# Your geographical misconceptions **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 30, 2020, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294 "2020-12-30T20:58:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/201 "2021-01-04T18:45:12Z")
Deutchland has never been grosser! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/202 "2021-01-04T19:22:00Z")
> [@Dag\_Otto](#): > > Micronesia, of course, is a mythical place. I think you’ve confused that with Macronesia. Like the country of Amnesia, folks almost always forget about that one. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/203 "2021-01-04T19:52:00Z")
I just discovered that I didn’t invent the name Outer Mongolia. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2021, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/204 "2021-01-04T19:54:49Z")
And then there are these two maps from…well, you know… [![](https://i.imgur.com/Rs9bHQ4.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/Rs9bHQ4.jpg) [![](https://www.threestooges.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/TTSMapofMoronika.jpg) ](https://www.threestooges.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/TTSMapofMoronika.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![SharltoCopley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sharltocopley/32/12309_2.png) [@SharltoCopley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SharltoCopley)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/205 "2021-01-04T21:29:26Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > I thought Berlin was right on the full FRG/GDR border, and that the Berlin Wall ran along the entire border and through Berlin. Wait what? It wasn’t? ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/206 "2021-01-04T21:35:52Z")
Nope, Germany was split into American, British, French, and Soviet occupation zones. Berlin lay entirely within the Soviet zone but was still divided into 4 parts - East Berlin under Soviet occupation and West Berlin which was split between the Allies. That’s why the Soviets were able to blockade Berlin, forcing the Allies into the Berlin Airlift. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/207 "2021-01-04T21:42:29Z")
A misconception I had about the Berlin Wall was that it ran more or less north-south, dividing the eastern and western portions of Berlin. In reality the wall was a ring completely surrounding West Berlin. Of course logically that would how it would have had to have been, since West Berlin was completely within East German territory, but it was honestly something I just never really thought about until I actually visited Berlin. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/208 "2021-01-05T00:15:37Z")
I had never really thought about that either, even though I knew Berlin was in the Soviet sector. ---
**Author:** ![cytop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f17d59/32.png) [@cytop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cytop)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/209 "2021-01-05T13:41:26Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > In reality the wall was a ring completely surrounding West Berlin Highlighted nicely by this 1988 map of the area around Berlin. West Berlin is simply ‘not there’ as the map was produced in the GDR: [https://360.here.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported\_Blog\_Media/map1.png?width=1536&name=map1.png](https://360.here.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/map1.png?width=1536&name=map1.png) Some further reading [here](https://360.here.com/2014/11/06/fall-wall-missing-pieces/). Not a lot of depth but it’s a start, and it mentions one the the things I found striking. The Berlin underground system was divided much like the city. There were 2 lines in West Berlin system that passed under the Eastern parts of the city and stations were simply abandoned so trains didn’t stop at them but still slowed to pass through. Total time capsules… ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/210 "2021-01-05T18:13:33Z")
Are those stations now in operation? ---
**Author:** ![cytop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f17d59/32.png) [@cytop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cytop)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/211 "2021-01-05T18:33:21Z")
Sorry - I didn’t make that clear. They were total time capsules while the wall existed with ads and posters from 1961 visible After the wall came down the stations were re-commissioned. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/212 "2021-01-05T19:03:03Z")
On the subject of Berlin, I had no idea how close to the Polish border it is (forty-odd miles). Only found out by going there. j ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/213 "2021-01-05T23:55:39Z")
Back in the 1970s when I was a teen our family took a driving tour of Europe. Which included driving from West Germany along one of the three highway connections from West Germany into West Berlin. We came from the Hanover area eastbound towards Berlin. Being as we were tourists, we didn’t intend to return via the same road; we intended to leave West Berlin by another of the three roads; this one going South towards Nuremberg. I’m not sure I fully understood the specifics then, much less now 50 years later, but when we got to the southern end of the road in East German territory and hit their checkpoint that led out into West Germany, the border guards were _very_ interested in the fact we had not traveled to Berlin on the same road. Of course we had taken a guided tour of East berlin which meant our passports had been stamped that we’d been in the DDR. A nervous half hour passed while they decided what to do about this strange situation. Conveniently for us, they eventually decided the right move was “do nothing.” And waved us south and out of the Communist world. ---
**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:** [January 9, 2021, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/214 "2021-01-09T05:47:40Z")
> [@cytop](#): > > The Berlin underground system was divided much like the city. There were 2 lines in West Berlin system that passed under the Eastern parts of the city and stations were simply abandoned so trains didn’t stop at them but still slowed to pass through. Total time capsules… I passed through those stations while riding the West Berlin system in 1986. I remember it felt eerie. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2021, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/215 "2021-01-09T17:20:32Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > On the subject of Berlin, I had no idea how close to the Polish border it is (forty-odd miles). Only found out by going there. I’ve known about it for quite some time but it’s still an easy mistake to make since all the maps of the Prussian empire always show a huge chunk of the space between Berlin and East Prussia as Prussian, and even in the Weimar Republic Berlin was quite a bit away from the Polish border. And even now, knowing that the Russians and Poles moved the border after the war, mentally I think of the German-Polish border as starting where it does at the Baltic Sea but then moving south-southeast to Wroclaw, including more territory east of Berlin than it actually does. ---
**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:** [January 9, 2021, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/216 "2021-01-09T23:32:19Z")
I drove to Savannah, GA from central Indiana back in '83 (still in the 55 mph era). I was making good time, I thought, as I was south of Atlanta before sunset. All I had to do was make it to Macon and Savannah would be a short two-hour drive from there. I mean, Cincinnati was two hours from Indy on I-74 and the road atlas I was using showed the distance on I-16 from Macon to Savannah was about the same, right? That night was a brutal reminder to check the scale on the road maps being used! ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/217 "2021-01-10T02:20:26Z")
We get this all the time. People struggling in because they flew into Phoenix - it’s generally cheaper - and assumed Tucson was 20 minutes down the road. More like 2 hours. Also we get people who think The Grand Canyon is 2 hours or so up the road. Try about 7 1/2. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/218 "2021-01-11T02:17:39Z")
Once upon a time (I think it was about 1983) an account supervisor in the New York City office called our St. Louis office and asked us to send a staffer to Decatur, Illinois for an errand. The supervisor kept insisting “it’s right next to you on the map.” Finally, the St. Louis boss, who was a bona fide New Yorker told the supervisor to hop on the Lawn Guyland Expressway and drive out to Montauk, which was the same distance, and right next to her on our map. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/219 "2021-01-11T17:25:12Z")
Years ago [snopes.com](http://snopes.com) published an article confirming that a picture of… something… if I remember correctly it was of an especially large alligator, that was making the rounds on social media was indeed real. Among other things, they stated that it was taken in “southern Georgia, near the South Carolina border.” Then people started emailing them to “correct” them, because near the South Carolina boarder must be northern Georgia, right? Nope. If you look at a map you can see Georgia is more west of South Carolina than south of it. In fact the northern border of Georgia borders North Carolina and Tennessee. ---
**Author:** ![Moris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moris/32/2846_2.png) [@Moris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moris)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/220 "2021-01-11T19:00:13Z")
I’m from one of those and sometimes I can’t tell them apart neither. Of Central Asian ones, I can recognize Kazakhstan, but not the other ones. And I was never able to find a good mnemonics to differentiate between Latvia and Lithuania. The fact that one of them is called “Letonia” in some languages doesn’t help. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294.md?page=12)