Forums
Welcome to Live View – Take the tour to learn more
Start Tour
There is currently 1 person viewing this thread.
tobermory
10 Sep 17 02:05
Joined:
Date Joined: 01 Mar 08
| Topic/replies: 63,345 | Blogger: tobermory's blog
Looking at the BBC weather map one night i was shocked to see that Norwich is north of Birmingham Surprised

Had always thought of Norwich as being part of the South East . Had spoken to people who lived in Norwich and worked in London , and they made out it was quite normal to do so. Birmingham i considered the start of The North and could not imagine anyone living there and working in London.


Reykjavik is nearer to New York City than it is to Moscow


This surprised me as i considered Iceland is basically Scandinavia .
Scandinavia is the part of europe nearest to North West Russia.
Moscow is sort of North West Russia.
Pause Switch to Standard View Geographical Facts that have...
Show More
Loading...
Report Foinavon September 10, 2017 7:20 AM BST
Pub quiz question: which is further East, Helsinki or Athens?
Some are surprised that the answer is Helsinki.
Report Foinavon September 10, 2017 7:20 AM BST
Pub quiz question: which is further East, Helsinki or Athens?
Some are surprised that the answer is Helsinki.
Report Foinavon September 10, 2017 7:23 AM BST
Whoops
Report travelling man September 10, 2017 7:47 AM BST
Dundee is further West than Bristol Shocked
Report Pleasegivemeanailedontip September 10, 2017 8:01 AM BST
Uk is mich bigger than i used to think it was.

If you drive from lands end to john o'groats and back again then thats further than driving from UK to Greece
Report Joel September 10, 2017 8:04 AM BST
Easier drive though
Report Badsworth September 10, 2017 12:03 PM BST
Not if you use the M6.
Report cooperman September 10, 2017 12:30 PM BST
It's not all that far to Tipperary but the road is winding which makes it feel like a long way.
Report Coachbuster September 10, 2017 12:36 PM BST
i mentioned once before on here that North Norfolk ( southern England)  is  furtehr north than south Cheshire (North of England) 

It's part due to the sloping nature of the country .  Hence aslo the Dundee /Bristol position. 

Btw - this isn't considered Geography  - at least the education system doesn't see it so  - Geography is all about spending 2 years studying rock formations , glaciers and inner city housing   .
Report Coachbuster September 10, 2017 12:37 PM BST
yeah- exactly
Report Coachbuster September 10, 2017 12:40 PM BST
and answering the Q,

the only thing that surprised me was (when i was around 14 )  to learn that the far north of Spain is nearer to England than to parts of southern Spain .
Report RLKingPunter September 10, 2017 12:44 PM BST
Greenland always looks massive on a world map but a bit of a fallacy due to its shape and position
Report donny osmond September 10, 2017 12:49 PM BST
you can sail in a straight line from pakistan to russia
Report pxb September 10, 2017 12:54 PM BST
I grew up in Essex on the side of the terminal morraine of the last glacial advance. Land sloped up to the south. Although, as a kid I assumed upslope meant north. Took me years to overcome that thinking.
Report ooO{Alpha Centauri}Ooo September 10, 2017 1:10 PM BST
The map of the world distorts countries sizes, video is interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=241&v=lPNrtjboISg
Report cooperman September 10, 2017 1:44 PM BST
Lands End is not the Southernmost point of the U.K. That belongs to St. Agnes on the Isles of Scilly on which most of the freehold land is owned by the Duchy of Cornwall. A good little earner for Charlie!Wink
Report Mikael D'Haguenet September 10, 2017 2:20 PM BST
Lands End is not even the southernmost point on the mainland. That would be Lizard Point.

My bit of trivia... Alaska is the furthest north, furthest west and furthest east of all the US states.
Report casemoney September 10, 2017 2:43 PM BST
The size of the State of Florida Plain
Report casemoney September 10, 2017 2:52 PM BST
Miami to Jacksonville 350  Miles Shocked
Report Shrewd_dude September 10, 2017 3:11 PM BST
John O'Groats is not the most Northern point in the UK. It's Dunnet Head further West along the coast.
Report Mikael D'Haguenet September 10, 2017 3:12 PM BST
Florida only the 22nd largest state too.

