# Which states are most well known across the pond? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 10, 2017, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-states-are-most-well-known-across-the-pond/795982 "2017-09-10T01:35:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**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:** [September 12, 2017, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-states-are-most-well-known-across-the-pond/795982/121 "2017-09-12T14:10:14Z")
[From the Nitpicker’s Desk:] > [@Acsenray](#): > > Just as an illustration, the only cities that are both their state’s largest city and also the state capital are: > > Phoenix, Arizona > Little Rock, Arkansas > Denver, Colorado > Atlanta, Georgia > Honolulu, Hawaii > Indianapolis, Indiana > Des Moines, Iowa > Boston, Massachusetts > Jackson, Mississippi > Columbus, Ohio > Providence, Rhode Island > Nashville, Tennessee > Charleston, West Virginia > Cheyenne, Wyoming > [@Mona\_Lott](#): > > Please add Boise, Idaho to your list. I came here to post this. 🙂 > [@TokyoBayer](#): > > As well as Salt Lake City, Utah. And this. ☹ > [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > Oklahoma City? And this. :smack: Since my three additions to the list have been Ninja’ed, I’ll contribute that I had cause to Google for the same list a decade ago. In addition to the three oversights just mentioned, the older list had three differences due to population change: Nashville, Tennessee is a newcomer: Memphis was larger in the 2010 census. Columbia, South Carolina is capital and was largest in 2000 census. Baton Rouge, Louisiana is capital and was largest for a few years in 2000’s. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2017, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-states-are-most-well-known-across-the-pond/795982/122 "2017-09-12T15:36:53Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > “Back Home Again in Indiana”, which is sung before each running of the Indianapolis 500. Probably not that well-known as far as state songs go, though. :smack: While I can’t find a video of the “There’s More than Corn in Indiana,” I’m pretty sure it uses the same melody as “Back Home Again in Indiana.” I do know that song, but had no idea it was sung before the Indy 500, and don’t know more lyrics than the title words. I can’t imagine it’s an internationally well-known song. I’d say the same for Oklahoma. I know there’s a musical with that name, so presumably a song with that name, but I have no idea how it goes. (And looking it up on Youtube, it’s completely unfamiliar to me. Seems like “Oh, What A Beautiful Morning” is the only song I know from that musical.) Unless that post was referring to another song with Oklahoma in the title. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2017, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-states-are-most-well-known-across-the-pond/795982/123 "2017-09-12T15:41:59Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > Now, for the 'Merkins, how many states (and territories) can you name in Australia? 😃 I’ll give it a shot. New South Wales, Tasmania, Western Australia, Queensland, Victoria. Checking a map I see I missed two. I wanted to say Northwest Territory but I was pretty sure that was Canada. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2017, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-states-are-most-well-known-across-the-pond/795982/124 "2017-09-13T04:13:52Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > It’s only because of the arbitrary nature of political boundaries. > > The populations of the Cleveland and Cincinnati metropolitan areas taken as a whole are much bigger than the Columbus metropolitan area’s. > > It’s just that the way the municipal boundaries are drawn that makes the City of Columbus larger on population than the City of Cleveland and the City of Cincinnati. Columbus absorbed most of its suburbs some time back. That makes it the biggest city in Ohio, but the metro area is not much larger than the city. I’m American and a geography nerd. Naming all the states and their capitals, Canadian provinces/territories and capitals, and Australian states and capitals would be very easy. But doing the equivalent for England results in problems. I could probably name most of the English counties, but the problem there is that they aren’t _fixed_. At any time, Parliament could change them in all sorts of ways: merge them, change boundaries, split them up, or outright eliminate them and replace them with regions or something. And, in fact, they’ve done these things, not just once, but several times. It’s hard to keep track of what all has happened along these lines, so any list I make up would be a mixture of current regions, historic counties and ceremonial counties (not sure if there’s a difference between the latter two categories). So unless someone really wants me to, I’m not going to make up such a list. The same problem also applies to Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, BTW. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2017, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-states-are-most-well-known-across-the-pond/795982/125 "2017-09-13T21:34:22Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > New England is actually composed of the six most northeastern states, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. Those states need to be combined to make one adult sized state so we can make room on the flag for DC and PR to join up. I’ll never understand how New ‘England’ doesn’t include New ‘York’ and New ‘Jersey’ but then I’m from the south. ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2017, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-states-are-most-well-known-across-the-pond/795982/126 "2017-09-13T21:45:39Z")
I spent the first 40 years of my life living east of the Mississippi. States to the west of same I knew by name, but had a sketchy knowledge of how they all related to one another spacially. I remember, upon moving to Colorado, being shocked that if one drove south long enough one would reach New Mexico. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2017, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-states-are-most-well-known-across-the-pond/795982/127 "2017-09-13T22:20:21Z")
Continuing our side discussion on New England. [Here’s a cite from the mid-1800s (1862) that defines New England](https://books.google.com/books?id=iBxUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA39&dq=%22new+england%22+encyclopedia&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwja7O_2l6PWAhVI5oMKHdW8A9AQ6AEIKzAA#v=onepage&q=%22new%20england%22%20encyclopedia&f=false) as the six states mentioned. And that’s a revised edition of the encyclopedia, so I’m sure you can find it even farther back than then. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2017, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-states-are-most-well-known-across-the-pond/795982/128 "2017-09-14T23:28:26Z")
