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samfreez t1_j6e8unq wrote

Land area is a terrible determination of size, because Canada has thousands and thousands of lakes and other bodies of water, many more than the US or China..

This basically shows why stats can be meaningless if you add enough caveats.

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GetsGold t1_j6e9gq3 wrote

It's not meaningless. It's just another measurement. It doesn't mean China is actually bigger than these two countries, it's just saying they have more land area. That's still an interesting piece of information.

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[deleted] t1_j6ebxvn wrote

[deleted]

−61

GetsGold t1_j6efq3x wrote

Who said anyone needs to care? It's just a piece of information.

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_thankyoucomeagain_ t1_j6ega20 wrote

What information do you think you are providing?

−56

GetsGold t1_j6egg7z wrote

Which countries have the most land area. Exactly what the post says. It doesn't mean countries are better, it's simply a piece of geographical information.

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Lippy010 t1_j6ecyko wrote

Walmart and any discount store cares more about China just look where all their over priced products come from

−24

_thankyoucomeagain_ t1_j6ed9lr wrote

That has nothing to do with the topic. Just trying pull some straw man shit lol go away.

−22

rbhxzx t1_j6egah4 wrote

you don't know what a straw man is lol. he's being an idiot, just tell him that. you don't have to try to use terms you don't understand to dunk on his ""argument"" as if he or us were even having one.

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I_FIGHT_BEAR t1_j6ezzkf wrote

Yeah there’s plenty of other criteria that can be used to justify how big a country is. Population is one, even better might be ‘persons per square mile’ if you’re talking about a place like Russia where the landmass is huge but the populations are centered to specific regions

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GetsGold t1_j6g19fg wrote

The post isn't claiming to justify anything though. It's just stating which countries have the most land mass. Not which are biggest overall or in any other way.

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cnnrduncan t1_j6h2tr4 wrote

If you're counting a country's size as the size of their EEZ then my country is the 4th largest in the world!

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redstonebrain40 t1_j6iys8h wrote

Canada too. We are smol on population

3

I_FIGHT_BEAR t1_j6iz099 wrote

Yup. I’m from California, one of the oft-repeated ‘facts’ we bring up is that our state population is higher than Canada’s, which still to this day blows my goddamn mind. And if I’m honest, makes me want to move to Canada so I can fucking BREATHE

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redstonebrain40 t1_j6j0e3l wrote

Highly recommended! Southern Ontario is basically just a big minessoda but maybe more progressive in general. Come out and visit Algonquin Park some day. And visit Toronto. Its all a treat!

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Wired_143 t1_j6jipts wrote

Having fewer people around you is a really nice feeling. Canadian here. We moved from a small city (1+ mil) to a town under 15k. Best decision we have ever made.

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ommnian t1_j6k1xfm wrote

As someone living in a truly rural area, calling a city with 1+ million 'small' kinda blows my mind...

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Wired_143 t1_j6kx1fr wrote

I’m putting that size into perspective vs a city in California. In the U.S. the city centres are massive compared to the ones in Canada.

1

Powdercum t1_j6ghern wrote

"Tallest free-standing structure in the Western hemisphere"

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ForceOfAHorse t1_j6hmud3 wrote

Why you say so? I'd say it's a better measurement considering talking about population density. You generally can't build homes, factories, farms or cities on water.

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pzerr t1_j6iahp1 wrote

Land with lakes are far more valuable and useful than land alone and can sustain far far more people.

You want bodies of water to make land useful. Particular in that there is no lack of land in North America.

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samfreez t1_j6i0z5e wrote

Can't build any of that on mountain ranges or in inaccessible valleys, deserts, etc either..

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Jahobes t1_j6p32v4 wrote

I mean I would venture there are more mountain cities and towns inside and alongside than there are towns and cities built on or in water.

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samfreez t1_j6p3s6x wrote

It would be interesting to see the real numbers there, because a lot of big cities have "reclaimed" massive tracts of land from the oceans they butt up against, in addition to things like docks and piers and things deliberately built over top of otherwise open water.

Then there are house boats and whatnot, and even entire towns in some countries (SE Asia has more than a couple floating towns IIRC, though I don't remember where exactly)

Edit: I also don't count a city/town built at the base of a mountain, because that's just normal land. I'm talking more about the inaccessible peaks themselves. Some countries like China do that a lot more often than you see in, for example, the US, but I suspect most of that would be a wash overall.

