# Geographical oddities (another thread) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 10, 2014, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895 "2014-12-10T23:11:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/141 "2014-12-16T20:41:54Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Is there any place on Planet Earth where the old adage/saying “You can’t get there from here” is true? By what means? Air, sea, land vehicles can, in theory, be used in combination to get a human to any location on Earth, although the lack of a landing site might make airdropping necessary. **But…** maybe some mountains are un-climbable and can’t let a helicopter drop off people. There may be some nooks and crannies spelunkers can’t get into. Maybe some deep ocean crevasses a submarine can’t access. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/142 "2014-12-16T20:51:33Z")
I’d just like to acknowledge some clever thinking by **Diceman** , **cjepson** , **eschereal** and **Velocity** for taking a shot at the silly proposal that there must be some basis in that old saw. All answers deserve some additional thought and exploration. It’s like that other one, “Everybody got to be someplace.” ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/143 "2014-12-16T21:18:02Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Just an idle curiosity based question: Is there any place on Planet Earth where the old adage/saying “You can’t get there from here” is true? Here’s one idea- some nations cannot be legally entered. They might have a enclave inside. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/144 "2014-12-16T22:55:04Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Here’s one idea- some nations cannot be legally entered. They might have a enclave inside. 😕 That really happens in the world’s only 3rd order enclave that divides parts of India and Bangladesh. It isn’t some bureaucratic joke either. The people that live in the middle of it can’t get even the most basic infrastructure and they can’t leave either because that would entail entering another country that they have no right to enter. "It’s surrounded by part of Bangladesh, which is surrounded by part of India, which is surrounded by Bangladesh – the world’s only counter-counter-enclave. So when driving across it in a straight line, it’d go India, Bangladesh, India, Bangladesh, India, Bangladesh, India, Bangladesh. Probably, the ones who were drawing the map were high on ‘Ganja’ :P. For India to try to provide these people with basic amenities like electricity or water would be a logistical nightmare, so it never bothered. Of course things like road would have been laughed upon. And the people of that place are more laughable. Although they’re Indian citizens, they can’t leave their immediate neighborhood without passing through Bangladesh, for which they need a passport. But they can only get a passport from mainland India – which they can’t get to without passing through Bangladesh. Twice. lol In big mess they are, or may be not." > **[ItemFix - Social Video Factory](https://www.itemfix.com/?r=ll)** > > Social Video Factory ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/145 "2014-12-16T23:10:07Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > That really happens in the world’s only 3rd order enclave that divides parts of India and Bangladesh. OK, then, we came up with the answer. There _is_ a place that “You cant get there from here.” with a certain but not strained definition of “you”. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/146 "2014-12-16T23:10:54Z")
Five counties intersect in the middle of [Lake Okeechobee](https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?oe=UTF8&gl=uk&ie=UTF8&msa=0&ptab=2&mid=zNuKNNSmMcJk.kP38oOwzMCPM). That’s kinda neat. If you’re a geography geek. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/147 "2014-12-17T00:43:03Z")
The border between the Netherlands and Belgium in the region of Baarle-Nassau: 24 separate parcels of land dividing the two countries: [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3c/Baarle-Nassau_-_Baarle-Hertog-en.svg/640px-Baarle-Nassau_-_Baarle-Hertog-en.svg.png) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3c/Baarle-Nassau_-_Baarle-Hertog-en.svg/640px-Baarle-Nassau_-_Baarle-Hertog-en.svg.png) ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/148 "2014-12-17T00:47:50Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > The border between the Netherlands and Belgium in the region of Baarle-Nassau: > > 24 separate parcels of land dividing the two countries… Huh. Some of those must be individual private properties? What’s the history? ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/149 "2014-12-17T00:51:44Z")
Here’s the Wikipedia article on the border there: > **[Baarle-Hertog](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baarle-Hertog)** > > Baarle-Hertogcode: nld promoted to code: nl (Dutch pronunciation: \[ˌbaːrlə ˈɦɛrtɔx\]; French: Baerle-Duc, pronounced \[baʁl(ə)dyk\]) is a Flemish municipality of Belgium, much of which consists of a number of small Belgian enclaves fully surrounded by the Netherlands. > Parts of Baarle-Hertogcode: nld promoted to code: nl are surrounded by the Dutch province of North Brabant, but it is part of the Belgian province of Antwerp. As of 2021\[update\], it has a population of 2,935. The total area is 7.48 ... ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/150 "2014-12-17T01:24:37Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > I like this one. Not quite an exclave, but it’s connection to the rest of Austria is about 20 feet wide, along generally inaccessible mountain terrain. 🙂 Everywhere else I’ve read about this says it’s a single point. Not that I’m doubting you. (Stupid internet) ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/151 "2014-12-17T01:30:41Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > The border between the Netherlands and Belgium in the region of Baarle-Nassau: > > 24 separate parcels of land dividing the two countries: > > [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3c/Baarle-Nassau\_-\_Baarle-Hertog-en.svg/640px-Baarle-Nassau\_-\_Baarle-Hertog-en.svg.png](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3c/Baarle-Nassau_-_Baarle-Hertog-en.svg/640px-Baarle-Nassau_-_Baarle-Hertog-en.svg.png) I posted [this link](http://ontology.buffalo.edu/smith/baarle.htm) about Baarle way back up in post 109. Pay attention next time. