# Obscure geographic regional names **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 27, 2016, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-geographic-regional-names/761008 "2016-07-27T05:47:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-geographic-regional-names/761008/61 "2016-08-11T19:40:26Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > You said you weren’t interested in the ones I mentioned. I want regions based on something other than political boundaries. Even old ones. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-geographic-regional-names/761008/62 "2016-08-11T20:09:24Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > I want regions based on something other than political boundaries. Even old ones. SoHo and Tribeca? Tribeca’s a fave because it’s a tortured acronym based on something that never existed. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-geographic-regional-names/761008/63 "2016-08-11T20:24:21Z")
There is the [Mogollon Rim](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogollon_Rim) in Arizona. And the [Abert Rim](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abert_Rim) in Oregon. Rim is a not-often-used term to describe a geographical feature, and I dont think either of the above appear on most generally-used maps. ---
**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:** [August 11, 2016, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-geographic-regional-names/761008/64 "2016-08-11T20:25:10Z")
> [@jsquire](#): > > Name of a place: the **[Lost Peninsula](http://michiganradio.org/post/story-michigans-lost-peninsula#stream/0)**. It’s the tip of a peninsula made by a small river emptying into Lake Erie. The tip is in Michigan, but is inaccessible by land without traveling into Ohio. About 20 or 25 years ago its possession was to be determined by the result of the Ohio State-Michigan game; Michigan won and retained possession. > > Name of a region: the [**Firelands**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firelands). It is an area of north central Ohio near Sandusky. It got its name in the late 1700s (before Ohio statehood) when the area was part of the Connecticut western reserve. Land was given to residents of certain Connecticut towns burned by the British in the Revolutionary War. For that matter, does anybody talk about the Western Reserve, or even know what it means, any more? Except for people who work at or attend Case Western? When I grew up in the Bay Area, The South Bay referred to the San Jose area, the South San Francisco Bay area. When I moved to Southern California, I was confused about what the people meant when they were talking about The South Bay. The South Santa Monica Bay area, El Segundo/Manhattan Beach/ Redondo Beach. Also, when people in the South Bay talk about The Hill, they’re talking about Palos Verdes. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-geographic-regional-names/761008/65 "2016-08-11T21:13:21Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > SoHo and Tribeca? > > Tribeca’s a fave because it’s a tortured acronym based on something that never existed. My favorite is [DUMBO](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumbo,_Brooklyn), in Brooklyn: Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass. There’s also NoHo (North of Houston), Nolita (North of Little Italy), NoMad (North of Madison Square Park), and [BoCoCa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BoCoCa). ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-geographic-regional-names/761008/66 "2016-08-12T05:17:33Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > For that matter, does anybody talk about the Western Reserve, or even know what it means, any more? Except for people who work at or attend Case Western?. Yeah there’s a lot of stuff in northeast Ohio at least that is named “Western Reserve \_\_\_\_” other than CWRU. So it’s still in the region’s lexicon. And we do learn Ohio history in elementary and middle school where the origin of the phrase is briefly explained. But I don’t think the full meaning and ties to Connecticut are always stored firmly in our memories. But the phrase is there. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-geographic-regional-names/761008/67 "2016-08-12T05:41:53Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > SoHo and Tribeca? > > Tribeca’s a fave because it’s a tortured acronym based on something that never existed. What do you mean? People who lived in a place needed a name, and constructed one by direct analogy to a nearby similar place. ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-geographic-regional-names/761008/68 "2016-08-12T09:33:15Z")
I grew up in an area of the UK known as ‘The Black Country’. It’s not listed on any maps, and nobody can agree on the boundaries, or even the origin of the name. But it does have its own flag. It is said to be the inspiration for Mordor, both in name and description owing to all of the smoke and fire from blast furnaces across the region. > **[Black Country](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Country)** > > The Black Country is a historic subdivision, in the modern West Midlands county, of England. The region covers most of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall. Dudley and Tipton are generally considered to be the centre. It became industrialised during its role as one of the birth places of the Industrial Revolution across the English Midlands with coal mines, coking, iron foundries, glass factories, brickworks and steel mills, producing a high level of air pollution. > The na... ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-geographic-regional-names/761008/69 "2016-08-12T12:28:27Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Tribeca’s a fave because it’s a tortured acronym based on something that never existed. > [@Peremensoe](#): > > What do you mean? People who lived in a place needed a name, and constructed one by direct analogy to a nearby similar place. Well… you could say that about every place name ever. 🙂 SoHo seems to be the original of these place names, but Tribeca comes from “Triangle Below Canal”… which it is, sort of, as it is a triangular area topped by Canal Street. Canal Street, however, was named for a freight canal into the center of Manhattan… that was never dug/built. The 1800’s version of Tunnel Three and the 2nd Avenue Line… ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-geographic-regional-names/761008/70 "2016-08-12T12:30:00Z")
