Sorry, Canada
January 28, 2015 7:58 PM Subscribe
Reddit user TeaDranks has made a map of the world resizing every country in proportion to its population. The results are fascinating. NPR has a look. As originally seen on Reddit.
What's to be sorry about? I like how they arranged the map so it shows where the population actually lives, too.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 8:13 PM on January 28, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 8:13 PM on January 28, 2015 [4 favorites]
Russia is looking kind of squeezed.
posted by arcticseal at 8:15 PM on January 28, 2015
posted by arcticseal at 8:15 PM on January 28, 2015
Because Russia is so underpopulated/small and China and India are so large and populated, the map has basically given India a new Pacific coastline and China access to the Arctic.
posted by FJT at 8:18 PM on January 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by FJT at 8:18 PM on January 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
I feel like it's still hard to get a sense of Indonesia's enormous population with this just since the islands are little harder to piece together by eye to compare to the connected landmass countries.
Be sure not to miss Mongolia.
posted by banal retentive at 8:18 PM on January 28, 2015 [4 favorites]
Be sure not to miss Mongolia.
posted by banal retentive at 8:18 PM on January 28, 2015 [4 favorites]
I love this kind of thing.
Speaking of Canada, I found it interesting and somewhat understandable that she/he partitioned off Quebec - but then I noticed s/he'd done the same for Alberta, which I just don't understand (why not Ontario and BC? Why not all the provinces except too-small PEI?). Then I noticed s/he'd done something similar in the US, sectioning off a few notable states (largest, smallest, culturally and/or geographically distinct states) and then, seemingly randomly, Wisconsin.
If each square is rounded to 500k, I'm pretending Canada's very easternmost red square is removed from Quebec, broken off from the rest, and turned into an offshore island to represent Newfoundland (512,000).
posted by erlking at 8:21 PM on January 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
Speaking of Canada, I found it interesting and somewhat understandable that she/he partitioned off Quebec - but then I noticed s/he'd done the same for Alberta, which I just don't understand (why not Ontario and BC? Why not all the provinces except too-small PEI?). Then I noticed s/he'd done something similar in the US, sectioning off a few notable states (largest, smallest, culturally and/or geographically distinct states) and then, seemingly randomly, Wisconsin.
If each square is rounded to 500k, I'm pretending Canada's very easternmost red square is removed from Quebec, broken off from the rest, and turned into an offshore island to represent Newfoundland (512,000).
posted by erlking at 8:21 PM on January 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
Hawaii has 3 armies to Alaska's one. And there is a sea lane connecting them. One army has to be left behind so that gives two dice to Hawaii and one die to Alaska, or a 58% chance of a successful attack.
posted by stbalbach at 8:21 PM on January 28, 2015 [22 favorites]
posted by stbalbach at 8:21 PM on January 28, 2015 [22 favorites]
The one that blew my mind was Australia.
Some countries with larger populations than Australia: Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mozambique, Angola, Yemen, Nepal.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:22 PM on January 28, 2015 [9 favorites]
Some countries with larger populations than Australia: Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mozambique, Angola, Yemen, Nepal.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:22 PM on January 28, 2015 [9 favorites]
The one that blew my mind was Australia.
There's a whoooooole lot of empty in Australia.
posted by Jimbob at 8:25 PM on January 28, 2015 [5 favorites]
There's a whoooooole lot of empty in Australia.
posted by Jimbob at 8:25 PM on January 28, 2015 [5 favorites]
I had no idea Madagascar was so populous. I never seem to read anything about the people of Madagascar, just lemurs and shit. Damn.
posted by edheil at 8:30 PM on January 28, 2015 [12 favorites]
posted by edheil at 8:30 PM on January 28, 2015 [12 favorites]
The one that blew my mind was Australia.
Taiwan (13,974 square miles) has only 300k less people than Australia (2.97M square miles).
posted by FJT at 8:31 PM on January 28, 2015 [4 favorites]
Taiwan (13,974 square miles) has only 300k less people than Australia (2.97M square miles).
posted by FJT at 8:31 PM on January 28, 2015 [4 favorites]
My grade 7 geography teacher had a population map on her wall, in Canada, to give us young folk some perspective.
posted by juiceCake at 8:37 PM on January 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by juiceCake at 8:37 PM on January 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
I've "known" that Nigeria is by far the most populous country in Africa, but the map really dramatizes it.
Also, most Americans (including myself) tend to forget how big Mexico is in population. Quick, without looking at the map, what do you think (pop. of Mexico)/(pop. of Canada) is?
posted by benito.strauss at 8:40 PM on January 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
Also, most Americans (including myself) tend to forget how big Mexico is in population. Quick, without looking at the map, what do you think (pop. of Mexico)/(pop. of Canada) is?
posted by benito.strauss at 8:40 PM on January 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
This snark relates to this post...how?
This is basically the point of the post, really. You think your country is huge and hugely important, but in the grand scheme of things you and Indonesia are about level with one another. So whatever tiny personal importance you attach to Indonesia, try to keep in mind that somewhere there's someone for whom Surakarta is way, way more important than Chicago.
posted by 1adam12 at 8:42 PM on January 28, 2015 [3 favorites]
This is basically the point of the post, really. You think your country is huge and hugely important, but in the grand scheme of things you and Indonesia are about level with one another. So whatever tiny personal importance you attach to Indonesia, try to keep in mind that somewhere there's someone for whom Surakarta is way, way more important than Chicago.
posted by 1adam12 at 8:42 PM on January 28, 2015 [3 favorites]
Not so big now, eh, Russia and Canada?
posted by Drinky Die at 8:44 PM on January 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Drinky Die at 8:44 PM on January 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
It almost looks normalized to the U.S., which helps with the audience here I guess.
posted by Dip Flash at 8:48 PM on January 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Dip Flash at 8:48 PM on January 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
1adam12: "This is basically the point of the post, really. You think your country is huge and hugely important, but in the grand scheme of things you and Indonesia are about level with one another."
I'm kinda surprised how big my adopted country is, actually. I assumed (and still hope) the post was about "hey, everybody, check out how countries would look if they were sized relative to their populations" and not "hey, Americans, here's a map of different countries and their populations, but it's still all about you and how that makes you feel".