1

dracoryn t1_j6i5s7u wrote

Not meaningless, just depends what meaning you get. Say you wanted to filter to "habitable" square milage? You might filter out bodies of water, mountains, areas that get almost no rain, etc.

It is only arbitrary if you aren't intentional with filtering.

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pzerr t1_j6ia46v wrote

And lakes and land are far more valuable than land alone.

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elpajaroquemamais t1_j6kfer0 wrote

Reminds me of baseball stats: first Puerto Rican to hit a grand slam on a Tuesday after the all star break!

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RaiShado t1_j6mosg4 wrote

US total area is 7% water, Canada total area is 9% water, not that far off.

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soolkyut t1_j6fq2xn wrote

Except lots and lots of Canada is an unusable wasteland.

Edit: Sry, but as a Canadian it’s the truth. It’s why everyone lives on the border

−1

MrLeopard25 t1_j6h04zd wrote

I know you're referring to the Canadian Shield, but as someone who lives in BC, most of our province is hardly a wasteland. More of bear-country / boonies

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AdRepulsive7699 t1_j6ewifv wrote

With all that’s going on here I believe it should go to r/shittymapporn

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mnfimo t1_j6ejr6i wrote

This comment section is intense

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DrLeprechaun t1_j6euzrx wrote

Mfs getting heated over land measurements lmfao

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Consistent_Ad_4828 t1_j6ezwxr wrote

Americans go red in the face if you mention China lol

−49

GetsGold t1_j6fa4au wrote

Is that what it's about? I wasn't getting why everyone was flipping out over some random geographic trivia.

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Consistent_Ad_4828 t1_j6fafh9 wrote

Lol yeah I assume so, hence me being downvoted already. Try praising anything about China on a non-political issue (working to prevent the desertification of areas near the Gobi, tech innovations) and you’ll get a bunch of what I assume are bots calling you an authoritarian lol. Nuance seems to instantly be lost on people.

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Dyzerio t1_j6if45w wrote

!remind me 20 years on that desertification

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GetsGold t1_j6fartp wrote

And it's not even praising. It's just factual information. It's not like it makes them better or something.

−18

redstonebrain40 t1_j6iyi49 wrote

I'm mean, China sucks. America sucks. Material facts of a country aren't affected. If kinda bigger, China bigger. Look im canadian so I have the worst leg to loose anyways. Eat ur syrup and like it bots.

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castortusk t1_j6fzbza wrote

Did you know Switzerland is larger than Russia? (only measuring land area that is an Alp)

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tenehemia t1_j6icnw5 wrote

I wonder how much surface area Switzerland has. Like if you could flatten out all the mountains.

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Tommo_Robbo t1_j6j5w4k wrote

I think that’s a fantastic question for r/theydidthemath

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MukdenMan t1_j6lwt4s wrote

I wonder if this would make New Zealand the largest country in the world (based on Alp land area)

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-Bob_Frapples t1_j6gj51s wrote

There are also more people in California than all of Canada.

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any1particular t1_j6kiat6 wrote

LA county AS COMPARED to the population of Canada:

LA COUNTY=9.83 million (2021)

CANADA=38.25 million (2021)

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HugeSam t1_j6lunwx wrote

California has 39.24 million. Canada might as well be the 51st state

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armen89 t1_j6lzrw5 wrote

It is. We just keep it off the books for tax reasons.

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FuschiaKnight t1_j6lvgk2 wrote

My favorite stat about population weirdness is that there are more Trump votes in LA County than in West Virginia

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Doormatty t1_j6e2esk wrote

You realize they’re not counting surface water right in that list right? No other measurement of area does that.

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Mewhenthe4 OP t1_j6e2ld2 wrote

Yes I know. That's why I said land area. I just wanted to point it out.

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pennysmom2016 t1_j6egl4r wrote

This is a very nuanced statistic, to the point of being deceptive.

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GetsGold t1_j6eh4rj wrote

There's nothing deceptive about it. It's exactly what it says: those countries have more land area. It doesn't mean they're bigger overall.

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_thankyoucomeagain_ t1_j6ec64c wrote

Habitable land would be interesting. I'm not so sure about this.

