# Northern countries and alcohol **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 23, 2012, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-countries-and-alcohol/629118 "2012-07-23T11:33:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-countries-and-alcohol/629118/21 "2012-07-24T21:31:21Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > So you just waltzed in to brush off current WHO data as a “myth” based on a book that’s half a century old and incomplete? By Northern countries, the OP meant not just Russia but also countries like the UK and Scandinavia. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-countries-and-alcohol/629118/22 "2012-07-25T07:44:14Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > How _are_ we measuring this? Is it by liters of alcohol consumed, frequency of drinking alcoholic beverages, frequency of getting drunk, percentage of the population that drinks alcohol, number of arrests or car accidents where alcohol is involved, or what? You could argue for any of the above, and you’re probably going to get different results based on what metric you use. In Spain the calculation is “drinks taxed/inhabitants”. While not everybody who ever buys a bottle of whisky or a six-pack in Spain is going to live in Spain, not every drink taken by someone who lives in Spain is taken in Spain either, so in theory it should compensate. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-countries-and-alcohol/629118/23 "2012-07-25T14:20:00Z")
> [@Rachellelogram](#): > > Well, if you just escaped from North Korea, what would \*you \*want to do all day long? > [@alphaboi867](#): > > Eat & shop. No, no. It’s the Koreans who move to L.A. who open an Eat & Shop. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-countries-and-alcohol/629118/24 "2012-07-25T22:53:19Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > By Northern countries, the OP meant not just Russia but also countries like the UK and Scandinavia. That still leaves United Kingdom, Ireland, Finland and Denmark higher than Italy (and Greece), as Mediterranean countries, so the WHO data wouldn’t justify use of the term “myth” with regard to the OP’s question. I agree, however, that some of the more common stereotypes aren’t completely born out by this list–there are some strange outliers. For example, Azerbaijan, Seychelles and Gabon, which are big beer drinking countries almost in the same league as Ireland, Austria and Germany (no one seems to come close to the Czech Republic when it comes to beer). I just kind of assumed that all the hot, tropical countries would be high in beer as percentage of total, but that’s not the case, and neither is it explained by the countries’ wealth in the case of these two. It could be that, in the case of Azerbaijan, for example, that there happens to be a lot of beer production there for other reasons, so beer is just cheap. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-countries-and-alcohol/629118/25 "2012-07-27T01:57:48Z")
> [@Rachellelogram](#): > > Well, if you just escaped from North Korea, what would \*you \*want to do all day long? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-countries-and-alcohol/629118/26 "2012-07-27T03:23:32Z")
**MichaelEMouse** , I present to you the [Vodka Belt](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:VodkaBelt.png). In the article [Alcohol Belts of Europe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_belts_of_Europe) is this analysis that sheds some light on your OP question. "The southern boundary of the ‘vodka belt’ roughly corresponds to -2°C January isotherm. With the exception of Ukraine and some regions of southern Russia, cultivation of grapes is impossible or very difficult in the Vodka belt. In his book about the Soviet Union, Alex de Jonge elaborates on his concept of ‘geoalcoholics’. In particular, he explains Russian peculiarities by their belonging to the vodka belt and the absence of the beer belt in the Soviet Union. Other than the prevalent hard liquor, the vodka belt is also characteristic of higher occurrence binge drinking pattern compared to the rest of Europe." It can get politicized, seriously: The [Polish Beer Lovers’ Party](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_Beer-Lovers%27_Party) won 16 seats in the Sejm. They blame _wódka_ (pronounced VOOT-ka) for alcoholism and want more English-style pubs. The map accompanying the article attributes to Azerbaijan a half-hearted taste for vodka, but no beer there. Cartography fail? ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-countries-and-alcohol/629118/27 "2012-07-27T03:47:13Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > By Northern countries, the OP meant not just Russia but also countries like the UK and Scandinavia. Scandinavia is not country, Russia is as much southern as northern… ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-countries-and-alcohol/629118/28 "2012-07-27T22:43:13Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > The map accompanying the article attributes to Azerbaijan a half-hearted taste for vodka, but no beer there. Cartography fail? I kind of suspect that that’s probably an error in the Wiki reporting of the WHO data. Maybe it’s produced there and exported, though. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-countries-and-alcohol/629118/29 "2012-07-28T04:14:17Z")
The map also seems to indicate only one area where beer, wine, and vodka all overlap: in the southeast corner of Poland, from Kraków east and south to the borders, in the region known as Lesser Poland. Can anyone vouch for the triple overlap there? ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-countries-and-alcohol/629118/30 "2012-07-28T04:17:04Z")
And if you get beer in France, the domestic brews are always “_bière d’Alsac_e.” But the map has Alsace-Lorraine down as wine-only. Why not a beer/wine overlap? ---
**Author:** ![Eastblock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Eastblock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eastblock)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-countries-and-alcohol/629118/31 "2012-07-29T19:11:17Z")
I’m originally from Denmark. Danes claim to be happy but they are not so they drink to forget why they are unhappy. It’s such a boring homogenous society and alcohol gives you an excuse to let your hair down and act stupid. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-countries-and-alcohol/629118.md?page=1)