DirtyOldTown: "The point could have been made considerably better, but I imagine what uosuaq was saying was that places like the under discussion Australia have outsized places in world discussion in relation to their populations because: white people."
That makes sense, but I think there's more to it than that. After all, Wales and New Zealand are White People zones, but you don't hear anything about them...
posted by Bugbread at 8:51 PM on January 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'm kinda surprised how big my adopted country is, actually. I assumed (and still hope) the post was about "hey, everybody, check out how countries would look if they were sized relative to their populations" and not "hey, Americans, here's a map of different countries and their populations, but it's still all about you and how that makes you feel".
DirtyOldTown: "The point could have been made considerably better, but I imagine what uosuaq was saying was that places like the under discussion Australia have outsized places in world discussion in relation to their populations because: white people."
That makes sense, but I think there's more to it than that. After all, Wales and New Zealand are White People zones, but you don't hear anything about them...
posted by Bugbread at 8:51 PM on January 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
"hey, Americans, here's a map of different countries and their populations, but it's still all about you and how that makes you feel"
Did you expect Americans to comment on how people in Burkina Faso feel?
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:55 PM on January 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
Did you expect Americans to comment on how people in Burkina Faso feel?
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:55 PM on January 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
Here's a fun fact: if the Napoleonic wars had never happened (and the ~1 million Frenchmen who perished in them had lived to enlarge their families) then modern France would have as many* as 150 million people living in it. It would dwarf the UK and Germany on this map, and it would be slightly bigger than Russia.
*Probably not quite so many. Higher 19th century population growth would likely be tempered by a higher rate of emigration, though to where is anyone's guess. No Napoleon means no Louisiana Purchase, so French migrants wouldn't move to anything like a recognisable United States.
posted by Iridic at 8:59 PM on January 28, 2015 [11 favorites]
*Probably not quite so many. Higher 19th century population growth would likely be tempered by a higher rate of emigration, though to where is anyone's guess. No Napoleon means no Louisiana Purchase, so French migrants wouldn't move to anything like a recognisable United States.
posted by Iridic at 8:59 PM on January 28, 2015 [11 favorites]
Holy crap, 56,000 people live in Greenland? That seems huge for what I thought was a frozen wasteland. They can't all be snow scientists...
posted by GrumpyDan at 8:59 PM on January 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by GrumpyDan at 8:59 PM on January 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
I had no idea Madagascar was so populous. I never seem to read anything about the people of Madagascar, just lemurs and shit. Damn.
I just attended a week-long conference and summit about digital rights, censorship, reporting, and citizen journalism in the Philippines. People came from all over the world, including 4 participants from Madgascar. They were very lovely people.
What was interesting was that even though we all came from 60+ different countries we all got along really well. It gives me hope for the future of the human race.
posted by Nevin at 9:02 PM on January 28, 2015 [10 favorites]
I just attended a week-long conference and summit about digital rights, censorship, reporting, and citizen journalism in the Philippines. People came from all over the world, including 4 participants from Madgascar. They were very lovely people.
What was interesting was that even though we all came from 60+ different countries we all got along really well. It gives me hope for the future of the human race.
posted by Nevin at 9:02 PM on January 28, 2015 [10 favorites]
Now show a map resizing every country in proportion to the number of nukes it has.
posted by vicx at 9:03 PM on January 28, 2015
posted by vicx at 9:03 PM on January 28, 2015
After all, Wales and New Zealand are White People zones, but you don't hear anything about them...
We get whatever 'outsized places in world discussion' we have because of coal, iron and uranium (honourable mentions: wool and wheat).
You don't hear about Wales or NZ because they're both tiny (even compared to tiny tiny Australia) and one of them doesn't even have a foreign policy.
As to the map: My first instinct was to check that, yes, Australia was about the size of Sri Lanka.
posted by pompomtom at 9:04 PM on January 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
We get whatever 'outsized places in world discussion' we have because of coal, iron and uranium (honourable mentions: wool and wheat).
You don't hear about Wales or NZ because they're both tiny (even compared to tiny tiny Australia) and one of them doesn't even have a foreign policy.
As to the map: My first instinct was to check that, yes, Australia was about the size of Sri Lanka.
posted by pompomtom at 9:04 PM on January 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
Canada comes off pretty greedy here, I gotta say.
posted by mrjohnmuller at 9:05 PM on January 28, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by mrjohnmuller at 9:05 PM on January 28, 2015 [4 favorites]
Holy crap, 56,000 people live in Greenland? That seems huge for what I thought was a frozen wasteland. They can't all be snow scientists...
You would almost think there was an existing indigenous population or something crazy like that.
posted by Dip Flash at 9:06 PM on January 28, 2015 [40 favorites]
You would almost think there was an existing indigenous population or something crazy like that.
posted by Dip Flash at 9:06 PM on January 28, 2015 [40 favorites]
Did you expect Americans to comment on how people in Burkina Faso feel?
Mild interest, and a bit of gassiness I think. Try eating more okra, folks.
posted by Drinky Die at 9:09 PM on January 28, 2015
Mild interest, and a bit of gassiness I think. Try eating more okra, folks.
posted by Drinky Die at 9:09 PM on January 28, 2015
Not so big now, eh, Russia and Canada?
Looking at the map, and CDC stats, looks like there are still, post-Obamacare, more uninsured Americans than there are total Canadians.
Canada comes off pretty greedy here, I gotta say.
Sorry, America.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 9:11 PM on January 28, 2015 [7 favorites]
Looking at the map, and CDC stats, looks like there are still, post-Obamacare, more uninsured Americans than there are total Canadians.
Canada comes off pretty greedy here, I gotta say.
Sorry, America.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 9:11 PM on January 28, 2015 [7 favorites]
I think the way this map is encouraging people to reconsider their country's place in the world is a feature, not a bug.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:11 PM on January 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:11 PM on January 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
Here's a fun fact: if the Napoleonic wars had never happened (and the ~1 million Frenchmen who perished in them had lived to enlarge their families) then modern France would have as many* as 150 million people living in it. It would dwarf the UK and Germany on this map, and it would be slightly bigger than Russia.
