# Norway, isn't that in Sweden? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 10, 2004, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norway-isnt-that-in-sweden/233389 "2004-03-10T01:37:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Willander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Willander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Willander)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norway-isnt-that-in-sweden/233389/1 "2004-03-10T01:37:09Z")
I was watching the news here in Norway, they had a story on how the americans had noe idea about anything when it comes to european geographics. So being the curious man that I am, I was wondering if all you americans out there really don’t know the difference between Sweden, Norway, Danmark etc.? Or where they are all togheter. They even had interview’s on the street’s in NY where people actually thought that Norway was the capital of Sweden, I mean come on! How slow can you gey? And if it turns out it really is this way, I sure do hope that someone will do something about it and get some more geographics in to the american school system. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norway-isnt-that-in-sweden/233389/2 "2004-03-10T01:42:38Z")
Norway is the western most country in the peninsula west of Russia. Sweden is the middle country, and Finland is the furthest east. Denmark is the peninsula on the main European landmass and is north of Germany. Do I win anything? ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norway-isnt-that-in-sweden/233389/3 "2004-03-10T01:45:00Z")
That sentence should have read “Denmark is the peninsula on the main European landmass directly south of those three countries and is north of Germany”. “Peninsula on the main European landmass” could have referred to Iberia, Italy, or Greece as well. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norway-isnt-that-in-sweden/233389/4 "2004-03-10T01:46:56Z")
Read the forum descriptions much? ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norway-isnt-that-in-sweden/233389/5 "2004-03-10T02:02:53Z")
The capital of **Cafe Society** is **In My Humble Opinion**! Let me move this for you, my little Swedish meatball. ---
**Author:** ![Husker\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Husker\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Husker_Dude)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norway-isnt-that-in-sweden/233389/6 "2004-03-10T02:04:47Z")
> [@Ilsa\_Lund](#): > > Read the forum descriptions much? What’s with the snippy attitude? That comment was so fucking unnecessary, and you know it. I remember there was a similar story on Norwegian news a couple of years ago, where they polled Americans on the street and they asked this guy if he knew where Norway is located, and he scratched his scalp and said: “the restaurant?” ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norway-isnt-that-in-sweden/233389/7 "2004-03-10T02:06:03Z")
> [@Willander](#): > > I was watching the news here in Norway, they had a story on how the americans had noe idea about anything when it comes to european geographics. > > So being the curious man that I am, I was wondering if all you americans out there really don’t know the difference between Sweden, Norway, Danmark etc.? Or where they are all togheter. > > They even had interview’s on the street’s in NY where people actually thought that Norway was the capital of Sweden, I mean come on! How slow can you gey? > > And if it turns out it really is this way, I sure do hope that someone will do something about it and get some more geographics in to the american school system. I’ll be glad to give you this information, but before I do, would you mind giving me the location and capitals of all 50 US states? My point is, so what? When I need to know where Sweden is, I go to the CIA fact book and look it up. This world has a lot of countries in it. Do you know the capitals of Djibouti, Mauritania or Comoros without looking them up? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norway-isnt-that-in-sweden/233389/8 "2004-03-10T02:42:51Z")
> [@Hüsker Düde](#): > > What’s with the snippy attitude? That comment was so fucking unnecessary, and you know it. Sure, but the OP having posited as a given that people should have a certain item of information as a matter of course or else they’re “slow”, and doing so in the _wrong_ forum, leaves him/her open to such shots. Granted, **Ukelele** ’s retort was more drily witty; but “snippy attitude” is one of the official languages of Cecil Adams fandom. And **Deadly Accurate** , I surprised myself by getting 2 out of 3 of the countries/capitals, but one is a gimme anyway. ---
