Do you know where Alabama is?

[Grinner]

An American basketball player, in the leadup to a World Cup game against a Slovene* team, was questioned by a European journalist: "Do you know where Slovenia is?". He responded,"No. Do you know where Alabama is?"

That's actually a good question. Do the non-American members here know where Alabama is? Do the non-Irish members know all of the counties of Ireland? Do the Irish members even know all the counties of Ireland? What about the Germans and however they divide their country? The English? The Dutch? The Ethiopians? Or even the Slovenes?

*Full disclosure: I actually had to look up the proper demonym of Slovenia.

[Gnomvid]

I forgot if it is east or west of Mississippi it is a southern state though, and no because it's rather irrelevant to know where a specific county is in a specific country even in your own although they are centered around city's, as county's does not correspond to states as each of your states also have x amount of county's, how ever a lot of Europeans do not know where Slovenia is either.

[Asta Kask]

It's over there... somewhere.

[Hefty Lefty]

That's a great answer by the basketball player. The reporter was clearly trying to make him look stupid.

[Serpentine]

To be fair, Slovenia is a country, not quite the same as a state.

[Aliquid]

I'm not an American, and no, I don't know where Alabama is. Although, when I hear "Alabama", I think "Southern Drawl", so if I had to guess, there is a pretty good chance I would be right.

Same with Slovenia though, when I hear the name I think "Eastern European", so I know the general area. I guess the difference is that if I were playing a game against a Slovene team... I would be curious enough to check on a map where that team came from.

This is something I have witnessed with American tourists too. Often they get confused with local currency when they travel (and even get annoyed that they can’t get change in American currency after making a purchase). I haven’t noticed this with tourists from other countries. Now I certainly don’t expect the average American to understand the currencies of every country in the world… but if someone is visiting a foreign country, I would expect them to put a bit of effort into learning basic things about that country before travelling.

I am in no way suggesting that all American tourists act that way, but enough do for it to be noticeable, and that creates a stereotype in people’s minds.

[Gwynfrid]

There is no equivalence. Slovenia is a country, Alabama is not. In other words, the response from the journalist could reasonably have been "yes, I know where it is: In the United States".

That said, indeed not many Europeans can place Slovenia on a map. The country is very new, having become independent in 1991. So, I wouldn't come hard on anyone for such a lack of knowledge. The journalist was being an ass with the question in the first place.

To answer the other OP question: Knowing the subdivisions (states, counties, regions, provinces or whatever) of any foreign country is rather specialized knowledge. I wouldn't expect it from most people.

[Grinner]

I forgot if it is east or west of Mississippi it is a southern state though, and no because it's rather irrelevant to know where a specific county is in a specific country even in your own although they are centered around city's, as county's does not correspond to states as each of your states also have x amount of county's, how ever a lot of Europeans do not know where Slovenia is either.

While I'm told that the United States is very large compared to many countries, and yes, our states are split into counties, counties here are very small. Counties of other countries are the closest analogue I can think of to America's states.

Then again, I could be wrong on that part, and the two usages of the term "county" could in fact be totally analogous. I'll wait and see what others have to say.

[Teddy]

The comparison is fair but not entirely valid: Even small countries such as Slovenia are of more importance to the USA than Alabama is to Europe. Fair, though, because one-uping Americans because they can't point out all European countries is very childish, and you should at least be able to give a straight and immediate answer to the counterquestion if you at least want to avoid looking like a hypocrite. And as Gnom said, far from all Europeans could point out Slovenia either...

That said, when a similar discussion appeared on Facebook half a year ago, I decided I should learn all the American states just, so yes, I actually do know where Alabama is.

EDIT:
No, I mixed its position up with Louisiana, partially thanks to Gnom's talk about Mississippi. Now I know where Alabama (plus the other 49 states) are, though.

[Asta Kask]

Can you tell me where I can find the Alabaman embassy?

[Razanir]

I forgot if it is east or west of Mississippi it is a southern state though, and no because it's rather irrelevant to know where a specific county is in a specific country even in your own although they are centered around city's, as county's does not correspond to states as each of your states also have x amount of county's, how ever a lot of Europeans do not know where Slovenia is either.

I think it's the east one, but I'm not certain. (Mississippi and Alabama blur together in my headmap)

[the_david]

I'm Dutch, wich means I come from the Netherlands not from Germany. (Which is called Deutschland in German.)

Alabama is somewhere in the USA. Slovenia is in Eastern Europe. Our school system apparently only cared about the countries that were members of the European Union. I don't think they ever taught us the United States, but I dropped geography as soon as I could.
The Netherlands are divided into 12 provinces:
- Brabant
- Drente
- Flevoland
- Friesland
- Gelderland
- Groningen
- Noord-Holland
- Limburg
- Overijssel
- Utrecht
- Zeeland
- Zuid-Holland

Now I challenge you to name al the countries of Fearûn. Bwahahaha!

