Humor in Geography? Not intentionally!

Well, how about something a bit humorous to start your day with? I came across the 1st of this trio in a history course and it's presentation is as funny as it is educational for a confusing issue. So..I went to looking a bit more to see what else the vid producer had and found a couple more to add. I think everyone might enjoy these, so take a minute and relax a bit.

Come see how craaaazy geography can actually get!

First, Holland vs. the Netherlands? The Netherlands Vs Holland? What about the Dutch? Oh.. Err.. Just watch, you'll see.



Next we have two of the best and warmest neighbors ever to share a.....well.. Okay, two of the more friendly ....err... Alright, two nations not UNfriendly to each other anyway. lol.... America and Canada with a bit more history of how they came to be on different sides of a map line than you may have known (or needed to know...). Enjoy!



Finally, just HOW many nations are there, anyway?? Well, you'd think that would be easy enough to answer...right? Riiiiight...



Whoever said Geography and History can't be fun, just never looked at it quite the right way. Indeed.... It can be downright entertaining at times!

That is not fun, just saw the first video and my head hurts, i always liked the shape of Wyoming and Colorado and when i was a kid and was forced to draw the shape of my state i dreamed of being in one of those boxy places

I guess one of the advantages of a new world order would be that we all would be in numbered boxes and not those complicated borders/nationalities

Ya learn sumpin' new everyday. And to make it more interesting, try and figure out how I learned it a day before you if you live in California.

Ahhhh!!!

Earth is confusing. Or the people make it confusing. Or the guy in these videos just knows too much and speaks too quickly for me to take in all I want to take in.

All I can remember now of these videos is that Zeeland is in the Netherlands and is source of the naming of New Zealand.

So, at least I learned something! I think...

Did I touch the "no-touch-soon-to-be-dead-sapling" zone?

reply to post by Wrabbit2000

Yes, calling the Netherlands "Holland" is like the American habit of calling Britain "England" (which annoys the Scots) and the English habit of calling Americans "Yanks" (which probably annoys the Texans and any other damyankee haters).

I knew about all this from my historical studies (though I first came to history from an interest in maps).

The narrator was moving too fast to make it clear that the modern boundaries of both Netherlands and Belgium are controlled by sixteenth century events.

When the whole of the Old Netherlands revolted against their Spanish rulers, the Spaniards could reconquer the south (which therefore became Belgium, in the long term) but not the north, which became the modern Netherlands.

That original Netherlands, ruled by the Spanish, was a combination of French provinces and German provinces, thanks to events in the previous century.
The French monarchs were never quite powerful enough to push the boundary back to the linguistic border and control all the old French territory, and that is why Belgium now has a linguistic boundary running right through the middle of it.

LOL i just checked in google maps and there is really a no touch line all the way in the border, except its intercepted from time to time by 4X4 tracks.

I bet in 1000 years someone will rediscover this and name it the north American nazcan line.

reply to post by DISRAELI


Funny you should mention the United Kingdom... They have one on that, too. It explained it better in 5 minutes than I've heard others spend an hour on, to be honest.



The more I learn of history, the more interesting it becomes. So many little stories behind and explaining the world we see and just how it got to be the way it is today, eh?

reply to post by Snarl


This is great, I love these types of vids. This guy found his niche and always makes me laugh.

Indigent
LOL i just checked in google maps and there is really a no touch line all the way in the border, except its intercepted from time to time by 4X4 tracks.

I bet in 1000 years someone will rediscover this and name it the north American nazcan line.

LOL

Future archaeologists: "Were the peoples of North America somehow in tune with a frequency we are not now aware of? Does this zig-zagging line across the entire continent really represent a sound wave?"

Well, anyway I can't imagine them thinking of it as a "no-touch" zone...

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


British Antarctic Territory? I looked that up and - Queen Elizabeth Land?

These videos are starting to freak me out. Time to ease up on the coffee or, maybe, just ease on out of this thread...

reply to post by Wrabbit2000

I think I've seen the UK one on ATS before.

Another interesting quirk of historical geography is what happened to Calabria and Saxony, which both moved to entirely different locations.
On maps of the Roman world, Calabria is the "heel" of Italy.
In modern times, it is to be found at the "toe".

When the Saxons invaded England, Saxony was just south of Denmark.
By the time of the Reformation, it had moved much further east.

In both cases, the explanation is politics. The name first expanded to cover a larger territory, and then contracted again to a location which was not the original.

Finally, a quirk of geography not related to history.
If you travel on the London Underground system, there are two different lines which will take you between Euston and King's Cross, both with "northbound" and "southbound" versions.
On one of them, you travel from Euston to King's Cross by using the "northbound" line.
On the other, you make the same journey by using the "southbound" line.
Work that one out.