And they'd never know what Nordrhein Westfalen is if you asked them. Why do we have to know the states in one country? They barely know other countries, let alone other countries' states...
No, no. I have it on good authority that there is no regional difference in European countries themselves.
The only difference is when a Lithuanian needs to converse with a Spaniard or a Greek, but as we know, that is nothing compared to the difference between a Californian and a Wisconsinite.
Ig the joke is that german states and states in general are hard to recognise?
Except maybe something very well known such as Greenland or the UK countries like Scotland
That’s might be true for literally every other Bundesland, but NRW actually is the most recognisable State of all because of the characteristic Dogs Head. 😅
That's a good point... Let's make it the pineapple state.. each house is mandated to have at least one shitty pineapple sculpture no bigger than 1 foot tall in their yards.
River named Arkansas, named by Native Americans I believe. Both states names derive from the river, Kansas comes English pronunciation of said river, Arkansas comes from French pronunciation. I think that’s basically it, pronouncing same spelling in different languages.
The pronounciation of Sean and Bean is different because his first name is Irish (spelled wrongly) and his surname is (maybe, I don't know its origin) English. His name should be spelt Seán but as it is, his name is the Irish word for old and is pronounced "shan". So Sean Bean is literally Old Bean.
Etymology is not simply the origin, but rather the history of development.
For example, the word hurl and hurt have the same root, but different etymology, which is a words history and development.
hurl (v.) early 13c., hurlen, "to run against (each other), come into collision
hurt (v.)c. 1200, "to injure, wound" (the body, feelings, reputation, etc.), also "to stumble (into), bump into; charge against, rush, crash into; knock (things) together
As for etymology itself: late 14c., ethimolegia "facts of the origin and development of a word
So I heard this from some guy in a pub so take it with an American takeaway's worth of salt, but I was told aparantley Arkansas is pronounced like that because they didn't want people to associate them with Kansas so they took the french pronociation.
(I also just Googled it to check and yeah, that's pretty much it. Although surprisingly, Arkansas actually came first. Arkansas is named after the Arkansas river so points to them I guess. Kansas is also named after the river but they cut the ar bit off the begining. Arkansas uses the french pronunciation and Kansas uses the English. And yes, in Kansas the Arkansas river is pronounced "arr-kan-zess" and not "arr-ken-saw". I don't know how the name is pronounced in it's original Algonquian.)
To be fair, Virginia and West Virginia was due to the state splitting during the American Civil War and not reforming after 4 years. Not a very good reason, but understandable.
For the two Carolinas, it dates back from the early colonisation in the xviii century, when defending settlements was the responsibility of the Lord Proprietor (basically what would become latter the governor), but the north settlements of Albemarle and Cape Fear (now either destroyed during the American Revolution or several very small towns in North Carolina) was too far from the south settlement of Charles Town (now Charleston, the most populated city of South Carolina), so the province of Carolina was separated in the provinces of South Carolina and North Carolina.
Kansas and Arkansas is coincidental, both are name after indigenous tribes: Kansas from the Kanza tribe (plural pronounced Kanzaz in sioux, the ethnic group they are part of) through english, and Arkansas from the Quapaws tribe (called by Algonkians the Arquansaw) through french.
The reason behind the two Dakotas on the other hand is pretty stupid: basically the 2 ruling parties back then (then left wing republicans and right wing democrats) were not able to reach a consensus on which city was to be made the capital city of the state (both favoring the one which was favourising their parties), so they where both made capitals, but in two different states.
Kansas and Arkansas don't actually have any commonality like the others. Aren't even pronounced the same. We share a river, though in Kansas a lot of us pronounce it wrong as a tradition thing.
The 2 Carolinas were originally a single colony that split in 2. Ask the Brits.
West Virginia split from Virginia during the American Civil War. Because national loyalty and political gamesmanship.
Kansas derives its names from the Kanza tribe of the native Sioux Nation.
The word “Arkansas” came from the Quapaw Indians, by way of early French explorers.
Bro legit they created some of the states so the number of slave states would be equal to number on non slave states.
Wherever you dig into in American history, everything is somehow connected to racism.