Another yank 'un. There are four Great Lakes, not five. Lake Michigan and Lake Huron are actually one lake.
Report casemoney September 10, 2017 4:10 PM BST
Jeeze its hard to believe how big the USA is Shocked
Report Jack Hacksaw September 10, 2017 4:24 PM BST
Countries coloured pink on a map indicating they were part of the British Empire were not always delighted to be such.
Report lovegod September 10, 2017 4:53 PM BST
Travelling south from Detroit what's the first country you pass through?

Thought it was Mexico but its Canada.
Report Just Checking September 10, 2017 4:59 PM BST
Maybe they should have been Tickled Pink..
Report crystalhunt September 10, 2017 6:16 PM BST
The Faroe Islands are under the jurisdiction of Denmark - I always thought it was Egypt Grin
Report Sica Dan September 10, 2017 6:37 PM BST
Krakatoa is not East of Java.
Report unitedbiscuits September 10, 2017 7:24 PM BST
Not really a geographical fact so much as a mathematical one:

The last hurricane dropped a million tonnes of rain per square mile over Houston.
Report Coachbuster September 10, 2017 7:37 PM BST
Travelling south from Detroit what's the first country you pass through?

Thought it was Mexico but its Canada.
___________

also not many folk would think of Canada  as far south as Barcelona lol
Report s.kenbo September 10, 2017 7:49 PM BST
Russia and Alaska are only a few miles apart at their closest points.
Report onlooker September 10, 2017 8:20 PM BST
tobermory 10 Sep 17 02:05 

' .... Birmingham i considered the start of The North and could not imagine anyone living there and working in London.
--------------------

No wonder you were bemused by many other locations.

"Birmingham," is the heart of the Midlands - Nowhere near, "the North." ...... Thankfully.
Report detraveller September 10, 2017 8:40 PM BST
I have never been able to make peace with 3 things. I always thought North Korea was in the south of South Korea, NZ was in the west of Aus and Spain was connected to UK in the South West. I still imagine them wrong, unless im looking at a map.

Other than that, I was suprised at the size of Finland and Sweden the first time i saw it on the map. Also surprised that there is a small country inside South Africa.
Report pxb September 10, 2017 8:44 PM BST
Wastern Australia in 4 times the size of Texas, with fewer people than Essex.
Report Coachbuster September 10, 2017 9:32 PM BST
Australia is a southern hemisphere version of Essex lol
Report Poppydog. September 11, 2017 9:31 AM BST
Extra-geographical, but mind-blowing trivia fact

A day on Venus is longer than a year on Venus.
Report mumpin September 11, 2017 11:35 AM BST
I grew up in Essex on the side of the terminal morraine of the last glacial advance. Land sloped up to the south. Although, as a kid I assumed upslope meant north. Took me years to overcome that thinking.

Hey pxb. This is really interesting. You've got to be talking about Harwich/Manningtree vicinity. Am i correct? Cheers
Report steerforth September 11, 2017 12:10 PM BST
I once had a pub quiz question, which two of the UK's four national capitals are on the same line of longitude?
The answer surprised me.
Report steerforth September 11, 2017 12:12 PM BST
The most westerly point of the US is not Hawaii - its in Alaska.
Report Gin September 11, 2017 1:28 PM BST
The distance between Perth and Sydney in Australia is approx 800 Kilometres farther than the distance between London and Moscow (3295km v 2503km)
Report Gin September 11, 2017 1:34 PM BST
Report RLKingPunter September 11, 2017 4:03 PM BST
In terms of population Leeds is the third biggest in the UK behind London and Birmingham
Report onlooker September 11, 2017 5:59 PM BST
steerforth 11 Sep 17 12:10 

I once had a pub quiz question, which two of the UK's four national capitals are on the same line of longitude?
The answer surprised me.
------------

Not me - Edinburgh and Cardiff

Lots of people would get their Longitude and Latitudes mixed up - and say Cardiff and London.
-----------

Similarly - 'If you travelled due South from Glasgow - Which English county would you first cross?'

The majority would say - Cumbria ... But the answer is, in fact, Devon.
Report Coachbuster September 11, 2017 7:36 PM BST
In terms of population Leeds is the third biggest in the UK behind London and Birmingham
_____________

not remotely possible KL punter  -it's got to be Glasgow or Manchester depending on which units you use - Leeds is like a  provincial town by comparison
Report Coachbuster September 11, 2017 7:37 PM BST
it's all because the UK sits at an angle  - same as with all the others  .

sometimes  UK  is shown too upright so it fits easier on the screen
Report Hank Hill September 11, 2017 8:16 PM BST
Having driven around a lot of Texas this one still gets me. San Diego Ca is closer to El Paso Tx than Houston is!
Report STUDYFORM September 11, 2017 9:14 PM BST
Here's one that occurred to me when I was on a putting green on Cromer's seafront a few weeks ago.
So I've looked it up and had near shock!