And instead of a cultural hub renown for its arts, music, architecture, and cuisine, it would instead be know as Europe's slum district; an interconnected networks of corrugated tin and tarpaper bidonville.*
or so goes the premise of my new alt-history novel. If I actually wrote anything.
posted by sourwookie at 9:15 PM on January 28, 2015 [8 favorites]
And instead of a cultural hub renown for its arts, music, architecture, and cuisine, it would instead be know as Europe's slum district; an interconnected networks of corrugated tin and tarpaper bidonville.*
or so goes the premise of my new alt-history novel. If I actually wrote anything.
posted by sourwookie at 9:15 PM on January 28, 2015 [8 favorites]
I'm actually sort of intrigued by the countries that still seem about right. South America looks an awful lot like, you know, South America. The whole continent is maybe a little smaller than it might otherwise be, and Brazil seems to have given up some of the Amazon basin to Colombia and Venezuela, but by and large, it looks pretty much like South America to me. Do you suppose Brazilians just look at this map, say 'yep, that looks about right' and move on?
posted by jacquilynne at 9:19 PM on January 28, 2015 [8 favorites]
posted by jacquilynne at 9:19 PM on January 28, 2015 [8 favorites]
What you guys really want is the State of the World Atlas, sourced from CIA reference materials since the 70's
http://newint.org/books/maps-and-atlases/state-of-the-world-atlas/
From the 1981 edition, infograph on the above topic...
http://socks-studio.com/img/blog/softwa-02-800x569.jpg
posted by Zangal at 9:24 PM on January 28, 2015 [3 favorites]
http://newint.org/books/maps-and-atlases/state-of-the-world-atlas/
From the 1981 edition, infograph on the above topic...
http://socks-studio.com/img/blog/softwa-02-800x569.jpg
posted by Zangal at 9:24 PM on January 28, 2015 [3 favorites]
Yeah it's reassuring to see that Europe - old Europe, our Europe, but minus those barren Nordic countries - escapes this exercise looking largely intact... the Netherlands perhaps a bit bloated, Spain a bit parched.
posted by Flashman at 9:26 PM on January 28, 2015
posted by Flashman at 9:26 PM on January 28, 2015
Do you suppose Brazilians just look at this map, say 'yep, that looks about right' and move on?
"We have exactly as much land as we require, no more, no less. Let us now wax the hair from our genitals and party for 6 straight days."
posted by mrjohnmuller at 9:27 PM on January 28, 2015 [30 favorites]
"We have exactly as much land as we require, no more, no less. Let us now wax the hair from our genitals and party for 6 straight days."
posted by mrjohnmuller at 9:27 PM on January 28, 2015 [30 favorites]
>Holy crap, 56,000 people live in Greenland? That seems huge for what I thought was a frozen wasteland. They can't all be snow scientists...
You would almost think there was an existing indigenous population or something crazy like that.
Yeah I found that a strange remark as well. Does no one read the newspaper anymore?
The "France-as-slum" comment upthread also seems a bit off. Real, thinking, feeling, creating, living people live in the countries we northerners consider to be hot and crowded. It's a big, wide beautiful world with beautiful people living in it.
posted by Nevin at 9:27 PM on January 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
You would almost think there was an existing indigenous population or something crazy like that.
Yeah I found that a strange remark as well. Does no one read the newspaper anymore?
The "France-as-slum" comment upthread also seems a bit off. Real, thinking, feeling, creating, living people live in the countries we northerners consider to be hot and crowded. It's a big, wide beautiful world with beautiful people living in it.
posted by Nevin at 9:27 PM on January 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
The point could have been made considerably better
Not really, but it's kind of you to say so.
posted by uosuaq at 9:29 PM on January 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
Not really, but it's kind of you to say so.
posted by uosuaq at 9:29 PM on January 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'd like to see a similar map resized by total population body mass.
posted by Auden at 9:45 PM on January 28, 2015 [10 favorites]
posted by Auden at 9:45 PM on January 28, 2015 [10 favorites]
I never seem to read anything about the people of Madagascar, just lemurs and shit.
This made me smile as every year I meet another grad student at my work who studies lemurs of Madagascar and, in particular, their shit. Lemur diet (or behaviour?) is apparently a specialization of someone in the Anthropology department, so there is always a new cohort of grad student talking about Madagascar, who really do only talk about "lemurs and shit".
posted by chapps at 9:53 PM on January 28, 2015 [27 favorites]
This made me smile as every year I meet another grad student at my work who studies lemurs of Madagascar and, in particular, their shit. Lemur diet (or behaviour?) is apparently a specialization of someone in the Anthropology department, so there is always a new cohort of grad student talking about Madagascar, who really do only talk about "lemurs and shit".
posted by chapps at 9:53 PM on January 28, 2015 [27 favorites]
This is really interesting, but is there some reason I'm missing why this was done in those hipstery "8-bit" blocks other than the designer just likes it? IMHO, I'd rather my maps be more legible.
/rant /$0.02
posted by zardoz at 9:57 PM on January 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
/rant /$0.02
posted by zardoz at 9:57 PM on January 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
zardoz: "This is really interesting, but is there some reason I'm missing why this was done in those hipstery "8-bit" blocks other than the designer just likes it? IMHO, I'd rather my maps be more legible.
/rant /$0.02"
Ease of creation, probably? Also, each square is half a million people.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 10:15 PM on January 28, 2015 [3 favorites]
/rant /$0.02"
Ease of creation, probably? Also, each square is half a million people.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 10:15 PM on January 28, 2015 [3 favorites]
Auden: "I'd like to see a similar map resized by total population body mass"
I for one, welcome, insect overlords, etc.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 10:18 PM on January 28, 2015 [4 favorites]
I for one, welcome, insect overlords, etc.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 10:18 PM on January 28, 2015 [4 favorites]
This is really interesting, but is there some reason I'm missing why this was done in those hipstery "8-bit" blocks other than the designer just likes it? IMHO, I'd rather my maps be more legible.
/rant /$0.02
The reason you're looking for is "quantization" and "geospatial placement". The grid pixel system offers very convenient ways to display this data via easier programming.