You can’t compare a country with the states of a country , it is important to know where germany or US is but nobody expect you to know every US states or german lander
I swear I'm not having a go at Americans, but they make it so fucking easy. On reddit this past week, some muppet was explaining a bullshit opinion on Europe and referred to the country Nordic as an example, along with Germany. Can't remember the context, but hey 🤔🤔🤔
I’m sorry, what seems to be the problem exactly?
The country Nordic is right up there with their neighbors Dandy and SwIkealand. And of course they are also painfully close to the Soviet Union.
I’m sure this guy could label a map with all the Canadian provinces and territories, as well as all the Mexican states, right? I mean, these are the two countries that border the US after all. It’s not as though it’s across the ocean or on the other side of the planet.
Yup but keep in mind this applies on any country for example Australia (it has much less states but still). The world map is more important for the people to know as a general knowledge rather than random states in countries.
You can’t compare between Europe map, the Middle East map, and etc. to the states in the US. Maybe if he said “North America and South America” it would be a fair comparison.
I mean, I’d notice if a map of Australia had an extra state added in, but I’m Australian. I wouldn’t expect any non Aussies to know the difference though, or anyone who didn’t live here.
I honestly didn’t know what was wrong with the map in this picture, but like I said, I live on the other side of the world and I’ve never been to Europe. I’d be more likely to notice if there were mistakes on a map of Asia/ South East Asia, New Zealand or Oceania though, because I’m more familiar with my part of the world. I’m just not arrogant enough to think that the geography of my country is super important to people who don’t live here, or were educated here.
>I’d notice if a map of Australia had an extra state added in
I'm English, and I reckon you could add a couple more counties and I wouldn't notice. I mean, I looked at a list of all 48 just to check... and let me tell you, there are definitely some in there that I reckon they've added for comedic value.
Australia only has QLD NSW VIC ACT TAS SA NT WA as its states/territories. It’s pretty easy to remember them all as an Aussie.
They are also (except for the ACT) huge.
Victoria alone is 2.5x the size of France.
Australia actually has 10 territories in total, but we only ever learn 2 in school and mark them on maps. Most are small islands, but Jervis Bay is another territory on the mainland.
I only learned this myself a few years ago, I think it was a trivia question or something. We definitely never learned all 10 in school, just the 2 main ones, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a map with all 10 territories marked along with the 6 states.
For the purpose of this question, you’re definitely right, we only have 8 main states and territories to remember, in contrast to England’s 48 counties or the US with 50 states. It is a lot easier for us than them. Just thought I’d share the knowledge I gained recently, you might like to learn a bit more about our country. I personally was fascinated when I learned, but I also know I can’t name all the extra 8 territories I learned about. I didn’t even try to memories them to be honest, just thought it was interesting information.
I was going to add that we had some smaller territories so I really appreciate your added context here!
I knew we had some Torres Strait communities but I didn’t realise jervis bay
Yeah, I had no idea about Jervis Bay either until I looked up the 10 territories. We definitely never labeled that on a map in primary school.
Love your username by the way. I’m a huge Hitchhiker fan myself.
Hey thanks!
Mox is my usual online name as well, so it’s a good portmanteau of Zaphod Beeblebrox and Mox!
my favourite quote is: “zaphods just this guy you know” I find myself saying it out of context a lot!
Ah, it’s a lot easier for Australia, because we only have 6 states and 2 (main) territories, for a total of 8. We’re also a very large country, I think the 5th or 6th largest by land mass. We all spent time in primary school with maps of the country, labelling the states and 2 large territories, even drawing in the borders. I’m also pretty confident in my own ability to draw in the state borders reasonably accurately, but I’m trained as a Primary School teacher and have actually done so many times. Almost all Aussies could also name all the state and (2 main) territory capitals as well, but again, it’s a lot easier when there’s only 8. We also don’t have that many other large cities that aren’t state capitals, so there’s not a lot of other cities we know to filter out of that list.
It’s a lot easier to remember 8 than 48, I can’t promise I (or the rest of the population) could do it if we had 48. But 8 is easy enough, and we constantly hear the other states named on the news, weather and other media, so it’s not like many of us forget as adults, once we don’t need to know them for school.