And it’s not even triangular ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-geographic-regional-names/761008/71 "2016-08-12T12:31:24Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > And it’s not even triangular Well, it started that way, just as Nob Hill in San Francisco originally meant a house was, you know, ON Nob Hill. Trendy desire plus Realtors™, and you’ve got expansion. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-geographic-regional-names/761008/72 "2016-08-12T12:33:08Z")
Edit’s screwed up… consider that, technically, most of the US lives in SoHo. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![epolo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@epolo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epolo)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-geographic-regional-names/761008/73 "2016-08-13T02:06:14Z")
How about the Canadian Shield. > **[Canadian Shield](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Shield)** > > The Canadian Shield (French: Bouclier canadien \[buklje kanadjɛ̃\]), also called the Laurentian Plateau, is a geologic shield, a large area of exposed Precambrian igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks. It forms the North American Craton (or Laurentia), the ancient geologic core of the North American continent. Glaciation has left the area with only a thin layer of soil, through which exposures of igneous bedrock resulting from its long volcanic history are frequently visible. As a deep, commo Th... That article also leads to other geological region names like the Mackenzie dike swarm. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-geographic-regional-names/761008/74 "2016-08-13T02:18:27Z")
There is the [Northwest\_Angle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Angle) of Minnesota. Not accessible by land via the USA. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-geographic-regional-names/761008/75 "2016-08-13T02:31:49Z")
> [@MoonMoon](#): > > “Downeast” in Maine and “Michiana” for the Northeast corner of Indiana/Southwest corner of Michigan. The Louisville, KY and Jeffersonville, IN area is referred to as Kentuckiana sometimes. I believe Indyucky is a better, more mellifluous term. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-geographic-regional-names/761008/76 "2016-08-13T03:38:07Z")
While we’re in KY, how about the Pennyrile, covering chunks of the central part of the state, and the Jackson Purchase in the west? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-geographic-regional-names/761008/77 "2016-08-13T08:21:24Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > I want regions based on something other than political boundaries. Even old ones. Those administrative boundaries were themselves based on geography and language, and the second group of entities I mentioned (the comarcas) are sometimes administrative (and when they are, have well-defined limits) and sometimes not. There are places where asking people “where would you put the limits between X and Y comarcas” is considered a perfectly fine game for winter afternoons; rarely do you encounter two people who will place the boundary at the same spot. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-geographic-regional-names/761008/78 "2016-08-13T10:25:53Z")
> [@JacobSwan](#): > > I grew up in an area of the UK known as ‘The Black Country’. It’s not listed on any maps, and nobody can agree on the boundaries, or even the origin of the name. But it does have its own flag. > > It is said to be the inspiration for Mordor, both in name and description owing to all of the smoke and fire from blast furnaces across the region. > > [Black Country - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Country) Must confess that the possibility of Tolkien’s taking the “Black Country” of England’s West Midlands as a direct inspiration for Mordor, had never before occurred to me. I can hardly feel that the inhabitants would appreciate the implied likening of themselves, to Orcs… I had, though, always been given a smile (without seeing the actual connection) by the passage in the closing chapters of LOTR, in which the hyper-gabby healer Ioreth, in the process of filling-in her cousin as regards what hobbits are all about, uses that exact form of words : “Why, one of them went with only his esquire into the Black Country and fought with the Dark Lord all by himself, and set fire to his Tower, if you can believe it. At least that is the tale in the City.” Mayor Ben Bilboe of Bilston as an inspiration for Bilbo Baggins (as per link), though – while Bilbo is indeed highly eccentric by hobbit standards, it would seem to require a very great leap of the imagination to envisage him as a Communist and a Labour Party MP ! ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-geographic-regional-names/761008/79 "2016-08-13T12:57:09Z")
How about “Far North Queensland”? No-one can agree _exactly_ where it begins, and depending who you talk to it could be said to start at Rockhampton, or maybe the Whitsunday region, or maybe Townsville. Everyone agrees Cairns is in FNQ, though. Similarly, “The Outback” is another geographical descriptor that’s not all that well defined. Everyone knows if you head inland from any of the major cities you’ll end up there, but exactly where the border between “The Bush” and “The Outback” is subject to interpretation, in my experience. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-geographic-regional-names/761008/80 "2016-08-13T13:11:08Z")
Scablands of Washington State … always makes me laugh … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-geographic-regional-names/761008.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-geographic-regional-names/761008.md?page=5)