# Some geography fun... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 14, 2015, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-geography-fun/734641 "2015-10-14T16:13:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-geography-fun/734641/41 "2015-10-18T21:32:19Z")
**1. Without looking it up can you identify the fifth largest city in your state?** No. It turns out it’s Naperville. **2. What foreign (not in your country) city is due North, East, South and West of your current address?** I get Thunder Bay to the north, Cancun to the south, Porto to the east, and Sapporo to the west. **3. How near are you from the closest Latitude and Longitude Even Degree?** 9.2 miles, as the crow files. (When you say even, I assume you mean integer and not integer divisible by two. It turns out, though, that it doesn’t matter.) ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-geography-fun/734641/42 "2015-10-18T21:40:25Z")
> [@RadicalPi](#): > > **3. How near are you from the closest Latitude and Longitude Even Degree?** > 9.2 miles, as the crow files. (When you say even, I assume you mean integer and not integer divisible by two. It turns out, though, that it doesn’t matter.) Good catch. Yes, my intent was to go with integer degrees with no minutes and seconds involved. The same idea behind that “degree confluence” approach. (See [http://www.confluence.org/](http://www.confluence.org/) for more details.) ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-geography-fun/734641/43 "2015-10-19T02:06:38Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > I think Corpus Christi is the fifth largest city in Texas, but it COULD be one of the “suburbs” in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolis. I’d have guessed Austin. But maybe Arlington in the DFW area. > [@](#): > > One of my favorite questions: > > You’re sailing your boat in the Atlantic. You approach the Panama Canal and are heading for the Pacific. What direction are you sailing within the canal? southeast in general, but it’s not a straight line. My geography question: Which is further north: Portland, Oregon or Portland, Maine? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-geography-fun/734641/44 "2015-10-19T02:25:56Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > I think Corpus Christi is the fifth largest city in Texas, but it COULD be one of the “suburbs” in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolis. > [@dtilque](#): > > I’d have guessed Austin. But maybe Arlington in the DFW area. Just looked it up and we’re both wrong. It 's Fort Worth. It turns out Austin is larger than FW (I thought the other way around). The first three are, of course, Houston, Bexar, and Dallas. Corpus Christi is 8th and Arlington is 7th. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-geography-fun/734641/45 "2015-10-19T03:24:19Z")
For California I got the four largest cities correct, but my guess for #5 was number #7. The actual #5 surprised me. I guessed Thailand’s #5 correctly but for the wrong reason. Thailand’s top ten include Bangkok, three cities almost adjacent to Bangkok and TWO cities in Cholburi Province (neither Pattaya). Chiang Mai, often called Thailand’s Number Two city, is actually #7. _Of course Bangkok has a higher population than the next several hundred cities added together!_ :eek: My nearest “confluence point” is a long drive away, but only a few miles from my nearest American friend. Maybe I’ll use that as an excuse to visit him more often! ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-geography-fun/734641/46 "2015-10-19T13:48:13Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > I ought to be able to remember this one since it’s so counter-intuitive but this is just a guess until I go look it up: > > You enter the canal itself headed southeastward, then turn northwestward after a few miles. Something about the isthmus’s geography is weird. Best I can do from memory. Good question! Thanks. All the maps I have been able to find show a different picture from my memory, and that’s not a big surprise! The ones I did find suggest you enter the canal going almost due South. I wish I could find what gave me the impressions I had before! 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-geography-fun/734641.md?page=2)