If you got in the sea on the north Norfolk coast and started swimming directly north, what would be the 1st land you'd get to?

Nope, not the Shetlands, or Norway, or Spitzbergen....


given that the north pole is not land.....

It would be the north coast of eastern Russia not far from the Bering Strait. It's VERY close to the gap between Russia and Alaska.
It's almost, but not quite, all the way to Antarctica. Just skirting NZ on the way.


All mi oan wurk Cool
Report STUDYFORM September 11, 2017 9:18 PM BST
It's Wrangel island nature reserve to be exact.
Report CLYDEBANK29 September 11, 2017 9:40 PM BST
I recall a quiz question which was... In order which country is nearest to the Isle Of Man, England Scotland Wales or Northern Ireland?  The answer was the exact inverse of what I actually believed.Cry
Report CLYDEBANK29 September 11, 2017 9:58 PM BST
recently it surprised me that the population of the 4th largest city in the US (Houston) was only just over 2 million.
Report CLYDEBANK29 September 11, 2017 10:03 PM BST
The population of India is about double that of Europe and four times that of the USA.
Report tobermory September 11, 2017 10:05 PM BST
Yes , I think Australia has 4 cities larger than Houston.
Report bongo September 11, 2017 10:07 PM BST
I was pleasantly surprised that Great Britain has a turlough - had assumed there wouldn't be any.
And then found that the island of Ireland has a dozen or so.

Still find it hard to credit that the Shannon is the longest river in the Brit Isles, that there is a mountain on Mars twice the height of anything Nepal and Pakistan have got.
Report RLKingPunter September 11, 2017 10:13 PM BST
Coachbuilder

Largest Cities by Population

www.ukcities. co.uk populations
London 7.2 million
Birmingham 992,000
LEEDS 720,000
Glasgow 560,000

a provincial town....I think not
Report GRANTCKING September 11, 2017 10:16 PM BST
one thing blew my mind a few weeks ago when I finally realised just how big russia is, it blew my mind!
Report pxb September 11, 2017 10:21 PM BST
Hey pxb. This is really interesting. You've got to be talking about Harwich/Manningtree vicinity. Am i correct? Cheers

The south side of Harlow. Alongside Latton Common and Woods (the edge of the morraine). I recall reading that prior to the glaciation, the River Thames ran in that area and reached the sea on the present day coast of Essex near the Blackwater Estuary.

http://www.geoessex.org.uk/files/thames_and_medway.jpg
Report detraveller September 11, 2017 10:28 PM BST

Sep 11, 2017 -- 10:16PM, GRANTCKING wrote:


one thing blew my mind a few weeks ago when I finally realised just how big russia is, it blew my mind!


imagine it before the breakup.

Report tobermory September 11, 2017 10:31 PM BST
I think the Thames and the Rhine were 3 ends of the same river back then.
Report tobermory September 11, 2017 10:33 PM BST
*2
Report GoBallistic September 11, 2017 10:44 PM BST
Loving this thread - got me looking at a map.  I had no idea that the Republic of Ireland extends further north than Northern Ireland
Report Mikael D'Haguenet September 11, 2017 10:45 PM BST
Measuring cities by population is a tricky one. Different definitions of what constitutes a city etc. Take this list of cities with a population over 1 million...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_cities#/search

Only one Australian city makes the list - Brisbane, with almost 1.2 million. Houston has almost 2.5 million. This next list sees both Sydney and Melbourne make the world's top 100, at 87th and 89th respectively. Houston 64th, Brisbane unsighted.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_urban_areas_by_population

Finally, metropolitan area:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_metropolitan_areas_by_population

Again Houston comfortably ahead of the Aussie cities.