I know there’s a place in England called Cockermouth, I’m not sure if that’s a county or just a town/ city. I have to believe that was named for comedic value.
And when you think you know them all, they go and change them. Even Wikipedia has a map with a date toggle for different versions: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counties\_of\_England](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counties_of_England)
If I stuck a country shaped blob onto the outside of the US you’d for sure notice it’s out of place. This guys equivalent is like separating Switzerland into two countries and asking him to see what’s wrong.
Bullshit. The reality is that Americans don't know shit about the rest of the world. At least 30 percent of GOP voters think Agrabah is a real place. It's from Aladdin.
My African and Asian geopolitical knowledge is embarrassingly lacking. I'd immediately notice any changes to the American continent only bc I'm South American myself
That would be true, but Amercians would find a way to tell me that every second for a solid mouth.
It would be like you go to bed, and a random Amercian just invents a way to talk to you in your dreams. They'd say something like, "we have a new state because we're better than you. I'm superior to you. I have freedom. I have rights."
This pervasive, obnoxious attitude of equating US states to countries is really annoying the shit out of me. Especially when in terms of population, the German state I live in would be the 5th largest US state. Really puts this nonsense into perspective.
And while Americans love to bring up their large states to "support" their argument, they seem to regularly forget that half of Americas states have less than 5 million inhabitants. Good luck shitting on countries like the Netherlands when you live in fucking Kentucky.
>the German state I live in would be the 5th largest US state
>states have less than 5 million inhabitants. Good luck shitting on countries like the Netherlands when you live in fucking Kentucky.
All this pointless comparisons is the pissing contests. It's just that, pointless. "Oh, my country/state has more people!", "Well mines a larger landmass!". Who fucking cares, really. It means literally nothing.
Do you seriously not understand the difference between a pissing contest, and calling someone out on their bullshit by providing examples for WHY IT IS BULLSHIT?
Because I can't remember saying my state should be considered a country. Americans do that. I demonstrated that it's a non-sensical attitude to have.
What annoys me is that a lot of us Brits can name all 50 US states, and identify them individually - except for the boring square ones, and who cares about them anyway, they’re just racist corn boxes; but we couldn’t name all the counties in any of the countries of the UK. I don’t even know how many counties there are. Most Americans can probably name each of their state capitals. Do I know the County Town of each county? Doubt it! 🤔
I can even name all the “boring square” ones, the “racist corn boxes”. I can also name and point out all the countries in Africa. That’s what I was taught in school. I wasn’t taught about UK counties, but that’s okay because only time I need to care about counties in the UK is election night. And even then it’s all about the result - “Tories lose in Leicestershire” etc.
You appear to be conflating counties with constituencies... and let's not forget that you also get different councils within a county!
I mean, there are 48 counties in England alone, and if you knew that "East Riding of Yorkshire" was one of them, then you're either from Yorkshire or lying.
I can list them from memory, but like literally everyone else on the planet, I can’t tell the difference between the Dakotas based on shape alone, because who fucking cares.
Didn’t realise that wasn’t clear enough 🤣
If it was just a new border within one existing state, they're right, I probably wouldn't notice. If it was added landmass on the map? I absolutely would.
I love that Kansas City is in Missouri. And a smaller bit of Kansas City is in Kansas.
Between the two states they have less than 10m people total and they basically share the one major city… but still have two full expensive state governments and between them get 4 senators to NY and California’s 2 a piece. Notwithstanding CA and NY have 5 times as many people, are double the geographic size and have huge economies.
American electoral model is poorly designed to represent its best interests.
Its a good time to remind yall that alaska and hawaii arent as close to the rest of the united states as they seem.
No ones gonna know. How are they gonna know? Nobody will know.
We're gonna know.
It would depend. If they simply take away some land from two states to create a new one then yeah, nobody is going to notice. If you add some landmass to florida or add a peninsula to new york then it would be pretty obvious.