The designer may have done the map without programming, too, and just from a sheer pencil-paper-calculator method to decide where to place the blocks manually. Desginers-not-programmers can and do insane shit like this for infographics, efforts that could be replaced with a tiny shell script and some deft knowledge Veroni diagrams or other data-vis methods. I've done it.
Meanwhile, I suddenly wish I was biking across the empty wastes of Australia. I had no idea it was actually that empty. It's practically a statistical Sahara, or Antarctica.
posted by loquacious at 10:18 PM on January 28, 2015 [4 favorites]
/rant /$0.02
The reason you're looking for is "quantization" and "geospatial placement". The grid pixel system offers very convenient ways to display this data via easier programming.
The designer may have done the map without programming, too, and just from a sheer pencil-paper-calculator method to decide where to place the blocks manually. Desginers-not-programmers can and do insane shit like this for infographics, efforts that could be replaced with a tiny shell script and some deft knowledge Veroni diagrams or other data-vis methods. I've done it.
Meanwhile, I suddenly wish I was biking across the empty wastes of Australia. I had no idea it was actually that empty. It's practically a statistical Sahara, or Antarctica.
posted by loquacious at 10:18 PM on January 28, 2015 [4 favorites]
I for one, welcome, insect overlords, etc.
Oh god, I've visualized this map. Guys? The ants win, apparently. By such a large margin you'll never sleep or look at ants the same way ever again.
/me falls off the hill in a stupor.
posted by loquacious at 10:20 PM on January 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
Oh god, I've visualized this map. Guys? The ants win, apparently. By such a large margin you'll never sleep or look at ants the same way ever again.
/me falls off the hill in a stupor.
posted by loquacious at 10:20 PM on January 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
For whatever reason, I was reading on Wikipedia last night about The Gambia, which is a country entirely along the banks of the Gambia river, which is (it turns out) about 4000 square miles in area, completely surrounded by Senegal.
You can't hardly even see it in the little Wikipedia map of Africa (it says, "Location of The Gambia (dark blue)" and you're like "there's no dark blue on that map, guys", and then ... you see...is it just a bit of dust on the screen? Nope, there's The Gambia). According to this handy chart, it's just larger than Jamaica and slightly smaller than Qatar.
With a million or so folks, on the cartogram it's this noticeable red line in the middle of the blue of Senegal.
posted by leahwrenn at 10:27 PM on January 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
You can't hardly even see it in the little Wikipedia map of Africa (it says, "Location of The Gambia (dark blue)" and you're like "there's no dark blue on that map, guys", and then ... you see...is it just a bit of dust on the screen? Nope, there's The Gambia). According to this handy chart, it's just larger than Jamaica and slightly smaller than Qatar.
With a million or so folks, on the cartogram it's this noticeable red line in the middle of the blue of Senegal.
posted by leahwrenn at 10:27 PM on January 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
Meanwhile, I suddenly wish I was biking across the empty wastes of Australia. I had no idea it was actually that empty.
The first time I really managed to grasp the scale of Australia was by flying over it. Alice Springs to Darwin, or Adelaide to Perth (or the hellish flight I got from Perth to Brisbane once when my Perth-Melbourne flight was cancelled). You spend a few hours flying over what from above looks like nothing but endless red earth.
There's also the slight deflation of hopping on a flight in Melbourne, all excited because you're flying to Europe... and six hours later you're STILL over Australia.
posted by andraste at 10:51 PM on January 28, 2015 [7 favorites]
The first time I really managed to grasp the scale of Australia was by flying over it. Alice Springs to Darwin, or Adelaide to Perth (or the hellish flight I got from Perth to Brisbane once when my Perth-Melbourne flight was cancelled). You spend a few hours flying over what from above looks like nothing but endless red earth.
There's also the slight deflation of hopping on a flight in Melbourne, all excited because you're flying to Europe... and six hours later you're STILL over Australia.
posted by andraste at 10:51 PM on January 28, 2015 [7 favorites]
Ha! That reminds me, when I visited Australia the local tour guide told us how there were always a few people in a group of Japanese tourists who couldn't grasp just how big the country was, so when they had an afternoon of free time they would ask how to get to Ayers Rock from the Gold Coast and back in time for dinner.
posted by misozaki at 11:32 PM on January 28, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by misozaki at 11:32 PM on January 28, 2015 [4 favorites]
Canada doesn't require statistics
posted by philip-random at 11:50 PM on January 28, 2015 [9 favorites]
posted by philip-random at 11:50 PM on January 28, 2015 [9 favorites]
Meanwhile, I suddenly wish I was biking across the empty wastes of Australia. I had no idea it was actually that empty.
I've been reading someone's bike tour journal about doing that - Syndey to Adelaide to Perth. I really can't wait to read about the latter part; they've only gotten to Adelaide so far. But hundreds of miles (Eyre Highway) where, if you're biking, you only get services every day or two? I can't imagine it.
posted by you could feel the sky at 11:56 PM on January 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
I've been reading someone's bike tour journal about doing that - Syndey to Adelaide to Perth. I really can't wait to read about the latter part; they've only gotten to Adelaide so far. But hundreds of miles (Eyre Highway) where, if you're biking, you only get services every day or two? I can't imagine it.
posted by you could feel the sky at 11:56 PM on January 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
The Scandinavian frost kingdoms are party balloons dangling three days after the party.
posted by pracowity at 11:57 PM on January 28, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by pracowity at 11:57 PM on January 28, 2015 [4 favorites]
Meanwhile, I suddenly wish I was biking across the empty wastes of Australia. I had no idea it was actually that empty.
See, that's why I don't think anyone ought to mind if we gave some of it away for China or Indonesia to populate. Say half or two thirds. It's not like the Australians are using it.
posted by happyroach at 12:11 AM on January 29, 2015
See, that's why I don't think anyone ought to mind if we gave some of it away for China or Indonesia to populate. Say half or two thirds. It's not like the Australians are using it.
posted by happyroach at 12:11 AM on January 29, 2015
aw lookit liddle Australia aren't you cute ooh yes you are tickle tickle
posted by TheophileEscargot at 12:42 AM on January 29, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by TheophileEscargot at 12:42 AM on January 29, 2015 [6 favorites]
zardoz: "This is really interesting, but is there some reason I'm missing why this was done in those hipstery "8-bit" blocks other than the designer just likes it? IMHO, I'd rather my maps be more legible.
