This is true? - Geographic oddities that defy conventional wisdom

[skluth]

We could put the whole America/Americas/North and South America thing to rest, by renaming North America to Laurentia (like it is know in geological circles), and then South America could be plain America. The downside is that the USA would need to be renamed as well.

I don't see how that would be a requirement.

Like how they never renamed the Holy Roman Empire?

The Byzantine Empire considered themselves Romans until it fell to the Turks in the 15th Century.

[Evan_Th]

Here's another interesting one: Between the WV-VA border and the NY-ON border, I-81 only passes through two counties with population under 100k (Susquehanna PA and Cortland NY). We can add in Frederick County, VA if we add in the population of the City of Winchester.

That's really surprising, considering how rural the Pennsylvanian mountains look along it.

[webny99]

In the 270 miles between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, I-15 does not enter a county with less than 2 million people. 

You can go even further if you say between Las Vegas and the southern terminus. San Diego County has 3.2 million.

Yep, that's much better (I actually forgot that I-15 went to San Diego  ).

And then north of Vegas, it's mostly a whole lot of nothing. Of the 26 counties it passes through north of Las Vegas, only one of them has over 1 million people (Salt Lake UT).

Only six other counties on I-15 even have more than 100k. One is Mohave AZ, which somehow has over 200,000 people but the county is so big area-wise that very little of that is anywhere near I-15. Three are in the greater Wasatch Front region in northern Utah (Utah, Davis, and Weber UT). The other two are Washington UT (St George) and Bonneville ID (Idaho Falls).

That's certainly true as well, but my point was actually that I-15 has a whole lot of nothing between San Diego and Vegas too. Yet the "2 million" stat holds true because of the absurdly massive size of San Bernardino County, which in most of the country would be perhaps 12 counties, the majority of them sparsely populated.

[skluth]

And then north of Vegas, it's mostly a whole lot of nothing. Of the 26 counties it passes through north of Las Vegas, only one of them has over 1 million people (Salt Lake UT).
That's certainly true as well, but my point was actually that I-15 has a whole lot of nothing between San Diego and Vegas too. Yet the "2 million" stat holds true because of the absurdly massive size of San Bernardino County, which in most of the country would be perhaps 12 counties, the majority of them sparsely populated.

First, I-15 isn't a lot of nothing between San Diego and San Bernardino. It's about 45 miles of either urban or suburban/exurban use and home to a few million people. The Inland Empire is the #12 metropolitan region by population in the US.  I-15 between San Bernardino and Las Vegas may be mostly rural and a whole lot of nothing, but it's one of the busiest rural interstates in the country with AADTs close to or over 40K in each direction on all segments.

[webny99]

And then north of Vegas, it's mostly a whole lot of nothing. Of the 26 counties it passes through north of Las Vegas, only one of them has over 1 million people (Salt Lake UT).

That's certainly true as well, but my point was actually that I-15 has a whole lot of nothing between San Diego and Vegas too. Yet the "2 million" stat holds true because of the absurdly massive size of San Bernardino County, which in most of the country would be perhaps 12 counties, the majority of them sparsely populated.

First, I-15 isn't a lot of nothing between San Diego and San Bernardino. It's about 45 miles of either urban or suburban/exurban use and home to a few million people. The Inland Empire is the #12 metropolitan region by population in the US.  I-15 between San Bernardino and Las Vegas may be mostly rural and a whole lot of nothing, but it's one of the busiest rural interstates in the country with AADTs close to or over 40K in each direction on all segments.

I guess I should have specified between San Bernardino and Vegas (which is what I was originally going for...)

Point taken about I-15 being very busy interstate, but that doesn't change the fact that the area it passes through is still very rural. 80k AADT is high, but there are other comparable examples around the country, such as I-95 between Baltimore and Philly, and the I-40/I-85 overlap in NC.

[webny99]

Here's another interesting one: Between the WV-VA border and the NY-ON border, I-81 only passes through two counties with population under 100k (Susquehanna PA and Cortland NY). We can add in Frederick County, VA if we add in the population of the City of Winchester.

