# Has this Board Changed? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [August 31, 2014, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-changed/697035 "2014-08-31T09:33:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-changed/697035/161 "2014-09-16T06:20:14Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Yes, the USA is significantly bigger than all of Europe. News in CA for example that would cover occurrences in NY is equivalent to a Portuguese news item covering Sweden. > > Same with vacations. Note the USA includes Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Alaska. We have Tropics, we have Arctic, we have rainforests, we have two Disney park complexes and so forth. A Swede who travels to Ibeza for the beaches is about the same as a New Yorker going to Hawaii- but travels far less distance. Actually this is only true for the EU, but the EU is not all of Europe. Well and also you did write “Europe” and not “EU”. Just going by Wikipedia: Size: USA: 9,629,091 km2 EU: 4,381,376 km2 Europe: 10,180,000 km2 Population: USA: 318,747,000 EU: 505,665,739 Europe: 742,452,000 Cue someone claiming that Wikipedia is not a proper cite etc etc etc ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-changed/697035/162 "2014-09-16T12:28:59Z")
[QUOTE=amanset] Cue someone claiming that Wikipedia is not a proper cite etc etc etc [/QUOTE] Or that those Europe figures are only obtained by tossing in much of Russia’s current and former territories and population. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-changed/697035/163 "2014-09-16T12:45:50Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > My daughter spent a year at a university in Germany. During that time she and her friends visited somewhere over a dozen countries without spending a lot of money. My wife and I spent five days driving and made it from California to Missouri. I hope you didn’t drive thru Kansas with CA license plates. I made that mistake a few years ago. Never again! Got pulled over on a phony traffic violation because they were certain I was transporting drugs. All Californians are drug dealers… ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-changed/697035/164 "2014-09-16T13:00:58Z")
We drove from NYC to Topeka, then I went on to Colorado, with NY Plates last year. I did worry some, but that didn’t stop me from going 10 miles over the posted limit a lot of the time. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-changed/697035/165 "2014-09-19T06:24:56Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Or that those Europe figures are only obtained by tossing in much of Russia’s current and former territories and population. Which are in Europe, yes. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-changed/697035/166 "2014-09-19T12:18:02Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > Which are in Europe, yes. So how come they aren’t in the EU? And how many Frenchmen vacation in St. Petersburg? Riddle me _that_ one, Captain Europa. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-changed/697035/167 "2014-09-19T15:28:45Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > Which are in Europe, yes. From wiki:_Yet the borders of Europe—a concept dating back to classical antiquity—are somewhat arbitrary, as the primarily physiographic term “continent” can incorporate cultural and political elements…Sometimes, the word ‘Europe’ is used in a geopolitically limiting way[22] to refer only to the European Union or, even more exclusively, a culturally defined core._ ---
**Author:** ![LC\_Strawhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@LC\_Strawhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LC_Strawhouse)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-changed/697035/168 "2014-09-19T15:51:44Z")
Go easy on **Pjen** - the SNP lovers are weeping all over their tracksuits today. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-changed/697035/169 "2014-09-19T16:13:58Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > So how come they aren’t in the EU? And how many Frenchmen vacation in St. Petersburg? Russia [is not the only European country](http://www.answers.com/Q/Which_European_countries_are_not_in_the_European_Union) that isn’t a member of the EU, and reason is anyway not geographical, which I’m sure you are aware of. Regarding French tourism, I can’t find the exact numbers, at least not when spending only a few minutes searching for the numbers, but according to [this](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/russia/11069901/Russian-aggression-deters-tourists.html)site St Peterburg have “approximately 25 million overseas visitors each year”, and according to [this](http://www.russia-tourism.ru/city.php?CITY_NAME=St.%20Petersburg)site France is one of the top five countries in visiting St Petersburg. Considering the historical ties between St Petersburg and France I gather it is rather a popular place to visit for French tourists. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-changed/697035/170 "2014-09-19T17:48:40Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > So how come they aren’t in the EU? The European Union isn’t all of Europe, just like the United States of America isn’t all of America. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-changed/697035/171 "2014-09-19T18:05:25Z")
This thread is getting way off track. The European Union has negligible, if any, impact on this site. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2014, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-changed/697035/172 "2014-09-20T03:50:56Z")
But we all know they’re laying fell plans to do so, even now… ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2014, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-changed/697035/173 "2014-09-20T18:01:43Z")
Boy, Europe has sure changed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-changed/697035.md?page=8)