/rant /$0.02"
Other cartogram styles are readily also available. I don't think they actually make the map more legible; a lot of countries have distinctive outlines and that is lost with the distortion of a more traditional cartogram; in the first link, Japan, the UK and the Philippines are all oblong wrinkled blobs; removed from their relative position it would be hard to tell them apart without counting the islands. In the FPP map, they look like the UK, Japan and the Philippines.
It also facilitiates the treatment of subnational areas; the map in the first link makes Alaska disproportionately huge. The second link is more rigorous, since it's grid-based and therefore represents the full range of population densities, but it's even harder to relate to. In the "8-bit" map, half of Japan is cordoned off to represent Tokyo. In the gridded map, I guess Japan has a bulge there, but it's already so different from actual Japan that I find it impossible to appreciate what's going on. (The country-level gridded maps work a little better for me.)
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 1:19 AM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
/rant /$0.02"
Other cartogram styles are readily also available. I don't think they actually make the map more legible; a lot of countries have distinctive outlines and that is lost with the distortion of a more traditional cartogram; in the first link, Japan, the UK and the Philippines are all oblong wrinkled blobs; removed from their relative position it would be hard to tell them apart without counting the islands. In the FPP map, they look like the UK, Japan and the Philippines.
It also facilitiates the treatment of subnational areas; the map in the first link makes Alaska disproportionately huge. The second link is more rigorous, since it's grid-based and therefore represents the full range of population densities, but it's even harder to relate to. In the "8-bit" map, half of Japan is cordoned off to represent Tokyo. In the gridded map, I guess Japan has a bulge there, but it's already so different from actual Japan that I find it impossible to appreciate what's going on. (The country-level gridded maps work a little better for me.)
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 1:19 AM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'm not surprised by the green splodge below Malaysia that is Singapore. We have a square mileage of less than 280 but 5.4 million in population (of which almost 40% are foreigners or PRs). And our government wondered why we kicked up such a fuss when they presented a white paper advocating 6.9 million in population by 2030.
posted by Alnedra at 2:35 AM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Alnedra at 2:35 AM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
if we gave some of it away for China or Indonesia to populate
I don't think the Chinese want to live in a desert at the end of the world
posted by the agents of KAOS at 3:18 AM on January 29, 2015 [8 favorites]
I don't think the Chinese want to live in a desert at the end of the world
posted by the agents of KAOS at 3:18 AM on January 29, 2015 [8 favorites]
See, that's why I don't think anyone ought to mind if we gave some of it away for China or Indonesia to populate. Say half or two thirds. It's not like the Australians are using it.
Australian wildlife might be a bit miffed
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 3:23 AM on January 29, 2015 [5 favorites]
Australian wildlife might be a bit miffed
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 3:23 AM on January 29, 2015 [5 favorites]
It's interesting how outside of Scandinavia and the oversized UK, Europe looks roughly similar to how it does on a geographic map. Germany seems to have encroached a little on Poland (let's not go there) but Europe is remarkably well-balanced in population density.
Can someone explain why this is? I suspect the answer is obvious but I bet someone else's brain could explain it better to me than the crap version I've got.
posted by Brian Lux at 3:27 AM on January 29, 2015
Can someone explain why this is? I suspect the answer is obvious but I bet someone else's brain could explain it better to me than the crap version I've got.
posted by Brian Lux at 3:27 AM on January 29, 2015
Brian Lux...I suspect it's because there aren't large swaths of empty land in Europe (ala Canada) and populations are more-or-less evenly spread-out.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:35 AM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Thorzdad at 3:35 AM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
Brian Lux: "Can someone explain why this is? I suspect the answer is obvious but I bet someone else's brain could explain it better to me than the crap version I've got."
Probably population density in Europe approaches world average population density. I'm assuming that's the method here.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 3:49 AM on January 29, 2015
Probably population density in Europe approaches world average population density. I'm assuming that's the method here.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 3:49 AM on January 29, 2015
...the map has basically given India a new Pacific coastline...
Damn, that Northern Indian seaboard, so beautiful, so unspoiled; the food so good, the people so welcoming. The only thing it hasn't got going for it is existence.
posted by Segundus at 3:54 AM on January 29, 2015 [6 favorites]
Damn, that Northern Indian seaboard, so beautiful, so unspoiled; the food so good, the people so welcoming. The only thing it hasn't got going for it is existence.
posted by Segundus at 3:54 AM on January 29, 2015 [6 favorites]
Can someone explain why this is? I suspect the answer is obvious but I bet someone else's brain could explain it better to me than the crap version I've got.
I'm just guessing here, but is it because 1) most of Western and Central Europe has fairly even population density, and 2) that European countries have mostly been able to gradually define their own borders, without colonization per se? Regarding 1), Scandinavia and the Iberian peninsula are noticeably smaller on this map, let alone Russia, to the extent that Russia counts as Europe. Regarding 2), think about how there isn't really an Australia of Europe (a huge but mostly empty space with the descendants of colonists as dots and dashes along the rim) or a Hong Kong of Europe (a physically tiny but insanely populous area - in HK's case, the population only ballooned in the wake of treaties with England).
I think our perception might also be affected by the fact that European countries have middle-big populations, so their sizes on this map do not look out of place. For example, France looks "about right" in comparison to the US and China.
posted by Sticherbeast at 4:20 AM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'm just guessing here, but is it because 1) most of Western and Central Europe has fairly even population density, and 2) that European countries have mostly been able to gradually define their own borders, without colonization per se? Regarding 1), Scandinavia and the Iberian peninsula are noticeably smaller on this map, let alone Russia, to the extent that Russia counts as Europe. Regarding 2), think about how there isn't really an Australia of Europe (a huge but mostly empty space with the descendants of colonists as dots and dashes along the rim) or a Hong Kong of Europe (a physically tiny but insanely populous area - in HK's case, the population only ballooned in the wake of treaties with England).