I think it depends. Mess with the silhouette and I'll notice
Split Nebraska in half and release some made up state like...I dunno "Delaware" and yeah U'd believe that
Fun fact. Murican school quizes and the like can be found online. And if we yeet obscure stuff out the window id say any european that atleast went to school would have been a star student in muritardland.
Ten Quid says I could add a random new state into the New England area and this person doesn’t notice.
And they'd never know what Nordrhein Westfalen is if you asked them. Why do we have to know the states in one country? They barely know other countries, let alone other countries' states...
No, no. I have it on good authority that there is no regional difference in European countries themselves. The only difference is when a Lithuanian needs to converse with a Spaniard or a Greek, but as we know, that is nothing compared to the difference between a Californian and a Wisconsinite.
What if they have to talk about carbonated drinks? They could never understand each other!
What the hell is a soda? We drink Pisswasser here in Oaklinoisland 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
>Oaklinoisland This can't be a real name 😂😂 *opening maps right now*
As far as I’m aware it isn’t real but dear god I hope it is
The best maps found were a whole bunch of oak islands 😂😂 so ill guess it remains a mystery
If we took 50 US states away, the world would be a better place.
Remove the "50" and then we'd be golden
Name all Slovenian municipalities, which is the largest division it has.
bEcAUsE sTAteS ARe BIggEr AnD mORre UNiqUe tHan COuNtTRiEs
That's from Game of Thrones, you can't fool me.
Is Nordrhein-Westfalen this one? [Link to outline of german State](https://gadm.org/img/480/gadm/DEU/sachsen-anhalt/DEU_sachsen-anhalt.png)
Idk If I oversee an obvious Joke but that's Sachsen-Anhalt.
Ig the joke is that german states and states in general are hard to recognise? Except maybe something very well known such as Greenland or the UK countries like Scotland
That’s might be true for literally every other Bundesland, but NRW actually is the most recognisable State of all because of the characteristic Dogs Head. 😅
I could Photoshop in a few additional streets near his house on a map, and I bet he wouldn't notice.
We will call it ten quid and make an emu it's mascot, they will be confused but will still accept it.
It needs a state motto as well " The beetroot state" Or some such crap
How about "the french state" or "the German state"?
Yeah, but then people will claim they come from that state and that makes them basically French or German.
That's a good point... Let's make it the pineapple state.. each house is mandated to have at least one shitty pineapple sculpture no bigger than 1 foot tall in their yards.
That’s already South Carolina.
Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusettes, Rhode Island, Conneticut, New York Shoot. I didn't forget one, did I?
Technically, New York isn’t considered part of New England. But otherwise you’re right.
Or literally anywhere in the middle 😂
Vermont already is that
To be fair, the states there are so small that I don't even notice half the ones that are there!
Honestly, have you seen the map that removes New Mexico? Can't share the image here, but I could see if I could find the link.
If there was some land there, the country would most likely be called france.
Catterland, Doggerland's evil French twin.
Atlantis
If it is in front of the coast of France it would probably be the lost city of Ys.
France is taken, maybe West France instead.
Fraintugal.
Okay Iike that better.
Nice, I now have no choice but to go with Frandorralonia
West Francia and current France would be East Francia. History buffs will understand.
You read my mind.
France is taken in every war they get into.
They kinda absolutely didn’t for quite a long time
Napoleon: am i a joke to you ?
St Helena: Population - You.
Maybe Biscay
That was my immediate reaction
Biscayland
They already did add random states. Why tf do they need two Dakotas?
+two carolinas, + Virginia and west Virginia+ kansas and arkansas
West Virginia was vitally important, otherwise the words to Take me Home, Country Roads wouldn't work. That is its only purpose.
It already doesn't. The song is referring to the western region of Virginia, not the state of West Virginia.
How do people call the Western part of Virginia to avoid confusion?
Maybe western Virginia? And of course western West Virginia? The alternative would be west Virginia, West Virginia, and west West Virginia
West Virginia, but the one which is East of West Virginia
Haha, I guess so + it sounds kinda cool. West Viginia ... has something to it.
I will forever be mad about the fact how different the pronunciation for Kansas and Arkansas is
America explain!!!!