While people have often heard of Washington state, many of those same people guess it must be somewhere near Washington DC. It’s easier to explain where I’m from if I say “north of San Francisco.” ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2017, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-states-are-most-well-known-across-the-pond/795982/129 "2017-09-16T05:27:38Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > While people have often heard of Washington state, many of those same people guess it must be somewhere near Washington DC. > It’s easier to explain where I’m from if I say “north of San Francisco.” The wife’s cousin ended up not going to school in the US, but she did look into it and one day told me she was strongly considering the University of Washington DC. She was sorely disappointed when I informed her the University of Washington was clear across the country from DC. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2017, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-states-are-most-well-known-across-the-pond/795982/130 "2017-09-16T08:45:41Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > The wife’s cousin ended up not going to school in the US, but she did look into it and one day told me she was strongly considering the University of Washington DC. She was sorely disappointed when I informed her the University of Washington was clear across the country from DC. She could go to Washington University, maybe she’d run into some politicians. Either that or catch some waves at California University or Miami University. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2017, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-states-are-most-well-known-across-the-pond/795982/131 "2017-09-16T10:40:38Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > So far, no foreigner has gotten > . I’ve set foot in two of those, my boss was from a third. But I haven’t rattled out every state I know of because I know I’m unusual, as I’ve loved geography since forever and actually lived Over There. Mom is a pretty bad navigator, Dad loved maps and liked going to places he hadn’t been before. All that combined into him teaching us about maps as soon as he thought we’d be able to open them without breaking them or wrapping ourselves in map. My brother Jay and I will encounter a place name that we don’t know where it is and look it up, and both of us consume a lot of American media. Several people have mentioned thinking that foreigners will know about New York City but not New York State. For the bad-at-geography Spaniards I mentioned before it’s the opposite: same as they assume that every Spanish capital is named like its province and vice versa, they’ll take it for granted that New York is in New York and Chicago is in Chicago. And they will be very surprised when they’re told that no, the capital of New Jersey is not called Jersey or Jersey City or New Jersey City… ---
**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:** [September 16, 2017, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-states-are-most-well-known-across-the-pond/795982/132 "2017-09-16T12:36:32Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > The wife’s cousin ended up not going to school in the US, but she did look into it and one day told me she was strongly considering the University of Washington DC. She was sorely disappointed when I informed her the University of Washington was clear across the country from DC. Yes, this is a bit of a muddle. There’s: 1. University of Washington, a public university in Seattle, Washington 2. Washington State University, a public university in Pullman, Washington 3. Washington University in St. Louis, a private university in St. Louis, Missouri 4. George Washington University, a private university in Washington, D.C. 5. University of the District of Columbia, a public university in Washington, D.C. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2017, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-states-are-most-well-known-across-the-pond/795982/133 "2017-09-16T16:14:14Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Several people have mentioned thinking that foreigners will know about New York City but not New York State. For the bad-at-geography Spaniards I mentioned before it’s the opposite: same as they assume that every Spanish capital is named like its province and vice versa, they’ll take it for granted that New York is in New York and Chicago is in Chicago. And they will be very surprised when they’re told that no, the capital of New Jersey is not called Jersey or Jersey City or New Jersey City… It’s like that with Thai provinces too. The capital of Chiang Mai province is the city of Chiang Mai, the capital of Loei province is Loei etc. ---
**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, 2017, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-states-are-most-well-known-across-the-pond/795982/134 "2017-09-16T16:39:28Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > Those states need to be combined to make one adult sized state so we can make room on the flag for DC and PR to join up. > > I’ll never understand how New ‘England’ doesn’t include New ‘York’ and New ‘Jersey’ but then I’m from the south. Just remember that it’s not: new-ENG-land It’s: noo-WING-lin’ ---
**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:** [September 16, 2017, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-states-are-most-well-known-across-the-pond/795982/135 "2017-09-16T21:20:54Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > Those states need to be combined to make one adult sized state so we can make room on the flag for DC and PR to join up. > > I’ll never understand how New ‘England’ doesn’t include New ‘York’ and New ‘Jersey’ but then I’m from the south. When you get to combinin’ states, you’re always going to have a problem getting 49 of them to agree to accept New Jersey under their wing. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2017, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-states-are-most-well-known-across-the-pond/795982/136 "2017-09-16T23:37:15Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Just remember that it’s not: new-ENG-land > > It’s: noo-WING-lin’ It’s over there near Lawn Guy Land. BTW, there are perfectly aesthetic designs for 51, 52, 53, 54, or 55 stars out there in the same basic configuration. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2017, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-states-are-most-well-known-across-the-pond/795982/137 "2017-09-17T01:04:12Z")
New York, California, Texas and Florida are the ones I’d expect people in other countries to know. Primarily because TV shows and tourism often reference those states. IIRC Dallas was exported around the globe. “Who shot JR”? Is an identifiable question in many countries that see our old syndicated TV shows. A soap opera is one way to introduce the World to Texas. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2017, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-states-are-most-well-known-across-the-pond/795982/138 "2017-09-17T21:30:02Z")
To be fair, New York State mostly is New York City. The city’s metropolitan area is actually larger than the entire state. ---
**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:** [September 17, 2017, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-states-are-most-well-known-across-the-pond/795982/139 "2017-09-17T22:02:06Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > To be fair, New York State mostly is New York City. The city’s metropolitan area is actually larger than the entire state. If you’re talking about population—and including parts of Connecticut and New Jersey. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2017, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-states-are-most-well-known-across-the-pond/795982/140 "2017-09-17T22:16:13Z")
Obviously I must be including parts of other states, to reach a total greater than the state of New York. And what other way of measuring besides population would be relevant? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-states-are-most-well-known-across-the-pond/795982.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-states-are-most-well-known-across-the-pond/795982.md?page=8)