I think our perception might also be affected by the fact that European countries have middle-big populations, so their sizes on this map do not look out of place. For example, France looks "about right" in comparison to the US and China.
posted by Sticherbeast at 4:20 AM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
Also, this is your daily reminder that Canada is the horizontal Chile of North America. 90% of Canadians live within 100mi of the US border.
posted by Sticherbeast at 4:23 AM on January 29, 2015 [11 favorites]
posted by Sticherbeast at 4:23 AM on January 29, 2015 [11 favorites]
Quick, without looking at the map, what do you think (pop. of Mexico)/(pop. of Canada) is?
Also, as can be seen on the map, there are more people in the Mexico City conurbation by itself than in all of Canada.
posted by XMLicious at 4:28 AM on January 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
Why is Iceland in the North Sea?
posted by kyrademon at 5:06 AM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by kyrademon at 5:06 AM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
Meanwhile, I suddenly wish I was biking across the empty wastes of Australia. I had no idea it was actually that empty.
See, that's why I don't think anyone ought to mind if we gave some of it away for China or Indonesia to populate. Say half or two thirds.
Who is this goddam "we"? (Yeah, I know exactly who it is. The only "we" who matter.) Your blithe assertion of ownership of my country of birth and residence — because it's apparently yours to give away — is profoundly offensive. Wake the fuck up and get over yourself. Then have the elementary decency to be embarrassed.
posted by Wolof at 5:13 AM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
See, that's why I don't think anyone ought to mind if we gave some of it away for China or Indonesia to populate. Say half or two thirds.
Who is this goddam "we"? (Yeah, I know exactly who it is. The only "we" who matter.) Your blithe assertion of ownership of my country of birth and residence — because it's apparently yours to give away — is profoundly offensive. Wake the fuck up and get over yourself. Then have the elementary decency to be embarrassed.
posted by Wolof at 5:13 AM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
holy moly i didn't know India had that many people.
posted by royalsong at 5:22 AM on January 29, 2015
posted by royalsong at 5:22 AM on January 29, 2015
Ever wonder what it would look like if you compacted the current world population into a single cube?
Human Cube.
posted by bonobothegreat at 5:36 AM on January 29, 2015 [3 favorites]
Human Cube.
posted by bonobothegreat at 5:36 AM on January 29, 2015 [3 favorites]
Who is this goddam "we"? (Yeah, I know exactly who it is. The only "we" who matter.) Your blithe assertion of ownership of my country of birth and residence — because it's apparently yours to give away — is profoundly offensive. Wake the fuck up and get over yourself. Then have the elementary decency to be embarrassed.
Look, we have given you guys plenty of time to despoil your own country and you're obviously not going to do it, so it's high time we let somebody else in to take a crack at it.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 5:37 AM on January 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
Look, we have given you guys plenty of time to despoil your own country and you're obviously not going to do it, so it's high time we let somebody else in to take a crack at it.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 5:37 AM on January 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
While I appreciate the sentiment, fucking the joint up is about the only thing we are good at in this lovely hole at the end of the world.
posted by Wolof at 5:43 AM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Wolof at 5:43 AM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
> Did you expect Americans to comment on how people in Burkina Faso feel?
The people of Burkina Faso are curious about the percentage change in the areas of this map compared to a map of usual proportions so they could figure out the relative importance/worth of individuals from different countries, to use as weighting to return the distorted map to normal. One Australian would be X more important/worthy than one Chinese where X is some large number, but I don't think X can be calculated just from the data given in the BBC link. Maybe it says somewhere in that Reddit thread, which tl;dr.
posted by jfuller at 5:49 AM on January 29, 2015
The people of Burkina Faso are curious about the percentage change in the areas of this map compared to a map of usual proportions so they could figure out the relative importance/worth of individuals from different countries, to use as weighting to return the distorted map to normal. One Australian would be X more important/worthy than one Chinese where X is some large number, but I don't think X can be calculated just from the data given in the BBC link. Maybe it says somewhere in that Reddit thread, which tl;dr.
posted by jfuller at 5:49 AM on January 29, 2015
snow scientists
Oh, great. Just when I'd gotten Frozen out of my head.
"Wanna apply for a snow grant?
Not for very much at all..."
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 5:50 AM on January 29, 2015
Oh, great. Just when I'd gotten Frozen out of my head.
"Wanna apply for a snow grant?
Not for very much at all..."
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 5:50 AM on January 29, 2015
Meanwhile, I suddenly wish I was biking across the empty wastes of Australia. I had no idea it was actually that empty.
Well, with 7,692,024 km² compared to the USA with 9,857,306 km², but only 23.7m people compared to the USA with 320.1m, it pretty much has to be mostly empty. As others have pointed out, flying over it is quite eye-opening - the first time I flew from Brisbane to Bali (about 5 hours IIRC), it seemed like we had just passed over the coast of Western Australia when we started descending into Denpasar. It really is difficult to get your head around how far apart everything is here, which is largely why decent broadband is nothing but a pipe dream for so many.
I hear people talking about how big Texas is but Australia's largest state, Western Australia, is 3.6 times the size of Texas and only has roughly 1/10 the population.
Some interesting size comparisons here.
As for handing over some of the country to be populated - good luck with that. There is quite literally almost nothing out there to sustain humans, particularly water. For (guessing somewhat here) the majority of the land area, it regularly doesn't rain for years at a time. When it does, massive floods would destroy any attempt at civilisation. Not to mention the (in some places) temperature varying during the day by ~50c (122f).
The reason Australia may be perceived to punch above its weight in worldly matters (when considering population) is due to the relatively high economic weight it pulls because of the availability of natural resources and our willingness to desecrate the place to dig them out and say 'fuck the consequences'. Don't worry, we're working as hard as we can to despoil it and don't need any help there, thanks all the same.
posted by dg at 5:50 AM on January 29, 2015
Well, with 7,692,024 km² compared to the USA with 9,857,306 km², but only 23.7m people compared to the USA with 320.1m, it pretty much has to be mostly empty. As others have pointed out, flying over it is quite eye-opening - the first time I flew from Brisbane to Bali (about 5 hours IIRC), it seemed like we had just passed over the coast of Western Australia when we started descending into Denpasar. It really is difficult to get your head around how far apart everything is here, which is largely why decent broadband is nothing but a pipe dream for so many.