River named Arkansas, named by Native Americans I believe. Both states names derive from the river, Kansas comes English pronunciation of said river, Arkansas comes from French pronunciation. I think that’s basically it, pronouncing same spelling in different languages.
Wait until you hear about Sean Bean
The pronounciation of Sean and Bean is different because his first name is Irish (spelled wrongly) and his surname is (maybe, I don't know its origin) English. His name should be spelt Seán but as it is, his name is the Irish word for old and is pronounced "shan". So Sean Bean is literally Old Bean.
I like Old Bean better if I’m honest, it’s a term of endearment
Yeah, I like thinking of him as Old Bean even when I'm watching him in his earlier roles.
Fun fact. Sean Bean's name is actually Shaun Bean, he's just fucking with us.
Different name etymology. Spelling is coincidental.
Same etymology, both named after the same river
Etymology is not simply the origin, but rather the history of development. For example, the word hurl and hurt have the same root, but different etymology, which is a words history and development. hurl (v.) early 13c., hurlen, "to run against (each other), come into collision hurt (v.)c. 1200, "to injure, wound" (the body, feelings, reputation, etc.), also "to stumble (into), bump into; charge against, rush, crash into; knock (things) together As for etymology itself: late 14c., ethimolegia "facts of the origin and development of a word
Even so, it means that the spelling is not "coincidental"
So I heard this from some guy in a pub so take it with an American takeaway's worth of salt, but I was told aparantley Arkansas is pronounced like that because they didn't want people to associate them with Kansas so they took the french pronociation. (I also just Googled it to check and yeah, that's pretty much it. Although surprisingly, Arkansas actually came first. Arkansas is named after the Arkansas river so points to them I guess. Kansas is also named after the river but they cut the ar bit off the begining. Arkansas uses the french pronunciation and Kansas uses the English. And yes, in Kansas the Arkansas river is pronounced "arr-kan-zess" and not "arr-ken-saw". I don't know how the name is pronounced in it's original Algonquian.)
To be fair, Virginia and West Virginia was due to the state splitting during the American Civil War and not reforming after 4 years. Not a very good reason, but understandable. For the two Carolinas, it dates back from the early colonisation in the xviii century, when defending settlements was the responsibility of the Lord Proprietor (basically what would become latter the governor), but the north settlements of Albemarle and Cape Fear (now either destroyed during the American Revolution or several very small towns in North Carolina) was too far from the south settlement of Charles Town (now Charleston, the most populated city of South Carolina), so the province of Carolina was separated in the provinces of South Carolina and North Carolina. Kansas and Arkansas is coincidental, both are name after indigenous tribes: Kansas from the Kanza tribe (plural pronounced Kanzaz in sioux, the ethnic group they are part of) through english, and Arkansas from the Quapaws tribe (called by Algonkians the Arquansaw) through french. The reason behind the two Dakotas on the other hand is pretty stupid: basically the 2 ruling parties back then (then left wing republicans and right wing democrats) were not able to reach a consensus on which city was to be made the capital city of the state (both favoring the one which was favourising their parties), so they where both made capitals, but in two different states.
Fuck me…I never noticed the Kansas and Arkansas thing until just now. 😳
Leave West Virginia out of it — that’s the part of Virginia that didn’t want slavery
Think West Virginia is because Virginia were shit and racist and that part of it didn't want to fight for slavery
We'd be much better off without Arkansas tbh
They even have a New Mexico because they couldn't get the old one
Kansas and Arkansas don't actually have any commonality like the others. Aren't even pronounced the same. We share a river, though in Kansas a lot of us pronounce it wrong as a tradition thing.
The 2 Carolinas were originally a single colony that split in 2. Ask the Brits. West Virginia split from Virginia during the American Civil War. Because national loyalty and political gamesmanship. Kansas derives its names from the Kanza tribe of the native Sioux Nation. The word “Arkansas” came from the Quapaw Indians, by way of early French explorers.
West Virginia seceded to abolish slavery.
The Arkansas and Kansas are because of the Indigenous languages. The Carolinas and Virginia's, however, is due to laziness in naming.