Sidenote: For those who noticed, Holland is not another name for the Netherlands. Holland used to a country, became part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and was split up into 2 provinces. If you didn't know that, don't feel bad. It seems the majority of the Dutch population doesn't know the difference either.

[Asta Kask]

An American basketball player, in the leadup to a World Cup game against a Slovene* team, was questioned by a European journalist: "Do you know where Slovenia is?". He responded,"No. Do you know where Alabama is?"

That's actually a good question. Do the non-American members here know where Alabama is? Do the non-Irish members know all of the counties of Ireland? Do the Irish members even know all the counties of Ireland? What about the Germans and however they divide their country? The English? The Dutch? The Ethiopians? Or even the Slovenes?

*Full disclosure: I actually had to look up the proper demonym of Slovenia.

How many can tell me where Ångermanland lies? I don't have a smegging clue, and I'm from Sweden. It's somewhere up north, that's all I could tell you.

[Grinner]

That said, when a similar discussion appeared on Facebook half a year ago, I decided I should learn all the American states just, so yes, I actually do know where Alabama is.

EDIT:
No, I mixed its position up with Louisiana, partially thanks to Gnom's talk about Mississippi. Now I know where Alabama (plus the other 49 states) are, though.

Smart man. I suppose that information may have been useful during your Tour de Friends.

How many can tell me where Ångermanland lies? I don't have a smegging clue, and I'm from Sweden. It's somewhere up north, that's all I could tell you.

Sweden sounds like a very confusing place...

[Asta Kask]

Well, Sweden used to be divided into counties (Landskap). They're probably older than Sweden, so we're talking at least a 1 000 years here. They were replaced by "län" in 1634 (under the greatest Swedish statesman - Axel Oxenstierna) and have been replaced many times since then (I think - I'm hazy on 19th-century Swedish history). It's not confusing if you're used to it.

Spoiler: Landskap

Show

[Serpentine]

I know all the states and territories in Australia, but then there's only 8 of them... Unless you include all the extra bits like Christmas Island and that, in which case it gets a bit more complicated.

I wonder how many of you know where, say, the ACT is.

[Asta Kask]

It would help if I knew what ACT is (Googling would be cheating). I would hazard that it means "Australian Central Territory" which would place somewhere in that yellow, very very hot place in the center of the continent. But I wouldn't be surprised to learn that I was wrong.

ETA: After Googling, I discover I was very wrong. It happens.

Grinner - words like Götar and Svear go back to Roman days. Ptolemy (2nd century A.D.) mentions the Goutai and Tacitus is even earlier with the term Suiones - Svear. Probably. We don't really know.

[Spiryt]

That's not entirely fair comparison certainly, though Alabama indeed is on it's own way larger than Slovenia.

Personally I've never had much problem with European map since there's significant 'distinctiveness' there, way less 'liner made' borders than in USA. Not to mentions all countries are somehow different from each other.

Though I guess American perspective may be different.

[Asta Kask]

How is Poland divided? I mean, apart from the three times?

[Serpentine]

ACT is the Australian Capital Territory.

[Spiryt]

How is Poland divided? I mean, apart from the three times?

Between Uncle Hitla and Uncle Koba as well if you have to be malicious.

Currently 16 voievoidships(?) (weirdly spooky Anglicization of 'województwa'), each one divided into several county sized things called 'powiat'.

[Zrak]

To be fair, Slovenia is a country, not quite the same as a state.

Eh, yes and no. Obviously, yes, states and countries are different things, but American states and European countries are similar enough in size and number to make them roughly comparable as geographic metrics. Knowing that Alabama is in the United States is basically equivalent to knowing that Slovenia is in Europe.

Now I challenge you to name al the countries of Fearûn. Bwahahaha!

That's hard, especially because the status of some distinct areas and communities as even medieval nation states is ambiguous. Is the Moonwood its own country? Is Icewind Dale, consisting of the Ten Towns and barbarian holdings, a single country or several?

[Asta Kask]

(weirdly spooky Anglicization of 'województwa')

English doesn't like four consonants in a row. I think. The Swedish term is "vojvod", btw. I think it's a general germanization of the word.

[GPuzzle]

If I'm not mistaken, Alabama is northeast of Texas, west of... Missouri, I think.

In terms of states/counties/whatever, that happens in every country. For example, Brazil.

Spoiler: Map

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Can you tell which state is Rio de Janeiro? Or São Paulo

(No, seriously, Rio de Janeiro is the name of the state and that state's capital, much like São Paulo).

