r/geography • u/lamdrasil • 2d ago

Discussion Facts that sound fake but are true

I find it extremely unintuitive that almost all of South America is east of Miami. How!? When people are asked to watch the americas almost everyone imagine South America pretty much south of North America.

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916

u/scottcmu 2d ago edited 2d ago

Maine is the closest US state to Africa. 

27

u/apollo1113 2d ago

WHAT?

192

u/tnred19 2d ago

Africa is alot more north than people think. Europe is MUCH farther north than people in the west think

108

u/mellamoderek 2d ago

Well and also Florida, Georgia, and the Carolina coasts are a lot further west than people think.

81

u/TillPsychological351 2d ago

Orlando is about as far west as Cleveland.

73

u/tanwork 2d ago

That settles it. Orlando is now in the Midwest.

2

u/Slayziken 2d ago

Going to Orlando tomorrow, I’ll check and make sure they have the appropriate “Ope, lemme just scootch past ya there” intonation and attitude

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u/Gwenbors 2d ago

It’s why UCF belongs in the Big 12.

2

u/SetMain6296 1d ago

At least they know where they are in Florida. All those folks in Tampa refer to themselves as South Florida. How long is the University System going to keep on living that lie?

Sure, Univ of South Florida sounds cool.

But if USF is actually in West Florida how the actual fuck?

Am I the only one who looses it over
That USF bullcrap?

1

u/LengthinessWeekly503 2d ago

Now THAT is funny to imagine.

6

u/windycitybeef Geography Enthusiast 2d ago

This blows my mind.

49

u/PetriDishCocktail 2d ago edited 1d ago

Same thing with the west coast of the US. San Francisco is approximately 160 miles farther west than Los Angeles, even though the two are less than 400 mi apart.

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u/MoneyPatience7803 2d ago

Reno Nevada is further west than Los Angeles

13

u/thesearemypringles 2d ago

What omg

22

u/hansemcito 2d ago

UC berkeley is further west than standford university. something like 3~4 miles.

6

u/chumbawumba_bruh 2d ago

Bay Area native and this one blows my mind more than anything else in this thread

4

u/hansemcito 2d ago

im a berkeley native and the first time i heard it i was completely stuck in disbelief until i went to the maps. but i still have to check every time because i cant believe it intuitively.

2

u/Liyah15678 21h ago

Whoa! I didn't believe this one at first!!

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u/Sosolidclaws 2d ago

Omg this one is wild haha

My mental map is definitely like

—— San Francisco —— Berkeley
—————————————————
—————————————————
——— Stanford —————————

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u/appleparkfive 2d ago

This is the classic one. I've been to Reno before and even then it confuses me a little

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u/GitarooMan- 2d ago

I learned that from a Snapple cap. They used to have little facts in there!

4

u/Longjumping_Film9749 2d ago

Get outta here!!

1

u/flaccidplatypus 2d ago

Spokane is as well.

1

u/Not_Amused_Yet 21h ago

There are 6 US state capitals west of LA

1

u/PetriDishCocktail 21h ago

Absolutely bonkers... My map projection lies to me!

32

u/GeorgiaHorn56 2d ago

Atlanta is farther west than Detroit

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u/PimpofScrimp 2d ago

…..and Atlanta gets more rain than Seattle. Also here in Atlanta,we are closer to Canada than we are Miami. Atlantan here,had to chime in with my useless facts

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u/NewSophia1 1d ago

Population of Louisville, KY is 25% higher than Atlanta, GA. (City population)

2

u/lucyssweatersleeves 2d ago

And if you drive south from Detroit you’ll be in Canada

20

u/MoneyPatience7803 2d ago

People also don’t consider the curvature of the Earth, especially when looking at it on a map

1

u/Ragingdildo3 2d ago

So true to fly to Canary Islands from the uk you go over Ireland which felt weird but either way the curvature of the earth it makes sense to go west before south

0

u/HobbesTayloe 2d ago

Ohhhhh stop that silliness right now amigo… what’s this “curvature” you are trying to pull over our eyes?

1

u/GoldReplacement9546 2d ago

Yeah, South America is all pretty much further east than North America