Bro legit they created some of the states so the number of slave states would be equal to number on non slave states. Wherever you dig into in American history, everything is somehow connected to racism.
Slavery vs Abolition
Nobody would have any clue because it’s useless to know US states as non-American
Yeah, and even if it did matter, aren't those states supposed to be united? One big state, of decomposition.
Just like it’s not important for Americans to know every European county by heart. The whole geography dick measure contest is stupid.
Europeans don't expect them to know counties, mainly because most don't have counties.
You can’t compare a country with the states of a country , it is important to know where germany or US is but nobody expect you to know every US states or german lander
I swear I'm not having a go at Americans, but they make it so fucking easy. On reddit this past week, some muppet was explaining a bullshit opinion on Europe and referred to the country Nordic as an example, along with Germany. Can't remember the context, but hey 🤔🤔🤔
I’m sorry, what seems to be the problem exactly? The country Nordic is right up there with their neighbors Dandy and SwIkealand. And of course they are also painfully close to the Soviet Union.
After having seen Jimmy Kimmel I'm pretty sure you could add a fictive state and a lot of Americans wouldn't realize something was wrong either
Bigger Euskadi? The basque empire strikes?
Again? God damn it, time to up security in mall parking lots
I’m sure this guy could label a map with all the Canadian provinces and territories, as well as all the Mexican states, right? I mean, these are the two countries that border the US after all. It’s not as though it’s across the ocean or on the other side of the planet.
Because half of them are squares or rectangles thats why
Baskaya
Americans write a lot of shit, but for me, the guy is right. I wouldnt have a clue.
Yup but keep in mind this applies on any country for example Australia (it has much less states but still). The world map is more important for the people to know as a general knowledge rather than random states in countries. You can’t compare between Europe map, the Middle East map, and etc. to the states in the US. Maybe if he said “North America and South America” it would be a fair comparison.
I mean, I’d notice if a map of Australia had an extra state added in, but I’m Australian. I wouldn’t expect any non Aussies to know the difference though, or anyone who didn’t live here. I honestly didn’t know what was wrong with the map in this picture, but like I said, I live on the other side of the world and I’ve never been to Europe. I’d be more likely to notice if there were mistakes on a map of Asia/ South East Asia, New Zealand or Oceania though, because I’m more familiar with my part of the world. I’m just not arrogant enough to think that the geography of my country is super important to people who don’t live here, or were educated here.
>I’d notice if a map of Australia had an extra state added in I'm English, and I reckon you could add a couple more counties and I wouldn't notice. I mean, I looked at a list of all 48 just to check... and let me tell you, there are definitely some in there that I reckon they've added for comedic value.
Australia only has QLD NSW VIC ACT TAS SA NT WA as its states/territories. It’s pretty easy to remember them all as an Aussie. They are also (except for the ACT) huge. Victoria alone is 2.5x the size of France.
Australia actually has 10 territories in total, but we only ever learn 2 in school and mark them on maps. Most are small islands, but Jervis Bay is another territory on the mainland. I only learned this myself a few years ago, I think it was a trivia question or something. We definitely never learned all 10 in school, just the 2 main ones, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a map with all 10 territories marked along with the 6 states. For the purpose of this question, you’re definitely right, we only have 8 main states and territories to remember, in contrast to England’s 48 counties or the US with 50 states. It is a lot easier for us than them. Just thought I’d share the knowledge I gained recently, you might like to learn a bit more about our country. I personally was fascinated when I learned, but I also know I can’t name all the extra 8 territories I learned about. I didn’t even try to memories them to be honest, just thought it was interesting information.
I was going to add that we had some smaller territories so I really appreciate your added context here! I knew we had some Torres Strait communities but I didn’t realise jervis bay
Yeah, I had no idea about Jervis Bay either until I looked up the 10 territories. We definitely never labeled that on a map in primary school. Love your username by the way. I’m a huge Hitchhiker fan myself.
Hey thanks! Mox is my usual online name as well, so it’s a good portmanteau of Zaphod Beeblebrox and Mox! my favourite quote is: “zaphods just this guy you know” I find myself saying it out of context a lot!