Now, I'm taking Brazil as an example, because it's the closest thing to the US out there in terms of size. I can't safely say where, exactly, is Slovenia. If I'm not mistaken, it's northeast to Poland, south of Finland, west of Russia. But it's not precise. The US has an awful lot of states in a much bigger area, that are less recognizable to someone outside the US. On the other hand, Europe has an awful lot of countries in a very small area, that are very recognizable to someone who knows the culture. To others... not so much. As an example, someone was complaining that having India or the Celts in Civ V was misrepresenting and generalizating cultures, while simulteanously claiming that Sweden and Denmark didn't deserve to be two different Civs because they appear to be similar (Gustavus Adolphus is a badass, by the way).

Ultimately, it depends a lot on where you were born. The Europeans are taught what is near them. The North Americans are taught what is near them. The South Americans are taught what is near them (we did end up jumping from the Renaiscence in the late 1500s to the Illuminist ideals in the 1700s because the Thirty Years War didn't affect us, but it affected what affected us, so most people have no clue what happened during that era).

Try filling out the states, if you feel like it.

Spoiler: Really long list

Show

Rio Grande do Sul
Santa Catarina
Paraná
São Paulo
Rio de Janeiro
Minas Gerais
Espírito Santo
Mato Grosso do Sul
Mato Grosso
Goiás
Distrito Federal
Bahia
Sergipe
Alagoas
Pernambuco
Paraíba
Rio Grande do Norte
Ceará
Piauí
Maranhão
Tocantins
Pará
Amapá
Amazônia
Roraima
Rondônia
Acre

[Spiryt]

English doesn't like four consonants in a row. I think. The Swedish term is "vojvod", btw. I think it's a general germanization of the word.

I think that initial germination of the world probably have come from Hungarian/Wallachian words anyway.

So it would be germanization of Romanization/Magyarisation of a Slavic word, making it even weirder at the end of Chinese whispers.

Probably easy to check with any more detailed etymology dictionary.

[Aolbain]

Just west of Georgia, right?

Spoiler

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Yes.

[Haruki-kun]

Right between Mississippi and Georgia. *checks Map* Yay!

There is no equivalence. Slovenia is a country, Alabama is not. In other words, the response from the journalist could reasonably have been "yes, I know where it is: In the United States".

To be fair, Slovenia is a country, not quite the same as a state.

I would have gone with something else. Like, "No. Can you point to Rwanda on a map?"

[Killer Angel]

An American basketball player, in the leadup to a World Cup game against a Slovene* team, was questioned by a European journalist: "Do you know where Slovenia is?". He responded,"No. Do you know where Alabama is?"

That's actually a good question. Do the non-American members here know where Alabama is?

More or less, yes, without searching on the internet. It's in the South-East of USA, i think it's very near to Florida (and I'm 99.9% sure it borders with Georgia).
But to be fair, this is not due to my knowledge of geografy, but more of history and CSA.

EDIT: I was right. And it borders also with Florida.

I would have gone with something else. Like, "No. Can you point to Rwanda on a map?"

Can I choose the scale of said map?

[AtlanteanTroll]

I am in agreement with Zrak.

How many non-US countries actually have 50 "counties" greater in size than 1,544.89 sq mi (4,001 sq km)? Something to keep in mind about the US States is that they also have counties, the largest of which is in California and has an area greater than 20,000 sq mi. US States really are more comparable to nations than one may think, but we can't really go into that.

EDIT:

There is no equivalence. Slovenia is a country, Alabama is not. In other words, the response from the journalist could reasonably have been "yes, I know where it is: In the United States".

Going off of the original portion of this post, than "Yes, I know where it is: In Europe" should have been just about as equally good a response.

(And I say this as someone with pretty decent geography. No way to really prove that, though, unfortunately.)

[Gwynfrid]

Going off of the original portion of this post, than "Yes, I know where it is: In Europe" should have been just about as equally good a response.

Well, Europe isn't a country, so, I'm afraid I have to disagree on that. I will also disagree about the concept that land area alone is a good enough reason to say two entities are comparable or equivalent. Slovenia is small, but it is an independent country, with its own culture, language, history, diplomacy etc. As a nation (not just a piece of land) it is comparable to the US, not to any one single state.

I know all the states and territories in Australia, but then there's only 8 of them... Unless you include all the extra bits like Christmas Island and that, in which case it gets a bit more complicated.

I wonder how many of you know where, say, the ACT is.

If you're going that way, then I can place all 96 of the départements of France on a map. That was a classic challenge we got as kids.

On the other hand, I must admit I didn't have the slightest clue what the ACT is. But I can probably place most of the US states, except for the smaller ones in New England.