That's really surprising, considering how rural the Pennsylvanian mountains look along it.

I-81 in PA is kind of a dividing line. Much of the area south/east of it is quite densely populated, even if it doesn't look it at first glance. I-81 also comes close to some less-populous counties (namely Perry and Wyoming), but does not enter them.

What's even more surprising (at least IMO) are the two counties north of Syracuse, Oswego and Jefferson. Driving through them, they feel even more like the middle of nowhere than anything in PA, and both would be very low on the list of NY counties that I would pick out as having population greater than 100k. Jefferson County makes sense when you consider the presence of Watertown and Fort Drum, but nothing about Oswego County would make you think it's that populous. It's also large in area by NY standards, but sparsely populated east of I-81 too. I guess Oswego and the NY 48/NY 481 corridor in general just a lot more populous than I give it credit for.

[Rothman]

Here's another interesting one: Between the WV-VA border and the NY-ON border, I-81 only passes through two counties with population under 100k (Susquehanna PA and Cortland NY). We can add in Frederick County, VA if we add in the population of the City of Winchester.

That's really surprising, considering how rural the Pennsylvanian mountains look along it.

I-81 in PA is kind of a dividing line. Much of the area south/east of it is quite densely populated, even if it doesn't look it at first glance. I-81 also comes close to some less-populous counties (namely Perry and Wyoming), but does not enter them.

What's even more surprising (at least IMO) are the two counties north of Syracuse, Oswego and Jefferson. Driving through them, they feel even more like the middle of nowhere than anything in PA, and both would be very low on the list of NY counties that I would pick out as having population greater than 100k. Jefferson County makes sense when you consider the presence of Watertown and Fort Drum, but nothing about Oswego County would make you think it's that populous. It's also large in area by NY standards, but sparsely populated east of I-81 too. I guess Oswego and the NY 48/NY 481 corridor in general just a lot more populous than I give it credit for.

You can say that last bit a lot louder again.  Oswego County's southern border also is closer to Syracuse than a lot of people may realize.

[Bruce]

Draw a straight line between Vancouver BC and Vancouver, WA, and you can avoid the Seattle metropolitan area entirely. Its closest point is in Lacey, which is just beyond the traditional definition of the metro area.

[MultiMillionMiler]

Los Angeles is closer to New York City than San Francisco.

[CtrlAltDel]

Los Angeles is closer to New York City than San Francisco.

True, if unintuitive to parse.

[kurumi]

In the same vein, Seattle to Reykjavik by air is a little bit shorter than Miami to Reykjavik.

[kirbykart]

Los Angeles is closer to New York City than San Francisco.

Los Angeles is closer to NYC than San Francisco is: Yes
Los Angeles is closer to NYC than to San Francisco: Definitely not

[Road Hog]

Blytheville, AR is closer to Evansville, IN (251.3 miles) than it is to Texarkana, AR (370.8 miles).

And Texarkana at one time traveled to Blytheville in the state football playoffs.

[Dirt Roads]

Blytheville, AR is closer to Evansville, IN (251.3 miles) than it is to Texarkana, AR (370.8 miles).

Harpers Ferry, West Virginia is closer to the Statue of Liberty (217 miles as the crow flies) that it is to the state capital in Charleston (220 miles).

[hbelkins]

Blytheville, AR is closer to Evansville, IN (251.3 miles) than it is to Texarkana, AR (370.8 miles).

Harpers Ferry, West Virginia is closer to the Statue of Liberty (217 miles as the crow flies) that it is to the state capital in Charleston (220 miles).

That portion of West Virginia is closer to Annapolis, Harrisburg, and I think Dover and Richmond, than to Charleston. SP Cook can confirm or refute this statement.

[Dirt Roads]

Blytheville, AR is closer to Evansville, IN (251.3 miles) than it is to Texarkana, AR (370.8 miles).

Harpers Ferry, West Virginia is closer to the Statue of Liberty (217 miles as the crow flies) that it is to the state capital in Charleston (220 miles).

That portion of West Virginia is closer to Annapolis, Harrisburg, and I think Dover and Richmond, than to Charleston. SP Cook can confirm or refute this statement.