I hear people talking about how big Texas is but Australia's largest state, Western Australia, is 3.6 times the size of Texas and only has roughly 1/10 the population.
Some interesting size comparisons here.
As for handing over some of the country to be populated - good luck with that. There is quite literally almost nothing out there to sustain humans, particularly water. For (guessing somewhat here) the majority of the land area, it regularly doesn't rain for years at a time. When it does, massive floods would destroy any attempt at civilisation. Not to mention the (in some places) temperature varying during the day by ~50c (122f).
The reason Australia may be perceived to punch above its weight in worldly matters (when considering population) is due to the relatively high economic weight it pulls because of the availability of natural resources and our willingness to desecrate the place to dig them out and say 'fuck the consequences'. Don't worry, we're working as hard as we can to despoil it and don't need any help there, thanks all the same.
posted by dg at 5:50 AM on January 29, 2015
After all, Wales and New Zealand are White People zones, but you don't hear anything about them...
Sure you do. New Zealand is where movie Hobbits are movied and Wales is where Gruff Ryhs is from, where they shoot much of that horrible Doctor Who show, where they suffered and probably still suffer from the mining industry going south not to mention English policies, where fictional detective monk Brother Cadfael is from, and there are mountains.
posted by juiceCake at 5:51 AM on January 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
Sure you do. New Zealand is where movie Hobbits are movied and Wales is where Gruff Ryhs is from, where they shoot much of that horrible Doctor Who show, where they suffered and probably still suffer from the mining industry going south not to mention English policies, where fictional detective monk Brother Cadfael is from, and there are mountains.
posted by juiceCake at 5:51 AM on January 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
Why don't we give the Indians somewhere empty, too - maybe North Dakota? Wyoming? I mean, nobody's really using them at the moment are they?
posted by Segundus at 5:59 AM on January 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Segundus at 5:59 AM on January 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
Quick, without looking at the map, what do you think (pop. of Mexico)/(pop. of Canada) is?
I would have said 3. It looks like I'm not that far off.
But the company I work for recently acquired a Mexican one, and so I find myself aware of the size of the Mexican market.
posted by madcaptenor at 6:28 AM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
I would have said 3. It looks like I'm not that far off.
But the company I work for recently acquired a Mexican one, and so I find myself aware of the size of the Mexican market.
posted by madcaptenor at 6:28 AM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
See, that's why I don't think anyone ought to mind if we gave some of it away for China or Indonesia to populate. Say half or two thirds. It's not like the Australians are using it.
Not to be repetitious, but yet again there's an existing indigenous population that deserves to be remembered, even for stupid jokes on the internet.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:34 AM on January 29, 2015 [5 favorites]
Not to be repetitious, but yet again there's an existing indigenous population that deserves to be remembered, even for stupid jokes on the internet.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:34 AM on January 29, 2015 [5 favorites]
Why don't we give the Indians somewhere empty, too - maybe North Dakota? Wyoming?
That would be profoundly ironic. Didn't you guys kick "Indians" out of North Dakota and Wyoming in the first place?
posted by a car full of lions at 6:38 AM on January 29, 2015 [8 favorites]
That would be profoundly ironic. Didn't you guys kick "Indians" out of North Dakota and Wyoming in the first place?
posted by a car full of lions at 6:38 AM on January 29, 2015 [8 favorites]
Why don't we give the Indians somewhere empty, too - maybe North Dakota? Wyoming? I mean, nobody's really using them at the moment are they?
The reason that nobody lives there is that it's a barren wasteland. The reason so many people live in india and china is that there's an abundance of inexpensive food there.
posted by empath at 7:00 AM on January 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
The reason that nobody lives there is that it's a barren wasteland. The reason so many people live in india and china is that there's an abundance of inexpensive food there.
posted by empath at 7:00 AM on January 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
Why don't we give the Indians somewhere empty, too - maybe North Dakota? Wyoming? I mean, nobody's really using them at the moment are they?
We tried that before. It's called Oklahoma.
posted by madcaptenor at 7:17 AM on January 29, 2015 [6 favorites]
We tried that before. It's called Oklahoma.
posted by madcaptenor at 7:17 AM on January 29, 2015 [6 favorites]
It's interesting watching the disconnect over the use of the word "Indians."
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:27 AM on January 29, 2015
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:27 AM on January 29, 2015
I agree that it's interesting that South America doesn't look particularly distorted, and it gives you an idea of how sparsely populated somewhere like Argentina is when you think that in the real world it is roughly (a bit smaller) the same size as India.
posted by jontyjago at 7:45 AM on January 29, 2015
posted by jontyjago at 7:45 AM on January 29, 2015
"I assumed (and still hope) the post was about "hey, everybody, check out how countries would look if they were sized relative to their populations" and not "hey, Americans, here's a map of different countries and their populations, but it's still all about you and how that makes you feel"."
Am I missing something? What does this have to do with the FPP? The FPP just shows a current population map.
posted by I-baLL at 8:23 AM on January 29, 2015
Am I missing something? What does this have to do with the FPP? The FPP just shows a current population map.
posted by I-baLL at 8:23 AM on January 29, 2015
And our government wondered why we kicked up such a fuss when they presented a white paper advocating 6.9 million in population by 2030.
