Stragest Common State Borders

[ethanhopkin14]

The United States is an interesting bird.  It has geographical regions that are very very different and culture that also separated those regions.  Save a few weird ones (California, Florida and Texas come to mind), the states also are also defined by those geographical regions.  Of course, the geographical regions do not follow state lines, but rather the geographical features they represent.  None the less, the court of popular opinion seems to think a state is defined by whatever it's most famous for.  Most people not from Illinois that have visited have only visited Chicago, and they think the whole state is one big Chicago. 

This gets me to the topic.  What states that share a common boundary are the most jarring because they both have such distinct and different cultural and geographical definitions?  My example is I still, no matter how many times I look at a map of the USA, have a hard time excepting that Oklahoma and New Mexico share a common boundary (and I have even crossed that boundary).  New Mexico is so identified with the southwest and mountainous regions, and Oklahoma is identified with the great plains, the dust bowl and tornado alley.  The only thing they have in common is their Native American association, and even that is miles apart.  New Mexico is heavy Apache (being the people of the American Southwest) and Oklahoma is heavy Cherokee (quite frankly, the most anglo of the Native American tribes).  I think its is exacerbated by the fact that it is a short boundary and the Oklahoma Panhandle is somewhat removed from the rest of Oklahoma. 

This can also go for international boundaries.  As an American, I find it interesting and jarring that France and Germany share a common boundary seeing how culturally and language wise they are so different. 

[hotdogPi]

MD (coastal, very urban, deep blue) vs. WV (mountainous, rural, deep red). Of course, the part of MD that's actually adjacent to WV is more similar to WV than to the rest of MD.

[ethanhopkin14]

MD (coastal, very urban, deep blue) vs. WV (mountainous, rural, deep red). Of course, the part of MD that's actually adjacent to WV is more similar to WV than to the rest of MD.

That's another point entirely I find fascinating.  People have a pre connived notion of what a state is.  You say Colorado to most average Americans and they thing Rocky Mountains and snow, meanwhile in reality almost half of Colorado looks and culturally associates closer to Kansas and Nebraska. 

[The Nature Boy]

Few people remember that Illinois borders Kentucky.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Water borders make things fun, like Minnesota having a direct connection to Michigan's Isle Royale. Most Minnesotans think of Michigan as being a full day's drive, though from Duluth you can be in the UP in less than 90 minutes (though that requires going through Wisconsin and isn't in the thread).

[The Nature Boy]

Water borders make things fun, like Minnesota having a direct connection to Michigan's Isle Royale. Most Minnesotans think of Michigan as being a full day's drive, though from Duluth you can be in the UP in less than 90 minutes (though that requires going through Wisconsin and isn't in the thread).

The same also applies to New York and Long Island, though those states probably wouldn't surprise anyone. New Hampshire and Maine are the only New England states to not have any borders with New York.

[CoreySamson]

This isn't really a border, but Texas is about 35 miles from Colorado at its closest point. That especially feels weird.

[Ketchup99]

Virginia and Tennessee is a pretty weird one to think about.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

Going international, one may be surprised to find only one country lies between the European Union and North Korea. Russia is so damn big, I know celestial bodies with less surface . And the fact Russia and North Korea share a border may be mind blowing to some, as it may not seem obvious on a map (the Russia/China/North Korea tripoint is on the Tumen River just 10 miles from its mouth on the Sea of Japan).

[index]

Some people in my own state seem to be completely unaware that North Carolina borders Georgia. Although it feels kind of weird that it does. It's like those states that just kind of exist and you don't really think about much, but they are there, but it's about borders instead of states. The North Dakota of borders.

[thspfc]

Texas and Louisiana is always interesting to me. I think of Texas as a southwestern state, even though the eastern third or so is pretty southeastern. Missouri and Tennessee also, Missouri is midwestern but Tennessee is southeastern.

[thspfc]

MD (coastal, very urban, deep blue) vs. WV (mountainous, rural, deep red). Of course, the part of MD that's actually adjacent to WV is more similar to WV than to the rest of MD.

