# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2020, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/41 "2020-12-31T07:40:04Z")
My sister used to be a university geography professor in Texas, and for the first day of freshman geography class she’d pass out a blank sheet of paper. As an exercise she asked each freshman to draw the lower 48 states from memory. She said the results were pretty comical. I’ll ask her to see if she has any of them scanned and posted. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2020, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/42 "2020-12-31T08:10:20Z")
Portugal is really east. So east that it shares the same time zone as the U.K. Which is another thing. The Central European Time zone is really wide. At least Spain, and probably also France, Belgium, Luxemburg and the Netherlands should also be in the same time zone as the U.K. Speaking of time zones, I can tell somebody which states are in Eastern and which are in Pacific. The rest of them? No clue. The first time I learned Rome and New York are at the same latitude really confused me. It’s still weird. [Link](https://vividmaps.com/comparing-latitude-of-europe-and-america/) to latitude comparison. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2020, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/43 "2020-12-31T09:33:24Z")
But each time zone is, on average, 15° wide. Why should the CET be any wider? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2020, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/44 "2020-12-31T11:01:11Z")
Just last year, I got to teach a New Zealander coworker a geographic mnemonic, which he thought was great. 'Twas “HOMES” for the names of the Great Lakes. I use that even to this day, decades after I learned it, yet I have no idea which order the lakes actually are in, going from East to West, or West to East. ---
**Author:** ![Dinoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de0a6/32.png) [@Dinoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinoguy)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2020, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/45 "2020-12-31T13:27:27Z")
I’ve read that a lot of people don’t realize New Mexico is actually a state in the U.S. New Mexico magazine has a section of stories about the misconception. I admit though not knowing where a lot of countries are (example: where the heck is Belarus?) ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2020, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/46 "2020-12-31T13:35:53Z")
That one’s easy: **BE** ar **L** eft **A** t **RUS** sia and there you are 🙂. Yes, I just made that up. No, it’s not very good - so sue me. ---
**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:** [December 31, 2020, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/47 "2020-12-31T14:01:40Z")
> [@Dinoguy](#): > > example: where the heck is Belarus? Bela = White, so Belarus is the Land of the White Rus. Not to be confused with the Kievan Rus or Russia herself, but it does give you an idea of where the larger group of Rus peoples hail from. ---
**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:** [December 31, 2020, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/48 "2020-12-31T14:31:35Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > I’m always amazed at the fact that much of South America is farther east than Florida. Yeah, I visited Peru last year for the first time and was pleased to learn the west coast of SA is the same time zone as Eastern Standard Time. Reno, NV is more west than Los Angeles. I was surprised to learn how close The Bahamas are to Florida, and how far out in the Atlantic Bermuda is. Texas is so big, if you flipped it on it’s western point, the eastern edge would reach the Pacific, and if you flipped it on it’s eastern edge, the western point would reach the Atlantic. I have not had the pleasure of driving across the Lone Star state, but I hear it goes on and on. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2020, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/49 "2020-12-31T14:34:57Z")
For a long time I thought Mongolia was just a Chinese province. I didn’t know they were an independent country. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2020, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/50 "2020-12-31T14:42:07Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > How far north San Fransisco is. I always think of it as maybe an hour from LA. You would cease to think that if you ever had to drive between them. An hour from L.A. is just more L.A. ---
**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:** [December 31, 2020, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/51 "2020-12-31T14:54:58Z")
Visitors can be surprised at how large California is. I have had people ask if they can visit Yosemite as a day trip from San Francisco - it’s about 4 hours drive each way with low traffic. And making a day trip between SF and LA - just no - it’s a 6-8 hour drive between the two. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2020, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/52 "2020-12-31T15:01:05Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > I have had people ask if they can visit Yosemite as a day trip from San Francisco - it’s about 4 hours drive each way with low traffic. I’ve done it from Tracy and it wasn’t particularly strenuous but I probably wouldn’t want to do it if I were in San Francisco per se. If I had to do it all over again I’d still do it, even considering that it would be my second time there. I merely left pretty early and got back at a reasonable time. If I were in SF I would have had to leave AND return too early/late. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2020, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/53 "2020-12-31T15:10:54Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Texas is so big, if you flipped it on it’s western point, the eastern edge would reach the Pacific, and if you flipped it on it’s eastern edge, the western point would reach the Atlantic. I have not had the pleasure of driving across the Lone Star state, but I hear it goes on and on. It always amused me when I lived in El Paso that I was closer to San Diego than I was to Houston. And that we’d go skiing in Ruidoso, NM, which is farther south than Atlanta. I did drive from El Paso to CT once, and yes, it’s a slog. I didn’t even make it to Arkansas that first day, although I wasn’t exactly pushing it either. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2020, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/54 "2020-12-31T15:17:58Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > I have none. I was Top of my class in Geography. What I don’t know, I’ll look up. Sorry. This is threadshitting. From the TOS: > [@Terms of Service and FAQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-of-service-and-faq/823562/2): > > **Threadshitting** – Do not threadshit. Threadshitting is belittling the topic or the people discussing it. It typically takes the form of a dismissive comment, like “Who cares?” or “This is stupid!” or similar. The implication of the threadshitter is that discussion of such a topic is beneath them, and should be beneath everybody else. If you really do think that a discussion is inane or pointless, the appropriate thing to do is to not participate in it. And, of course, if you see someone threadshitting, please do not respond with personal insults or accusations: instead, REPORT the post to a Moderator. Please don’t do it again. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2020, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/55 "2020-12-31T15:35:02Z")
More of a misperception than a misconception, but I’ve been surfing south-facing beaches in Southern California my whole life and still imagine that if I could magically paddle straight out to the other side of the ocean I’d end up in Japan and not New Zealand. ---
**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:** [December 31, 2020, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/56 "2020-12-31T15:46:14Z")
Gander, NFLD is slightly (by 3 km) closer to London, England than to London, Ontario. Part of Florida is in the Central time zone and part of Oregon is in the Mountain zone. This means for one hour every year a clock in an Atlantic coast state reads the same as one in a Pacific coast state. Between 2 and 3 AM on the night DST ends. My son in Seattle is further north than me in Montreal. There is place in Canada at the same latitude as the northern border of California (Pt. Pelee at 42 deg N) ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2020, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/57 "2020-12-31T16:01:25Z")
Because the geographical and official CET do not match. > The CET time zone, were it drawn by purely geographical terms, would consist of exactly the area between meridians 7°30′ E and 22°30′ E. Reality is that the western most point is at approximately 15° W and the eastern most point is at 30° E, which means the official CET is approximately 45° wide. > **[Central European Time | Discrepancies between official CET and geographical CET](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_European_Time#Discrepancies_between_official_CET_and_geographical_CET)** > > The criteria for drawing time zones is based on many factors including: legal, political, economic, and physical or geographic. Consequently, time zones rarely adhere to meridian lines. The CET time zone, were it drawn by purely geographical terms, would consist of exactly the area between meridians 7°30′ E and 22°30′ E. As a result, there are European locales that despite lying in an area with a "physical" or "nominal" UTC+01:00 time, actually use another time zone (UTC+02:00 in particular – the... ---
**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:** [December 31, 2020, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/58 "2020-12-31T16:06:17Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > It always amused me when I lived in El Paso that I was closer to San Diego than I was to Houston. Mind blown! That is a great one! ---
**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:** [December 31, 2020, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/59 "2020-12-31T16:13:05Z")
> [@susan](#): > > Michigan: What’s up with that? The UP, of course! As a kid, I strongly believed (and for long refused to be convinced otherwise) that the UP was a part of Wisconsin, NOT that oven-mitt shaped state across the lake from me. ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2020, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/60 "2020-12-31T18:02:57Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > As an exercise she asked each freshman to draw the lower 48 states from memory. > **[Contiguous 41 States](https://xkcd.com/2394/)** > > Linguists, settling some inscrutable grudge, have been steadily sneaking more backdated synonyms for 'sharing borders' into the dictionary. They've added 'contiguous,' 'coterminous,' 'conterminous,' and next year they're adding 'conterguous.' [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294.md?page=4)