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pennysmom2016 t1_j6eh0yp wrote

The question here would be defining "habitable".

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_thankyoucomeagain_ t1_j6ehk8q wrote

Land that is habitable. Lots of hostile land in China, Russia and u.s. that is generally... well, worthless for anyone to reasonably live in.

−12

pennysmom2016 t1_j6ewuoj wrote

Except people live there. So who gets to determine that their land, where they are living is "uninhabitable"? You?

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Daniel_The_Thinker t1_j6gh1cp wrote

In a technical sense there are very few places that are truly uninhabitable.

In a practical sense, there are many pieces where humans cannot create survive in without a nomadic lifestyle or a steady supply of resources necessary for survival.

Low earth orbit is not really habitable for human beings despite some people temporarily living up there

−4

pennysmom2016 t1_j6gi5aq wrote

But nomads have inhabited places like the Gobi and the Sahara and sustained themselves for thousands of years while those in low earth orbit are completely unable to sustain themselves without resupply for even one.

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traws06 t1_j6el8mi wrote

There’s very few places on earth where humans don’t live, so hard to decimate find many places “uninhabitable”

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Bruce-7891 t1_j6ewkpp wrote

True, with enough effort and resources space is habitable, but there are places where no one would permanently settle. In the US I think of parts of the Mojave desert and in China parts of the Himalayas

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traws06 t1_j6exetv wrote

Would they really be more inhabitable than northern Canada? Not rhetorical I’m not versed in geography to that degree. In my mind even a desert has water if you drill deep enough.

Hell, there are thriving cities in deserts in the Middle East

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Daniel_The_Thinker t1_j6ghn83 wrote

Not all deserts are made equal.

There's a huge difference between the Mojave, which had permanent settlement by native Americans, and the Sahara, which has massive areas with no vegetation or rainfall.

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traws06 t1_j6giez1 wrote

It could be inhabitable at least with a pipeline for water I would imagine? It just wouldn’t self sufficient.

Cold it seems would cause more issues than heat. Cold causes issues with machines, fuel, and other stuff necessary for survival.

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cnnrduncan t1_j6h2xow wrote

The Sahara has been populated by Berbers, Garamantians etc. for thousands of years though.

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Stubborncomrade t1_j6etvz3 wrote

These comments bro 💀

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Consistent_Ad_4828 t1_j6eztd4 wrote

Americans will go feral at any mention of China that isn’t wholly negative lol

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enterthewoods1 t1_j6iymy2 wrote

China has fascinating history, however you’d be lying if you said they weren’t Americas largest enemy in the global political climate, kinda makes sense that Americans wouldn’t like them.

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Consistent_Ad_4828 t1_j6j1aiw wrote

Yes, but to lash out when there’s any mention of them is irrational and childish. You* can have an enemy without acting like a child lol.

*does not apply to redditors apparently

−2

enterthewoods1 t1_j6j1k7j wrote

Lmao you don’t need to try be snarky it’s not gonna further any kind of discussion.

Do you have this same opinion of Chinese social media and mainstream media? Because it’s just as feverish if not worse.

You’re basically telling all of humanity to grow up, most people won’t, this is how geopolitics goes for the majority of a population.

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Consistent_Ad_4828 t1_j6j1o8k wrote

There’s no discussion to be had lol. Look at the votes! These people are incapable of rationality or discussion. Essentially animals.

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enterthewoods1 t1_j6j1zjs wrote

Lol ur probably getting downvoted because you come off pretentious and snarky and people don’t like that.

You’re literally calling people animals, if you don’t want discussion fine but don’t be surprised when people dislike you with no discussion if that’s your stance, maybe you need to grow up.

Also I literally am discussing with you and you’re waving it off, by your own definition aren’t you an “animal” too?

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iamnotthelizardqueen t1_j6ev8zx wrote

So what you’re saying is that with enough caveats, the United States is the largest biggest girthiest county

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RaiShado t1_j6mpzqf wrote

No, that's not what they are saying, if you had received a proper education you would be able to see that at the very highest the US is second in land area, followed by Canada and led by China, simply from the title. However, you decided to not read the title nor the information in the webpage linked to and just hate on the US.

Take your hate elsewhere.

−1

iamnotthelizardqueen t1_j6mwhpq wrote

That was sarcasm. Girth is not a unit of measure.