That's another point entirely I find fascinating.  People have a pre connived notion of what a state is.  You say Colorado to most average Americans and they thing Rocky Mountains and snow, meanwhile in reality almost half of Colorado looks and culturally associates closer to Kansas and Nebraska.

Only about a third or fourth of Colorado is a mountainous rural place like how people think of it. The eastern third is West Kansas, the Front Range is very urban, and the western third is pretty much desert.

[Dirt Roads]

The cultural differences between West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio in the Huntington-Ashland-Ironton area are mind-boggling.  Just try to order a "hot dog with chili and slaw" in each of these cities and see what you get.  Folks in Ashland within walking distance of their office would call out for half-inch snow days, when folks from West Virginia and Ohio would push through 10 inches of the stuff to get to work.  You get Southern cuisine in Kentucky and West Virginia, whereas southern Ohio is like the Midwest.  Traditionally, the rural area of Southeast Ohio is poorer than the rural areas around Ashland and Huntington.  None of it made any sense to me.

[The Nature Boy]

MD (coastal, very urban, deep blue) vs. WV (mountainous, rural, deep red). Of course, the part of MD that's actually adjacent to WV is more similar to WV than to the rest of MD.

That's another point entirely I find fascinating.  People have a pre connived notion of what a state is.  You say Colorado to most average Americans and they thing Rocky Mountains and snow, meanwhile in reality almost half of Colorado looks and culturally associates closer to Kansas and Nebraska.

Virginia has some of this but it really depends on how far away you are from the state. I told a friend in the Midwest that I lived in Virginia and I might as well have told him that I lived in Kentucky and Tennessee, he thought I was living in some backwoods part of the South. A lot of people seem to forget that Virginia borders DC.

A lot of people from Northern Virginia just say that they live in DC. When I was in college, it wasn't uncommon to hear someone say that they're from DC and when pressed on on what part, they'd answer something like "Fairfax" or "Arlington."

[ethanhopkin14]

The cultural differences between West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio in the Huntington-Ashland-Ironton area are mind-boggling.  Just try to order a "hot dog with chili and slaw" in each of these cities and see what you get.  Folks in Ashland within walking distance of their office would call out for half-inch snow days, when folks from West Virginia and Ohio would push through 10 inches of the stuff to get to work.  You get Southern cuisine in Kentucky and West Virginia, whereas southern Ohio is like the Midwest.  Traditionally, the rural area of Southeast Ohio is poorer than the rural areas around Ashland and Huntington.  None of it made any sense to me.

To that point, driving from south to north on I-81 is a culture shock.  First you drive for a few hours through Virginia (very southern), then cross to West Virginia and Maryland for like 5 seconds each, then you are in Pennsylvania.  You went from a state associated with the deep south, skipped through two states and landed in a state associated more with the east coast (all because Philadelphia; I think of it as both east coast and Midwest because Pennsylvania is so diverse)

Side note, even though I have driven across the Roebling Bridge, I still find it very weird that Ohio and Kentucky share a common border. 

[triplemultiplex]

Even though it takes several days to drive to Alaska, there's only one Canadian province between it and the lower 48.


Tennessee borders 8 others states despite the fact that it shares a tremendously long border with Kentucky.  A glance at a map and the eye is drawn to that long KY/TN line and it makes it seem like there's not that many states touching Tennessee.  But then you count 'em up and sure enough; with Virginia sticking it's nose in there and Missouri's little boot heel and the 'lid' Tennessee provides for the Gulf Coast states, they quickly add up.


Coming back to Canada, when I vacation in northwest Ontario, it's crazy to think I'm in the same province as the country's largest city.  Hell, they have a "Polar Bear Provincial Park" in the same province as one of the largest metros on the continent.  That's wild!
Similar observations could be made about Quebec, but I haven't personally been there so that's why I'm singling out Ontario.

[formulanone]

MD (coastal, very urban, deep blue) vs. WV (mountainous, rural, deep red). Of course, the part of MD that's actually adjacent to WV is more similar to WV than to the rest of MD.