**Author:** ![jastu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/43a26b/32.png) [@jastu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jastu)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norway-isnt-that-in-sweden/233389/9 "2004-03-10T03:03:54Z")
> [@DeadlyAccurate](#): > > I’ll be glad to give you this information, but before I do, would you mind giving me the location and capitals of all 50 US states? > > My point is, so what? When I need to know where Sweden is, I go to the CIA fact book and look it up. This world has a lot of countries in it. Do you know the capitals of Djibouti, Mauritania or Comoros without looking them up? C’mon that really isn’t a fair comparison. The OP was not asking you to name the capital of Norway only asking if you knew where it was situated, so the retort should have been “can you find USA on the map”. Yes, I’m probably sure he could have and probably find and name the 50 states as well. You have to admit Americans are typically bad at world geography. I am constantly amazed by, not only Americans lack of geographical knowledge, but also their total lack of interest in anything outside the US. ---
**Author:** ![Husker\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Husker\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Husker_Dude)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norway-isnt-that-in-sweden/233389/10 "2004-03-10T03:05:39Z")
I see your point, but I think if you disagree with someone, you should say so, and explain why, not resort to pissy little drive-by digs, _especially_ on a board dedicated to fight ignorance. But whatever, no big deal really, just a minor annoyance. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norway-isnt-that-in-sweden/233389/11 "2004-03-10T03:39:00Z")
Statistically, Americans probably fare poorly in geographical knowledge compared to people in many other countries. Most appalling is the general lack of knowledge about our long-term friendly neighbor Canada. Still, that doesn’t reflect on all Americans. While my wife readily admits to being poor at geography (and she’s right), I’m fairly good at it, and her aunt is amazing in her geographical knowledge. You never get to see how many people on the street answered the questions correctly. That doesn’t have any shock value. Eventually, the interviewers can find several fools who couldn’t find their own ass with both hands. Those are the ones who make it to the TV shows. So, it sounds like TV news in Norway is adopting the techniques of U.S. TV “news” – fluff, entertainment, and hyperbole. If that trend continues, Norwegians may eventually be as ignorant as Americans. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norway-isnt-that-in-sweden/233389/12 "2004-03-10T03:53:16Z")
> [@jastu](#): > > C’mon that really isn’t a fair comparison. The OP was not asking you to name the capital of Norway only asking if you knew where it was situated, so the retort should have been “can you find USA on the map”. Yes, I’m probably sure he could have and probably find and name the 50 states as well. You have to admit Americans are typically bad at world geography. > > I am constantly amazed by, not only Americans lack of geographical knowledge, but also their total lack of interest in anything outside the US. The USA has a not dissimilar landmass and population to the entirety of Europe. Certain individual states within the US have a larger political and economical importance than Norway, Sweden and Denmark. The OP will have to face the fact that Norway is in no way a prominent country in the minds of people living outside of Europe–particularly those in the US, who are more understandably more concerned with _North American_ geography. So, please, tell us which is further north: Idaho or Nevada? Which is further east: Michigan or Wisconsin? Which area comprises New England? … and those shows where they ask an “average” American in the street a geography question are in a word, pathetic. The same expose could be conducted in any city, in any country. You can be sure they don’t show on television the Americans who correctly answer their stupid questions. I’m not an American, incidentally. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/47e85d/32.png) [@Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Lance_Murdoch)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norway-isnt-that-in-sweden/233389/13 "2004-03-10T04:51:25Z")
I live in Minnesota where Scandinavian culture permeates pretty much everything. One person from Norway I know once told me she never felt so Norwegian until she moved here. I mean that stuff is everywhere here. I’ve seen husbands and wives tease each other for decades because one of them is of Norwegian descent and one is of Swedish descent. You can see people all decked out in Purple here on St. Urho’s Day. That’s the Finnish equivalence of St. Patrick’s Day. One time I had to interview a Swedish woman for a job opening. She too was amazed at the extent of Swedish culture here. Part of the reason she was so amazed was that she had never even heard of Minnesota before she came here. When I was a kid a teacher from Norway visited our class. She proudly told us that Oslo was four times larger than Minneapolis and St. Paul combined (size matters I guess). For the record the Twin Cities have three million people, while the greater Oslo area has 800,000. I guess ignorance goes both ways. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norway-isnt-that-in-sweden/233389/14 "2004-03-10T05:18:25Z")