Advocated? I don't even understand this. Did the goverment just look sternly at all the consenting adults and say, "hop to it"?
posted by Navelgazer at 8:33 AM on January 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
Advocated? I don't even understand this. Did the goverment just look sternly at all the consenting adults and say, "hop to it"?
posted by Navelgazer at 8:33 AM on January 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
Also, I knew India was populous, but if you'd asked me if it were more populous than all of Africa, I probably would have said no.
posted by Navelgazer at 8:46 AM on January 29, 2015
posted by Navelgazer at 8:46 AM on January 29, 2015
When I am world emperor, each country will swap land with at least one other distant country. China will get a chunk of the US and the US will get an equivalent chunk of China, Australia and Russia will swap chunks, and so on. Maybe choose pairs so the landlocked get a coast, the people of the plains get some mountains, and the people of the deserts get to learn how to cross-country ski. Some countries could arrange multiple swaps and get a string of new neighbors along the coast and a bunch of distant ports.
posted by pracowity at 9:01 AM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by pracowity at 9:01 AM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
pracowity: That sounds like something that Stalin would've done. I'm not sure how you would make people move en masse from one place to another other than by force. Also, this would entail blocking off large chunks of countries from their own citizens.
posted by I-baLL at 9:04 AM on January 29, 2015
posted by I-baLL at 9:04 AM on January 29, 2015
Emperor Pracowity shall not move the people. Emperor Pracowity shall move THE LAND ITSELF.
posted by kyrademon at 9:06 AM on January 29, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by kyrademon at 9:06 AM on January 29, 2015 [3 favorites]
I wish to show loyalty to Emperor Pracowity. ALL GLORY TO EMPEROR PRACOWITY!
posted by Navelgazer at 9:23 AM on January 29, 2015
posted by Navelgazer at 9:23 AM on January 29, 2015
Australia is so big and so empty, there was a colossal blast in the middle of nowhere, and hardly anyone saw it. Scientists still can't quite explain it.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 9:23 AM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 9:23 AM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
FJT: Taiwan (13,974 square miles) has only 300k less people than Australia (2.97M square miles).Australia is only 5% arable, which means that only 150,000 square miles are really usable. Still, that's over 10 times the land per person as Taiwan - and it clearly shows in their lifestyles, of course.
posted by IAmBroom at 9:46 AM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
Joakim Ziegler: I for one, welcome, insect overlords, etc.Your parasite overlords commanded you to say that.
On behalf of the bacterial overlords.
ALL HAIL BACTERIA! DOWN WITH EUKARYOTA! DOWN WITH ARCHEA!
posted by IAmBroom at 9:50 AM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
>Ever wonder what it would look like if you compacted the current world population into a single cube?
I know this. I've worked in Disneyland on the 4th of July.
posted by benito.strauss at 9:51 AM on January 29, 2015 [7 favorites]
I know this. I've worked in Disneyland on the 4th of July.
posted by benito.strauss at 9:51 AM on January 29, 2015 [7 favorites]
Aside from the obvious (China, India, US), countries that are more populous than Russia:
Bangladesh, Brazil, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan.
I knew what the population trends were, but I'm still surprised.
posted by skyscraper at 10:07 AM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
Bangladesh, Brazil, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan.
I knew what the population trends were, but I'm still surprised.
posted by skyscraper at 10:07 AM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
This is fascinating. Thanks for posting it!
I was shocked by this one:
Saudi Arabia: 31.5m
Yemen: 25.9m
So Saudi Arabia is roughly the same size (population-wise) as Yemen? And I thought Yemen was mostly a bunch of tribes-people wielding oddly-curved daggers...
posted by sour cream at 10:09 AM on January 29, 2015
I was shocked by this one:
Saudi Arabia: 31.5m
Yemen: 25.9m
So Saudi Arabia is roughly the same size (population-wise) as Yemen? And I thought Yemen was mostly a bunch of tribes-people wielding oddly-curved daggers...
posted by sour cream at 10:09 AM on January 29, 2015
Oil economics + lots and lots of desert makes the population distribution in that part of the world hard to eyeball from a political map.
95% of Saudi Arabia is desert; 80% of the population lives in three cities; the cities are only possible because of desalinated water piped from the coast, sometimes across hundreds of miles. Population density figures based on the total land area are basically meaningless.
posted by Iridic at 12:04 PM on January 29, 2015
95% of Saudi Arabia is desert; 80% of the population lives in three cities; the cities are only possible because of desalinated water piped from the coast, sometimes across hundreds of miles. Population density figures based on the total land area are basically meaningless.
posted by Iridic at 12:04 PM on January 29, 2015
Because Russia is so underpopulated/small and China and India are so large and populated, the map has basically given India a new Pacific coastline and China access to the Arctic.
Why China Will Reclaim Siberia
posted by kliuless at 7:11 PM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
Why China Will Reclaim Siberia
posted by kliuless at 7:11 PM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
Population density figures based on the total land area are basically meaningless.
Indeed, the same could be said of Canada, where as was pointed out upthread "90% of Canadians live within 100mi of the US border": an isthmus of wretched humanity where life is only possible because of culture and processed foodstuffs piped from the United States.
posted by Flashman at 7:40 PM on January 29, 2015
Indeed, the same could be said of Canada, where as was pointed out upthread "90% of Canadians live within 100mi of the US border": an isthmus of wretched humanity where life is only possible because of culture and processed foodstuffs piped from the United States.
posted by Flashman at 7:40 PM on January 29, 2015
Well, much the same could be said for Australia - 83% of people live within 50 km of the coast (although most of the coastline is still completely deserted). This is because, well, a picture tells a thousand words (please ignore the obligatory bikini shots as well as the sharks and bluebottles).
posted by dg at 8:01 PM on January 29, 2015
posted by dg at 8:01 PM on January 29, 2015
Australia is so big and so empty, there was a colossal blast in the middle of nowhere, and hardly anyone saw it. Scientists still can't quite explain it.
Covered hilariously and interestingly in Bill Bryson's book.
posted by Melismata at 2:41 PM on January 30, 2015
Covered hilariously and interestingly in Bill Bryson's book.
posted by Melismata at 2:41 PM on January 30, 2015
Indeed, the same could be said of Canada, where as was pointed out upthread "90% of Canadians live within 100mi of the US border": an isthmus of wretched humanity where life is only possible because of culture and processed foodstuffs piped from the United States.
You fool. Don't tell them about plans for the Keystone XL American cheese pipeline.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 9:40 PM on January 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
You fool. Don't tell them about plans for the Keystone XL American cheese pipeline.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 9:40 PM on January 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
I've always assumed the Keystone XL was to transport beer.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:38 AM on January 31, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by jacquilynne at 9:38 AM on January 31, 2015 [2 favorites]
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This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
Then go sit down, think for a good long while, and remind yourself that you're among the luckiest people that have ever lived.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 8:13 PM on January 28, 2015 [30 favorites]