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/152 "2014-12-17T01:34:02Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > It’s surrounded by part of Bangladesh, which is surrounded by part of India, which is surrounded by Bangladesh – the world’s only counter-counter-enclave. So when driving across it in a straight line, it’d go India, Bangladesh, India, Bangladesh, India, Bangladesh, India, Bangladesh. Probably, the ones who were drawing the map were high on ‘Ganja’ :P. No, actually, they were drawing the map based on the feelings (religion, mostly) of the people living in those villages. They took that into account, and drew the borders to keep families/villages/tribes together with the country that they identified with. Frankly, if the colonial border-drawers had done this in the Middle East, parts of Africa, Ukraine, Macedonia, or Kurdish area, we would have fewer hotspots and border skirmishes in the world today. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/153 "2014-12-17T03:08:08Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > I posted [this link](http://ontology.buffalo.edu/smith/baarle.htm) about Baarle way back up in post 109. Pay attention next time. Because, Sagan forbid, someone should skip past a post or fifty while they’re skimming through the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/154 "2014-12-17T03:15:03Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > I posted [this link](http://ontology.buffalo.edu/smith/baarle.htm) about Baarle way back up in post 109. Pay attention next time. Too bad this isn’t the Pit, or I’d say how I feel. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/155 "2014-12-17T03:20:10Z")
Eh. The image link is the one that catches the eye, in the setup I’m using. **dtilque** ’s link has more of the historical explanation, so I appreciate both. ---
**Author:** ![vontsira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/51bf81/32.png) [@vontsira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vontsira)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/156 "2014-12-17T12:25:45Z")
Topic-drifting somewhat – but a thing about which I’m curious concerning the Baarle business: I wonder what went on in those parts in World War I, when Belgium was German-occupied, and the Netherlands were neutral and continued “business more-or-less as usual”. Were German occupation troops stationed in some or all of the Belgian enclaves within the Netherlands; and if so, what was the deal with their passing through Dutch territory? Or were Baarle-Hertog and the rest, a small piece of “free Belgium” enclosed by Dutch territory; with the inhabitants presumably doing all that they could to sneak “aid and comfort” to the Resistance folk in Belgium proper? Maybe this matter belongs more in the “General Questions” section of the board. ---
**Author:** ![tonyfop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@tonyfop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonyfop)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/157 "2014-12-17T12:46:02Z")
The one I like is the area around Greenwich, Connecticut. If you go due North, South, East, or West, the next state you enter is New York, in all 4 directions. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/158 "2014-12-17T13:36:46Z")
The major axis in Japan is East-West rather than North-South. Historically, the centers of power have been either in or around Tokyo (“East Capital”) or in or around Kyoto-Nara, with Osaka being a major center as well. Although Tokyo is a little more north, the two areas are really east and west of each other. Although Honshu bends and turns north, the major cities historically were clustered on the east-west line. Even now, Japanese divide the country into “East Japan” and “West Japan.” ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/159 "2014-12-17T13:43:14Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > The major axis in Japan is East-West rather than North-South. Historically, the centers of power have been either in or around Tokyo (“East Capital”) or in or around Kyoto-Nara, with Osaka being a major center as well. Although Tokyo is a little more north, the two areas are really east and west of each other. > > Although Honshu bends and turns north, the major cities historically were clustered on the east-west line. Even now, Japanese divide the country into “East Japan” and “West Japan.” Interesting. Even though New Jersey is longer north and south , it, too, has historically been divided into “East Jersey” and “West Jersey” (by a line that roughly follows the path of US1 and the New Jersey Turnpike). The major cities of New Jersey tend to cluster in the center, as well – Jersey City, Newark, New Brunswick, Princeton, Trenton. And Morristown isn’t that far north. Atlantic City, with its seaside diversions, and later the gambling, is a sort of aberration. The North is mostly small towns and tony suburbs, and the south is the Pine Barrens. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/160 "2014-12-17T14:24:14Z")
I tried to link to an image of Japan compared to California but the link wouldn’t take. Try a Yahoo! Image Search for “japan california size comparison” and see how similar their sizes are and how the C shape is almost a reverse image. They’re near the same latitudes, too. A similar shock comes when you look at the land mass of Europe compared to the US. Just for the kicks start at one of the [red dots at the bottom of Spain](http://www.confluence.org/region.php?id=241) and use the little compass at the top to go Due West (you have to go from 6W to 76W) until you get to [North Carolina.](http://www.confluence.org/region.php?id=36) Translation: Europe is further North than North Carolina. If you want to play with the Japan-California thing, look at [Japan](http://www.confluence.org/country.php?id=74) (25N-45N) and [California](http://www.confluence.org/region.php?id=26) (33N-43N) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895.md?page=9)