Using that last list, and bearing in mind how massive Australia is, it's interesting to note that 9 'cities' have a larger population than the whole of Australia.
Report Mikael D'Haguenet September 11, 2017 10:47 PM BST
Using that same list, Tokyo has a larger population than Canada, the 2nd largest country in the world!
Report pxb September 11, 2017 10:52 PM BST
As a kid, I calculated that you could draw a straight line from the highest point of the Latton Woods morraine all the way to the Ural Mountains without encoutering a higher elevation. Might find it's not true if I did the same on Google Earth.
Report Coachbuster September 12, 2017 2:05 AM BST
Coachbuilder lol

Largest Cities by Population

www.ukcities. co.uk populations
London 7.2 million
Birmingham 992,000
LEEDS 720,000
Glasgow 560,000

a provincial town....I think not

Don't belive any of them - someone has been messing about with things again (boundaries etc)  idiots can't stop meddling  with things - traditionally Glasgow or Brum /Greater Manchester -not a lot has changed.
Report Coachbuster September 12, 2017 2:05 AM BST
not sure how Glasgow is half the size either ha  - i know a lot have moved down south lol
Report Coachbuster September 12, 2017 2:09 AM BST
they've done the same to my town - despite the fact the town keeps edging out further and further /more and more building over the last 20 years  into the countryside  , the population has mysteriously gone down in the last 40 years - yeah right Laugh

tbf - they mess about with it so much  i can't be bothered to check the figures any more .   

G;asgow btw  is anything up to 2.5 million - which again is  ridiculous  -but a Wegie will tell you it's somewhere around the 1m  figure
Report Coachbuster September 12, 2017 2:14 AM BST
pxb - in a Rising damp episode , Rigsby mentioned there was nothing between his top floor attic room  and the Urals   Grin
Report pxb September 12, 2017 2:27 AM BST
It was a common belief in that part of Essex that the east wind blew directly from Siberia. Some truth to it.
Report geoff m September 12, 2017 8:54 AM BST
The land we are currently sat on now (UK) used to be south of the Equator.
You can find fossils from the bottom of the sea on the top of Snowdon.
Inverness on scottish east coast is further west than Liverpool
Report kincsem September 12, 2017 10:03 AM BST
Canada has a bigger area than the USA, but the USA has a bigger land area than Canada.

Half of Ireland was part of the American land mass, and half was part of the European land mass.
http://all-geo.org/metageologist/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/574px-Iapetus_fossil_evidence_EN.jpg
Report pxb September 12, 2017 10:56 AM BST
Western Australia is 2% of the world's entire land surface area.
Report onlooker September 12, 2017 11:24 AM BST
STUDYFORM 11 Sep 17 21:14 

If you got in the sea on the north Norfolk coast and started swimming directly north, what would be the 1st land you'd get to?
------------

None - You would either Drown or Freeze to death.
Report TheBetterBettor September 12, 2017 1:06 PM BST
New Zealand was above Australia opposed to being below it.
Report bix September 12, 2017 2:07 PM BST
The country that makes the map always puts their country in the centre of the map and no reason why North is always at the top of the map so really NZ is not above, below nor at the side of Australia.
Report SlippyBlue September 12, 2017 2:31 PM BST
The only tollgate in London that requires payment to pass through is in College Road, Dulwich.£1.20 a pop.
Report trilby22 September 12, 2017 2:59 PM BST
"Inverness on scottish east coast" ShockedCrazy
Report Latalomne September 12, 2017 3:39 PM BST

Sep 12, 2017 -- 2:59PM, trilby22 wrote:


"Inverness on scottish east coast"


I was just puzzling over the very same thing!

Report Coachbuster September 12, 2017 4:21 PM BST
it's sort of east coast in a funny way
Report jim_royale September 12, 2017 4:23 PM BST
well it's not on the north south or west coast.
Report Coachbuster September 12, 2017 4:28 PM BST
that Inverness situation can also equally apply to Edin burgh
Report Coachbuster September 12, 2017 4:29 PM BST
further west than Lancaster etc
Report Coachbuster September 12, 2017 4:32 PM BST
mainland Scotland / same lat as Hartlepool .
Report Coachbuster September 12, 2017 4:34 PM BST
54.64N v 54.69N
Report Coachbuster September 12, 2017 4:44 PM BST
thought of one that really surprised me a couple of years back -  Vienna/Brittany and also   Budapest more northerly Nantes NW France   ...took me a while to get my head round that one as i thought Nantes was  much further north
Post Your Reply
<CTRL+Enter> to submit
Please login to post a reply.

Wonder

Instance ID: 13539
www.betfair.com