Next time attack the argument and not the person.

Especially what you presume about me is pretty shitty and quite untrue.

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RaiShado t1_j6obt2u wrote

aTTacK tHe aRgumENt NOT ThE pErson

Thank you, you have let me rule out the complete idiot part and I can now classify you as just a gigantic festering asshole.

You had ZERO argument to attack, you were trying to use sarcasm to hate on Americans just because you think it's fun to hate on Americans.

And now, after you get called out on it, you are playing the victim. Just STFU and, like I said before, take your hate elsewhere.

Also, just so you know, largest and biggest are also not units of measure. But all three, including girth, can be measured, the units would vary depending on what was being measured, and in the case of land area it would be square kilometers or square miles. Although largest and biggest are synonyms so it's the same either way. Girth wouldn't be measured in this instance as it is another term for circumference or perimeter.

−1

IndraBlue t1_j6frywp wrote

What are they teaching in schools now if you learned this today ?

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Mewhenthe4 OP t1_j6izv33 wrote

Why do people say this acting like they're so smart? This isn't even learned in school because the total area is used over land area, the only reason a teacher might tell you that is because interesting to know. You're blatantly lying.

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Mewhenthe4 OP t1_j6j1sy3 wrote

Also, I already knew the U.S. was bigger, I was just providing context for the overall fact that China is higher than both of them in the rankings of total land area.

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acroman39 t1_j6ktsp9 wrote

There’s land under water so..

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Mewhenthe4 OP t1_j6kw6ld wrote

Wow, what a great revalation. It’s almost like we’re talking about surface land.

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acroman39 t1_j6kwvbk wrote

What about during droughts in the summer when lake levels dramatically drop?

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Mewhenthe4 OP t1_j6l15hy wrote

What does that have to do with anything? How do I know how they calculate it?

Use your brain.

Edit: Also, you even just said that the lake level drops, not fully dries up. So nothing would change even if the lake levels dropped since there is still water there.

−3

WellyKiwi t1_j6hek1i wrote

Are they measuring all the crinkly bits though?

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Tulol t1_j6eutr4 wrote

China has a giant Gobie desert that’s not useable.

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Rattus375 t1_j6i8mm0 wrote

This is very interesting. I knew Canada had far more lakes in it relative to the US, but I never would have guessed it was to the degree that would make the US the bigger country by land area. Why so many people are upset by a fun fact I will never understand

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pzerr t1_j6iatk4 wrote

Because not having lakes makes the land mass far less valuable and useful thus many Americans are angry by that fact.

−7

Rattus375 t1_j6id7k0 wrote

Well that's just a moronic take that's just trying to be divisive for no good reason. Objectively, canada has far less useful and valuable land than the US does. There's a reason the majority of the population lives right on the border. Having more lakes isn't inherently good or bad as long as it doesn't tend too far towards either extreme and this says absolutely nothing about the countries listed other than their land area

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pzerr t1_j6idwq2 wrote

You were just asking why people were upset. Sorry if that upset you.

−4

acroman39 t1_j6ku2j9 wrote

Ya sure buddy. The 100,000 lakes in Ontario make it sooooo valuable.

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pzerr t1_j6lcfqn wrote

Not sure why you guys are so angry. Could be the lack of lakes?

−1

moonlightpeas t1_j6gt2mt wrote

Have you tried seeing how big china is if you take Taiwan away?

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sineroth745756 t1_j6fyut8 wrote

what about using border length?

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Daniel_The_Thinker t1_j6gi0pu wrote

It really just needs to be standardized

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GetsGold t1_j6gi92w wrote

Whatever standard you chose would still be arbitrary though.

My vote goes for using 1000 mile long segments to measure borders.

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releasethedogs t1_j6gnznp wrote

So what. The kilometer is arbitrary. Many measurements are arbitrary. The point is it’s standardized.

−1

GetsGold t1_j6gpqde wrote

Whether you use kilometers or miles doesn't change the end result. It's still the same length regardless of units. But choosing how accurately you measure the border does change the result, and the accuracy you choose is arbitrary.

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kumquat_repub t1_j6guilm wrote

The lengths of coastlines cannot be measured absolutely, but they can be compared…relative to one another. You just have to use the same measuring standard on each one for a comparative measurement.