Ah, it’s a lot easier for Australia, because we only have 6 states and 2 (main) territories, for a total of 8. We’re also a very large country, I think the 5th or 6th largest by land mass. We all spent time in primary school with maps of the country, labelling the states and 2 large territories, even drawing in the borders. I’m also pretty confident in my own ability to draw in the state borders reasonably accurately, but I’m trained as a Primary School teacher and have actually done so many times. Almost all Aussies could also name all the state and (2 main) territory capitals as well, but again, it’s a lot easier when there’s only 8. We also don’t have that many other large cities that aren’t state capitals, so there’s not a lot of other cities we know to filter out of that list. It’s a lot easier to remember 8 than 48, I can’t promise I (or the rest of the population) could do it if we had 48. But 8 is easy enough, and we constantly hear the other states named on the news, weather and other media, so it’s not like many of us forget as adults, once we don’t need to know them for school. I know there’s a place in England called Cockermouth, I’m not sure if that’s a county or just a town/ city. I have to believe that was named for comedic value.
And when you think you know them all, they go and change them. Even Wikipedia has a map with a date toggle for different versions: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counties\_of\_England](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counties_of_England)
And neither would most Americans.
If I stuck a country shaped blob onto the outside of the US you’d for sure notice it’s out of place. This guys equivalent is like separating Switzerland into two countries and asking him to see what’s wrong.
Truth be told, a map with an extra border in the Dakotas or Minnesota/Iowa region would go unnoticed by most Americans.
For us Europeans, everything between Chicago and Seattle is Dakota.
It's Frainugal.
Who doesn't know Biscaya?
Bullshit. The reality is that Americans don't know shit about the rest of the world. At least 30 percent of GOP voters think Agrabah is a real place. It's from Aladdin.
That land was for the Brittonic refugees fleeing the Anglo-Saxons invading their land. Plus it connect two areas where they already found refuge.
I doubt this person would know themselves
Yeah, I think nobody would notice driving to Biarritz or Bilbao for 12 hours or more in the summer and there’s no fucking beach.
In all fairness, I am not sure I'd notice a country added to Africa/Asia or South America
My African and Asian geopolitical knowledge is embarrassingly lacking. I'd immediately notice any changes to the American continent only bc I'm South American myself
Biscay is a real country!
Everyone knows that’s North Portugal, an outcrop just like Russia has Kalingrad. You can’t fool me :)
"Basque Country"
He is right tho? I cannot differentiate every American state, and neither can the average european
Andorra has put on some weight
What?….wait…what?…w..wh….what???
That is clearly r/Listenbourg there.
The fact that Luxembourg is not even named on that map bothers me uncomfortably much
There is a frightening amount of Americans who don’t know New Mexico is a US state.
That would be true, but Amercians would find a way to tell me that every second for a solid mouth. It would be like you go to bed, and a random Amercian just invents a way to talk to you in your dreams. They'd say something like, "we have a new state because we're better than you. I'm superior to you. I have freedom. I have rights."
WTF - Too much weed!
you could do this to Africa and 99% of non Africans would not notice.
Thinks Europeans wouldn’t notice non-exist lines drawn over non-existent lines but is beaming with pride for notice a giant, continental tumour.
Biscay. Before it became a bay
Let’s be honest: if _we_ added a state, Americans wouldn’t notice
Thats South Doggerland
This pervasive, obnoxious attitude of equating US states to countries is really annoying the shit out of me. Especially when in terms of population, the German state I live in would be the 5th largest US state. Really puts this nonsense into perspective. And while Americans love to bring up their large states to "support" their argument, they seem to regularly forget that half of Americas states have less than 5 million inhabitants. Good luck shitting on countries like the Netherlands when you live in fucking Kentucky.
It's all a pointless pissing contest. On both sides.
Don't see how it's a pissing contest on both sides, when one side doesn't regularly equate their states to countries.
Not regularly. But you just did exactly what they do. It's not benefiting anyone.
No, I didn't. Maybe you misunderstood my intentions.
