# 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:** 19
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2021, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/362 "2021-01-24T01:33:59Z")
Paraguay and Bolivia signed a peace treaty in 1938, but the (new) border wasn’t agreed upon until 2009. [https://www.dur.ac.uk/ibru/news/boundary\_news/?itemno=7949&rehref=%2Fibru%2Fnews%2F&resubj=Boundary+news+Headlines](https://www.dur.ac.uk/ibru/news/boundary_news/?itemno=7949&rehref=%2Fibru%2Fnews%2F&resubj=Boundary+news+Headlines) Border disputes from the 1930’s among Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia weren’t finally settled until 1999. [Ecuadorian–Peruvian territorial dispute - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Ecuadorian%E2%80%93Peruvian_territorial_dispute) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2021, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/363 "2021-01-24T01:38:26Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Fuck. Try to suss “UK”. Man is not technically part of the UK, but it is some sort of weird crown protectorate. Then there are Jersey and Guernsey, which are right off the French coast but somehow within the British sphere. And those random carribean islands that – arrgh. How is that different from Puerto Rico, American Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and Guam? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2021, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/364 "2021-01-24T01:45:02Z")
> [@Drsunflower1](#): > > > [@dtilque](#): > > > > Then there’s the question about whether Sint Maarten is part of the Netherlands according to my rule. I read part of the wiki page on [Kingdom of the Netherlands](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_the_Netherlands) and it probably is not, but I can’t say for certain. > > It’s still part of the Kingdom. It’s become an autonomous region a couple of years ago, along with Curaçao and Aruba. > Saba, St. Eustatius and Bonaire are now Dutch municipalities. Yes, part of the kingdom, but that turns out to be irrelevant to whether it passes my test for being part of the main country. To reiterate, my test is > [@dtilque](#): > > If an overseas possession is represented in the national legislature by fully participating representatives, then it’s part of the main country. Otherwise not. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2021, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/365 "2021-01-24T01:52:04Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > If an overseas possession is represented in the national legislature by fully participating representatives, then it’s part of the main country. Otherwise not. Has your definition caused you many problems in your relationships with foreign governments? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2021, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/366 "2021-01-24T04:42:06Z")
And Canada has a (disputed) land border with Denmark. [Hans Island](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Island) ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2021, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/367 "2021-01-24T04:56:24Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Has your definition caused you many problems in your relationships with foreign governments? No, for some reason it hasn’t been an issue. 🙂 It’s really just for answering trivia questions. In fact, I didn’t come up with it, but rather it’s the rule used in a small trivia group I participate in. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2021, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/368 "2021-01-24T05:09:13Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Since it appears that statues and stuff are also being discussed, I remember visiting Mount Rushmore for the first time and being rather disappointed at its size. Now, granted, it’s still big, objectively (faces are about 60 feet tall), but from seeing the pictures, I expected it to be one enormous mountainside or something. It seems that I am not alone in my perhaps unrealistic expectations. The Statue of Liberty is another monument that’s not as big as people think. Part of it is people tend to think of [its base](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/Lady_Liberty_under_a_blue_sky_%28cropped%29.jpg/220px-Lady_Liberty_under_a_blue_sky_%28cropped%29.jpg) along with the statue itself. Another factor is people see images from movies like [this](https://www.triplemint.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/escape-from-new-york.jpg). Here’s an actual [photo](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qDyZbAJRna4/WAhUQLSnpUI/AAAAAAAALjs/pGKC2Kh4BuEwDn75lZPWN-tA1sDLKZfBgCLcB/s1600/unboxing_the_statue_of_liberty.jpg) of the statue’s head during its construction. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2021, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/369 "2021-01-24T06:04:33Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The Statue of Liberty is another monument that’s not as big as people think I remember reading that in the movie “Cloverfield”, in the scene where the then-unseen monster hurls the head of the Statue of Liberty through the air and it lands in the road near the protagonists, they had to make the head roughly twice as large as it really is so that it would still loom over the crowd… ---
**Author:** ![Drsunflower1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drsunflower1/32/12711_2.png) [@Drsunflower1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drsunflower1)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2021, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/370 "2021-01-24T10:31:01Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > If an overseas possession is represented in the national legislature by fully participating representatives, then it’s part of the main country. Otherwise not. We have a Rijksministerraad, which consists of the Dutch and the island cabinet ministers. But we have a different system of government in that we don’t have local representation on that level. Saba, Bonaire and St Eustatius vote for the Dutch government, Curaçao, St Maarten and Aruba are comparable with eg New Zealand in that the head of state is our King, but they have their own government. So in that sense they’re not part of The Netherlands proper. Does that answer your question? ---
**Author:** ![Drsunflower1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drsunflower1/32/12711_2.png) [@Drsunflower1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drsunflower1)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2021, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/371 "2021-01-24T10:41:21Z")
Plus they are not part of the EU. (I consulted my husband over this and he keeps feeding me new info😁) ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2021, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/372 "2021-01-24T10:50:16Z")
> [@Drsunflower1](#): > > So in that sense they’re not part of The Netherlands proper. Does that answer your question? Yes, thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2021, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/373 "2021-01-24T12:28:50Z")
Went to visit Jamestown and the ranger said people say where is the rock? Confusing it with Plymouth rock. I thought Pocahontas was at Plymouth but she was at Jamestown ---
**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 24, 2021, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/374 "2021-01-24T12:44:21Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > I thought Pocahontas was at Plymouth but she was at Jamestown Pocahontas [is in Gravesend](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocahontas#Death) in the county of Kent, England. j ---
**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 24, 2021, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/375 "2021-01-24T21:49:32Z")
For those who confuse geography with geology, geology rocks, but geography is where its at. ---
**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 24, 2021, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/376 "2021-01-24T21:58:51Z")
I suppose we could go on and say “… and geophysics is why”. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2021, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/377 "2021-01-24T23:12:17Z")
When I’d drive California to Colorado, when I’d get to Albuquerque I’d mistakingly keep thinking [only an hour and a half to Raton](https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Albuquerque,+NM/Raton,+NM/@35.9380302,-106.6583905,8z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x87220addd309837b:0xc0d3f8ceb8d9f6fd!2m2!1d-106.650422!2d35.0843859!1m5!1m1!1s0x8710f043b7f65153:0xa09ff54108aa82d0!2m2!1d-104.4391532!2d36.9033581!3e0). ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2021, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/378 "2021-01-24T23:22:46Z")
probably most famous geography major is Michael Jordan. He went back and finished his degree at UNC. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2021, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/379 "2021-01-24T23:47:06Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > For those who confuse geography with geology, geology rocks, but geography is where its at. Geography is just physics slowed down, with a couple of trees stuck in it. - Sir Terry Pratchett ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2021, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/380 "2021-01-25T00:23:40Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > When I’d drive California to Colorado, when I’d get to Albuquerque I’d mistakingly keep thinking [only an hour and a half to Raton](https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Albuquerque,+NM/Raton,+NM/@35.9380302,-106.6583905,8z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x87220addd309837b:0xc0d3f8ceb8d9f6fd!2m2!1d-106.650422!2d35.0843859!1m5!1m1!1s0x8710f043b7f65153:0xa09ff54108aa82d0!2m2!1d-104.4391532!2d36.9033581!3e0). You should have taken [a left turn at Albukoikee](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8TUwHTfOOU). ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2021, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/381 "2021-01-25T01:01:00Z")
Geography is Nice, but geology is gneiss. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294.md?page=18) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294.md?page=20)