Nerd Geography Knowledge

[Diana]

Isn't Greenland semi-autonomous from the Danish government and it puts it's taxes into the local government directly, unlike America where it goes through the national government that then spreads it out to the country as a whole, rather than each state towards itself? Greenland is more autonomous than Puerto Rico, which isn't considered a true "part of America" by the majority of the population. In fact, most are surprised Puerto Ricans can vote. Greenland is slowly drifting towards independence peacefully. I may be wrong, but I keep decently-informed on European geopolitics, even if Denmark isn't my strong suit.
Edit: Source: http://www.stm.dk/_a_2957.html

I'd still argue that Puerto Rico is part of the US, for what it's worth, though I'm very likely in the minority here. I have no problem with Greenland peacefully becoming its own nation, I just thought it was a fun little quirk that some wouldn't think of right off-hand.

 

[Codraroll]

Speaking of northernmost points... you'd probably guess that the northernmost point in the US is in Alaska, and maybe also that the US's westernmost point is also there. However, it's lesser known (outside of the US, at least) that the easternmost point of the US is also in Alaska, technically speaking. This is because the Aleutian islands are located in the eastern hemisphere and not the western, though they lie to the west of Alaska by direction of travel.

 

[EV]

A lot of maps lie:

http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2010/11/cartography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Map_projection

 

[gvmgvm40]

The northernmost point of land in the world is actually in Denmark, thanks to Greenland.

One of my favorites: The most populated country that primarily speaks French isn't France. It's the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Iran also has more Azeri speakers than Azerbaijan (source). Azerbaijan's population is about 9.5 million, while about a quarter to a third of Iran's population (77-78 million, and the number of Azeri speakers is something around 15-25 million) speaks Azeri, mostly in Iranian or South Azerbaijan.

 

[Trax]

Puerto Rico, which isn't considered a true "part of America" by the majority of the population. In fact, most are surprised Puerto Ricans can vote.

Well Puerto Ricans can't vote on federal issues so long as they live in Puerto Rico -- they have their state government which they can vote for, but the territory has no federal representation (no senators, no congressional reps that can actually vote, and no electoral votes in presidential elections).

 

[Codraroll]

The Atlantic end of the Panama Canal is west of the Pacific end. Despite connecting the Pacific on the west coast of America and the Atlantic on the east, the Canal actually runs southeast-northwest.

(Also, "A man, a plan, a canal: Panama." is a palindrome).

 

[Kingpoleon]

Well Puerto Ricans can't vote on federal issues so long as they live in Puerto Rico -- they have their state government which they can vote for, but the territory has no federal representation (no senators, no congressional reps that can actually vote, and no electoral votes in presidential elections).

Yes, but that is how it is in Greenland(I think). I'm also like 99% sure we don't have anyone from Greenland(55,000 population) to consult on this. If you know somebody from Denmark on here, feel free to consult them, as they probably have Puerto Rico is a semi-autonomous territory technichally, but not in actuality. It is autonomous in all but law, like Greenland.

 

[Trax]

Yes, but that is how it is in Greenland(I think). I'm also like 99% sure we don't have anyone from Greenland(55,000 population) to consult on this. If you know somebody from Denmark on here, feel free to consult them, as they probably have Puerto Rico is a semi-autonomous territory technichally, but not in actuality. It is autonomous in all but law, like Greenland.

I could be reading it wrong, but Greenland has representatives in Danish parliament and I believe they can vote, so they are actually represented.

 

[Kingpoleon]

I could be reading it wrong, but Greenland has representatives in Danish parliament and I believe they can vote, so they are actually represented.

So Greenland is as independent as Puerto Rico(which I was informed by a former teacher could vote on presidential elections), yet they have representatives in parliament. Denmark has a King, not a president, so it seems more like a personal union than anything else.

 

[internet]

France and the netherlands have a ~10 km border on a tiny island in the carribean, saint martin. That means every combination of two countries out of germany, france, belgium and the netherlands shares a land border.

 

[Trax]

So Greenland is as independent as Puerto Rico(which I was informed by a former teacher could vote on presidential elections), yet they have representatives in parliament. Denmark has a King, not a president, so it seems more like a personal union than anything else.

This is a poor comparison.


The Danish monarch always signs the laws passed by the Danish parliament, it's in no way equivalent to the presidency.

The Danish have a single house of federal parliament that votes on relevant issues, Greenland is represented proportionally there. The United States has two houses of congress in which Puerto Rico has zero voting representatives.

Puerto Ricans cannot vote in presidential elections while they reside in Puerto Rico, they can only vote in a presidential election if they are residents of a state with electoral votes (Puerto Rico has no electoral votes as it is not a state and is not granted electors as Washington D.C. is by the 23rd amendment of the US constitution).


People of Greenland are represented in federal Danish politics, people of Puerto Rico have zero representation in federal US politics.

 

[Isa]

Unrelated to the current discussion, this is my favorite geographical area:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hala'ib_Triangle
One big area contested by two countries, next to a small area contested by no country.

Then, Googling led me to this amusing article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local...fbcef2-09fc-11e4-8a6a-19355c7e870a_story.html
One American (of course...) travelled there, planted his flag and declared the area as a new country. Not bad.