>the German state I live in would be the 5th largest US state >states have less than 5 million inhabitants. Good luck shitting on countries like the Netherlands when you live in fucking Kentucky. All this pointless comparisons is the pissing contests. It's just that, pointless. "Oh, my country/state has more people!", "Well mines a larger landmass!". Who fucking cares, really. It means literally nothing.
Do you seriously not understand the difference between a pissing contest, and calling someone out on their bullshit by providing examples for WHY IT IS BULLSHIT? Because I can't remember saying my state should be considered a country. Americans do that. I demonstrated that it's a non-sensical attitude to have.
What annoys me is that a lot of us Brits can name all 50 US states, and identify them individually - except for the boring square ones, and who cares about them anyway, they’re just racist corn boxes; but we couldn’t name all the counties in any of the countries of the UK. I don’t even know how many counties there are. Most Americans can probably name each of their state capitals. Do I know the County Town of each county? Doubt it! 🤔
I can even name all the “boring square” ones, the “racist corn boxes”. I can also name and point out all the countries in Africa. That’s what I was taught in school. I wasn’t taught about UK counties, but that’s okay because only time I need to care about counties in the UK is election night. And even then it’s all about the result - “Tories lose in Leicestershire” etc.
I would fare better with the countries of Africa than with the counties of the UK!
You appear to be conflating counties with constituencies... and let's not forget that you also get different councils within a county! I mean, there are 48 counties in England alone, and if you knew that "East Riding of Yorkshire" was one of them, then you're either from Yorkshire or lying.
Isn't X usually the capital of Xshire?
Not always, but yes, often it is. Except then you have stupid places like Buckingham, which is *not* the county town of Buckinghamshire 🙄
lol at “can name all 50 states except the ones I can’t name”
I can list them from memory, but like literally everyone else on the planet, I can’t tell the difference between the Dakotas based on shape alone, because who fucking cares. Didn’t realise that wasn’t clear enough 🤣
I'm not sure either but I think North Dakota is the one in the north
Oh lol fair enough, yeah I misunderstood that. Colorado and Wyoming are the real tough ones
They are SO square.
Hmm he's not wrong. Let's all congregate for a clever comeback.
Biscay. Which is a bay of course, not a province of France- but it's still got a name.
But Europe doesn’t have states. I’m not a Yank and I’d notice immediately.
we *did* add a random province (just drained the sea) and y'all indeed had no clue
If it was just a new border within one existing state, they're right, I probably wouldn't notice. If it was added landmass on the map? I absolutely would.
I love that Kansas City is in Missouri. And a smaller bit of Kansas City is in Kansas. Between the two states they have less than 10m people total and they basically share the one major city… but still have two full expensive state governments and between them get 4 senators to NY and California’s 2 a piece. Notwithstanding CA and NY have 5 times as many people, are double the geographic size and have huge economies. American electoral model is poorly designed to represent its best interests.
I agree with him
“That’s my secret, Cap. All my states are random.”
ahaha what??
I mean, countries with unique borders and shapes are easier to indentify than a bunch of squares
Its a good time to remind yall that alaska and hawaii arent as close to the rest of the united states as they seem. No ones gonna know. How are they gonna know? Nobody will know. We're gonna know.
That’s easy, that’s just the Biscay Republic
Yeah, nobody wants Washington DC statehood anyway! lol
is that where Atlantis used to be?
It would 100% be called Biscay
It would depend. If they simply take away some land from two states to create a new one then yeah, nobody is going to notice. If you add some landmass to florida or add a peninsula to new york then it would be pretty obvious.
This sounds like a self-depracating comment regarding American state boundaries tbh. I don't think this is it chief
I think it depends. Mess with the silhouette and I'll notice Split Nebraska in half and release some made up state like...I dunno "Delaware" and yeah U'd believe that
Euskadi
ah yes, the country of Acuitania
We found Europooristan After thirty long years, I can finally die peacefully.
I would. Probably faster than some Americans
Fun fact. Murican school quizes and the like can be found online. And if we yeet obscure stuff out the window id say any european that atleast went to school would have been a star student in muritardland.
A random state? What, like Puerto Rico?