> [@Jervoise](#): > > The OP will have to face the fact that Norway is in no way a prominent country in the minds of people living outside of Europe–particularly those in the US, who are more understandably more concerned with _North American_ geography. No, I think you can strike the word “North” from that sentence. I think just American geography would be, in general, a more accurate assessment. > [@](#): > > So, please, tell us which is further north: Idaho or Nevada? Which is further east: Michigan or Wisconsin? Which area comprises New England? Idaho, Michigan, and the north-east bit south of Quebec. What do I win? ---
**Author:** ![\_ceQueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/b9bd4f/32.png) [@\_ceQueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_ceQueen)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norway-isnt-that-in-sweden/233389/15 "2004-03-10T05:19:31Z")
I think that it’s more surprising that people don’t know where New Zealand is! ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norway-isnt-that-in-sweden/233389/16 "2004-03-10T05:38:19Z")
One reason for the confusion may be that these countries are lumped into “Scandinavia.” (I remember being confused about this as a kid and asking my mom to explain it to me.) Yeah, Americans aren’t too good at the world geography thing, but as **Gary T** said, they don’t show you the people that answered more or less correctly. I’m pretty good with world geography, but there are regions that I don’t know well. In the aftermath of 9/11, I remember being really surprised that Afghanistan was next to Pakistan. I thought it was farther west–sort of in the area where Iran and Iraq intersect. I have no idea why I thought this. It doesn’t really make any sense. And if you asked me about it in one of those man-on-the-street interviews, I’d look like a blithering idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norway-isnt-that-in-sweden/233389/17 "2004-03-10T05:49:57Z")
I bring this up not to lampoon the OP’s typing ability, but is “Danmark” an actual alternate spelling or just a boo-boo? Because, as we all know, Danmark is the loyal sidekick on that popular European cop show, “Helsinki 5-O.” Who can forget the catch phrase, “Book 'em, Danmark!” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norway-isnt-that-in-sweden/233389/18 "2004-03-10T05:50:24Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > Idaho, Michigan, and the north-east bit south of Quebec. What do I win? Very good. Now if you were the person to which the question was addressed–and you didn’t live in Quebec–you could claim today’s shiny gold sticker. ---
**Author:** ![jastu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/43a26b/32.png) [@jastu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jastu)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norway-isnt-that-in-sweden/233389/19 "2004-03-10T05:54:36Z")
> [@Jervoise](#): > > The USA has a not dissimilar landmass and population to the entirety of Europe. Certain individual states within the US have a larger political and economical importance than Norway, Sweden and Denmark. The OP will have to face the fact that Norway is in no way a prominent country in the minds of people living outside of Europe–particularly those in the US, who are more understandably more concerned with _North American_ geography. > > So, please, tell us which is further north: Idaho or Nevada? Which is further east: Michigan or Wisconsin? Which area comprises New England? > > I’m not an American, incidentally. My Edit Not sure if you were asking me or the OP, but do you think you should limit your geographical knowledge to your own continent? I don’t live in Europe but I have known since early primary school where all the various countries are situated. When I was living in Australia, which although not a prominent country by American standards but a large country nonetheless, rarely did any American know where it was let alone have a clue how many states we had or the name of our nation’s capital. From my own experience most people I have met in Europe know quite a bit about Australia. As to your questions, not hard but then I have family originally from and currently living in the US so I have made a point of learning what I can of the country. > [@IceQueen](#): > > I think that it’s more surprising that people don’t know where New Zealand is! I’m also living in NZ and I haven’t spoken to an American yet who knows where we are. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norway-isnt-that-in-sweden/233389/20 "2004-03-10T06:00:03Z")
Allow me then - you’re the relatively small island a thousand or so miles off the southeast corner of Australia. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norway-isnt-that-in-sweden/233389.md?page=2)