Hagerstown is in an interesting crossroads for the eastern half of America: close enough to the Baltimore-Washington area, yet close to the approaches for mountainous West Virginia and Pennsylvania. I met an interesting mix of folks there.

[GaryV]

Many people forget that MI and IL share a water border.

And then there's that subset of people that forget that MI and WI share a land border.  Because, da UP, eh?  These are probably many of the same people who are prepared to show their passport when crossing the Mackinac Bridge.

[hotdogPi]

Many people forget that MI and IL share a water border.

And then there's that subset of people that forget that MI and WI share a land border.  Because, da UP, eh?  These are probably many of the same people who are prepared to show their passport when crossing the Mackinac Bridge.

MI, WI, and the northern third of IL are all quite similar (and Chicago and Detroit have many similarities). It's not two or three states that are thought of completely different like CO and OK or WV and MD.

[GaryV]

MI, WI, and the northern third of IL are all quite similar (and Chicago and Detroit have many similarities). It's not two or three states that are thought of completely different like CO and OK or WV and MD.

I'll agree that the northern third of IL and the southern thirds of MI and WI are similar.  But the northern parts of WI and MI are totally different from IL, IN and OH.

[hbelkins]

Few people remember that Illinois borders Kentucky.

These two states are the ones I immediately thought of. Illinois is classic midwestern; Kentucky -- especially the part of the state the borders Illinois -- is much more southern. The Purchase area is definitely more like Tennessee than it is Illinois. And for most people in that part of the state, Nashville is the nearest "big city." Not St. Louis, not Memphis, not Louisville.

Kentucky and Indiana are similar, although terrain-wise, the part of Indiana that's closest to Kentucky isn't all that dissimilar.

I don't find the differences between Kentucky and Ohio to be all that jarring, especially since so many people from Kentucky moved to Ohio to find work. The most famous/notorious ones being J.D. Vance's family, now that "Hillbilly Elegy" has been adapted to movie form.

[STLmapboy]

Georgia and Florida.

[ethanhopkin14]

Few people remember that Illinois borders Kentucky.

These two states are the ones I immediately thought of. Illinois is classic midwestern; Kentucky -- especially the part of the state the borders Illinois -- is much more southern. The Purchase area is definitely more like Tennessee than it is Illinois. And for most people in that part of the state, Nashville is the nearest "big city." Not St. Louis, not Memphis, not Louisville.

Kentucky and Indiana are similar, although terrain-wise, the part of Indiana that's closest to Kentucky isn't all that dissimilar.

I don't find the differences between Kentucky and Ohio to be all that jarring, especially since so many people from Kentucky moved to Ohio to find work. The most famous/notorious ones being J.D. Vance's family, now that "Hillbilly Elegy" has been adapted to movie form.

Yes, I understand where you are coming from.  The Kentucky/Ohio border is actually famous for lying on the Ohio River, and no one bats an eye that half of the Cincinnati metro area is in Kentucky.  Still, as a Texan, Ohio is so strongly identified to me as a rustbelt/midwestern state and Kentucky is so identified with the south, it's hard to really wrap my head around the two.

Georgia and Florida.

I personally don't understand why that's so weird, but looking through other people's eyes I understand.  What I mean by that is, I for the first five times I visited Florida, I only visited the panhandle, which to me was just South Georgia or East Alabama.  It was a very long time until I visited Orlando and Miami and actually saw what most people's vision of Florida actually was, and even then, the vision of Florida being all like the panhandle didn't leave me.  It was just this year I visited Tampa and The Keys for the first time, and I still associate Florida as being all like the panhandle. 

[Bruce]

WA and ID are politically far apart, but mostly due to the former's pull from urban regions hundreds of miles away. Quite a bit of Eastern WA identifies a lot with ID, sadly.

[kevinb1994]

Georgia and Florida.

You mean the state line region, aka North Florida or South Georgia?

I mean, I kinda like it here now, but I should note that the history of the region isn't that crystal-clear. The French being driven out by the Spanish, the Spanish having to cede their land holdings more than once due to different wars, and most unfortunate is the native peoples driven to extinction or to reservations elsewhere.