Also add Trenton to your list, making five (5) state capitals closer than its own.  But Harpers Ferry can't compete against Jonesville, Virginia that is closer to eight (8) state capitals than its own.  I thought that someone had already mentioned this upstream - but this was the answer to a trivia question back in the late-1970s by Marilyn vos Savant in Parade magazine:  Raleigh (258); Columbia (201); Atlanta (215); Nashville (209); Frankfort (142); Charleston (141); Columbus (225); Indianapolis (270); are closer than its own capital Richmond (317).

[kalvado]

It should just be Eurasia

I know this is just a vocabulary thing, but in my view at least, the whole thing should be just Asia, with Europe being the westernmost part of it.

Also, the French tend to think of North America and South America as two parts of the same continent (called l'Amérique), and I wish they would stop.

The Olympic flag also thinks of the Americas as a single continent. Thus only five rings instead of six.

They need to stop as well.

The most extreme case of continent count would combines Europe, Asia and Africa into one continuous land mass (Suez canal being man-made after all!), as well as North and South Americas. Disregarding Antarctic is also an option as actual above sea level rock area is minimal. That brings us down to 2 major continents and Australia.  I don't think anyone relegates Australia to an island status, though...

[kphoger]

I was about to post one:  Europe has more countries than Asia.

But now I'm doubting myself.  Is it actually true?

[JayhawkCO]

I was about to post one:  Europe has more countries than Asia.

But now I'm doubting myself.  Is it actually true?

It depends on how you count the Caucasus countries (Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan), what you want to do about Turkey, Russia, and Kazkhastan, countries that are pretty definitively in both, and what you want to do with Cyprus.

Assuming Cyprus is Asian and you count the latter three in both continents:
If you count the Caucasus 3 as Asian, Asia wins 49 to 48.
If you count them as European, Europe wins 50 to 47.
If you count them as both, they tie 50 to 50.

Geographically, Armenia is 100% Asian whereas Georgia and Azerbaijan have territory in both continents. So, if we count Armenia as only Asian and Georgia & Azerbaijan as both, it's back up to Asia 51, Europe 50.

(This obviously depends on your recognition of places like Kosovo, Palestine, TRNC, etc., but I'm going on U.S. recognized countries.)

[kphoger]

The reason I brought it up is that our family was playing Trivial Pursuit Live on the Xbox the other day, and one of the questions asked whether Europe or Asia had more countries.  The correct answer was Europe, and I think I remember the count being 52.

[JayhawkCO]

The reason I brought it up is that our family was playing Trivial Pursuit Live on the Xbox the other day, and one of the questions asked whether Europe or Asia had more countries.  The correct answer was Europe, and I think I remember the count being 52.

I don't see how any count would get you 52. I guess if they counted the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus as a) independent and b) European? Maybe something odd like Greenland, the Faeroes, or Svalbard?

[JayhawkCO]

I still think most people wouldn't pick Africa as the continent with the most countries.

[kphoger]

I don't see how any count would get you 52. I guess if they counted the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus as a) independent and b) European? Maybe something odd like Greenland, the Faeroes, or Svalbard?

Greenland wouldn't be all that odd to include, IMO.

[JayhawkCO]

I don't see how any count would get you 52. I guess if they counted the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus as a) independent and b) European? Maybe something odd like Greenland, the Faeroes, or Svalbard?

Greenland wouldn't be all that odd to include, IMO.

A) It's owned by Denmark
B) It's in North America if anything

[kphoger]

I don't see how any count would get you 52. I guess if they counted the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus as a) independent and b) European? Maybe something odd like Greenland, the Faeroes, or Svalbard?

Greenland wouldn't be all that odd to include, IMO.

A) It's owned by Denmark
B) It's in North America if anything

I get that.  But (A) Greenland is an autonomous country within that kingdom and has its own Prime Minister and such, and (B) Denmark is in Europe, therefore Greenland could be considered to be politically in Europe even if it isn't geographically in Europe.

I realize that the Faroe Islands also fit those criteria.  All I'm saying is that I don't think it's nuts to count Greenland as a European country.