.  Houston is on the Gulf?  If you say so!

CtrlAltDel

Quote from: kphoger on May 04, 2018, 02:57:19 PM
Quote from: adwerkema on April 26, 2018, 09:01:00 PM
A small portion of Florida is west of Chicago.

Westernmost Florida longitude: 87.634631 W
Chicago longitude: 87.6298 W

Not even counting O'Hare, Chicago goes out to 87.86°W, so no point in Florida is west of Chicago.

However, even the fact that part of Florida is as far west as Chicago totally blew my mind.

People seem to underestimate how much the east coast slants to the west as you move south. The state of New York, for example, lies entirely to the east of Florida.

This, of course, is part of the reason EW interstates in the area tend to have a significant NS component.
Interstates clinched: 4, 57, 275 (IN-KY-OH), 465 (IN), 640 (TN), 985
State Interstates clinched: I-26 (TN), I-75 (GA), I-75 (KY), I-75 (TN), I-81 (WV), I-95 (NH)

adwerkema

Quote from: kphoger on May 04, 2018, 02:57:19 PM
Quote from: adwerkema on April 26, 2018, 09:01:00 PM
A small portion of Florida is west of Chicago.

Westernmost Florida longitude: 87.634631 W
Chicago longitude: 87.6298 W

Not even counting O'Hare, Chicago goes out to 87.86°W, so no point in Florida is west of Chicago.

However, even the fact that part of Florida is as far west as Chicago totally blew my mind.

Thanks for the correction. I should have wrote "is west of the center of Chicago (Madison and State streets)".

bing101



Wendover productions did a YouTube segment on Guam but the host got one thing wrong about California being tropical when in reality its a Chaparral climate.

But guam is closer to the Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, North Korea and South Korea and China than the USA.

Yes Guam is a US Colony that has the population of Elk Grove, California. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elk_Grove,_California

bing101


Nanis

The tip of Idaho is smaller then Delaware turned on its side.
Map of state roads I have taken pictures for the signs for can be seen here (although four routes ave not been added yet because of their lengths.):
https://www.scribblemaps.com/maps/view/us_route_map/s7vYO7rC80

Rothman

Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.



Opinions expressed here on belong solely to the poster and do not represent or reflect the opinions or beliefs of AARoads, its creators and/or associates.