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GetsGold t1_j6gvkbv wrote

But whatever comparison method you choose is going to be arbitrary. What if one method makes the US longer while another makes China longer? Then you're going to have the same drama as in this comment section over which to use.

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kumquat_repub t1_j6gwms9 wrote

Yes whatever comparison method you choose will be arbitrary, but the smaller the scale of the measurements, the more accurate it becomes to find relative coastline lengths.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_length_of_coastline?wprov=sfti1

This Wikipedia article begins by explaining the coastline paradox but then states the measurements were taken at 1:250,000 scale. There are GIS tools that can calculate the lengths of coastline at this scale and add them up, giving you a very accurate relative list of coastlines…the key word is relative.

−1

GetsGold t1_j6gwx9p wrote

That doesn't seem to match what the article is saying:

>The smaller the scale interval (meaning the more detailed the measurement), the longer the coastline will be.

It doesn't make it more accurate, it just makes it longer.

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kumquat_repub t1_j6gxdkw wrote

Yes they will get longer…all of them will, but they will remain proportional to each other. The US has roughly 4.4 times as much coastline as China. If you make the scale interval smaller, they will both increase in length but the ratio will remain roughly 4.4:1

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GetsGold t1_j6gyxyx wrote

Makes sense, I'll take your word on that then. The important thing is Canada is by far number one.

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sineroth745756 t1_j6g7h9k wrote

use a map at 1:1000 scale and a piece of string measure the string... that paradox Assumes you keep zooming to grains of sand

0

GetsGold t1_j6gb89y wrote

The paradox doesn't depend on continuously zooming, the problem is that the length changes depending on the accuracy of your measurement or how much you zoom. So you could choose a string, and choose how sharply to bend that string around the border, but that's arbitrary. Why not a thinner string with a smaller scale of tracing, or a thicker rope with less sharp tracing?

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sineroth745756 t1_j6godom wrote

because u are comparing so u use the same size string lol yer just being difficult 8)

−1

GetsGold t1_j6gpyqr wrote

You're comparing with the same size string, but the size you use is arbitrary and you will get different comparisons depending on the choice. With one choice, one country might have a larger border, with another, another might. And look how many complaints there are in this thread just because China has a bigger land area. Now imagine if there is one string that would give China a bigger border and one which gives the US a bigger one. Then China would just choose the measurement which makes them bigger and US the other.

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sineroth745756 t1_j6ho4q1 wrote

use the same string pal and u can see which one has a longer boarder.

−4

efnfen4 t1_j6h7cgv wrote

Everything changes depending on how you measure it

−1

GetsGold t1_j6hdbwa wrote

In other cases, like with area, the actual area doesn't change, just you estimation of it.

With border length however, there is no "actual" length, as the more accurate you measure it, the length will increase and not ever get closer and closer to some specific value.

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the_hell_you_say t1_j6e8fvb wrote

Wait...does that mean China is bigger than Canada? 🤔🤯

2

GetsGold t1_j6e8qgm wrote

Not overall, but if you exclude water territory and only include land, then yeah.

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Castod28183 t1_j6gzn6x wrote

I wonder what the phrase, "land area" could possibly mean...maybe it includes water territory also...water territory is probably included in land area also, right?

−2

e_spider t1_j6g264l wrote

So the above map should not have 3/4 on China and US. The US should always be 3 and China and Canada should have 2/4 on their ranking.

2

Hydra57 t1_j6gxdgg wrote

A while ago I learned Spain was bigger than France, and both were bigger than Germany. The mercator projection was deceiving me.

1

LassitudinalPosition t1_j6j0pfk wrote

Having a lot of land area and not a lot of water seems like a not great thing!

1

Equivalent_Bunch_187 t1_j6mlgzo wrote

If you only count the surface area resembling a boot, Italy is the largest country in the world.

1

pennysmom2016 t1_j6f18yk wrote

Because most people consider the inland water area of a nation as part of that nation's area. By not explicitly stating that you are excluding that area, you are presenting intentionally misleading information.

0

W_O_M_B_A_T t1_j6fqr3r wrote

You mean those maps of north America LIED to me?

0

Responsible_Smile789 t1_j6kl8k1 wrote

“according to older versions of the CIA World Factbook (from 1982 to 1996), the U.S. was listed as the world's fourth-largest country (after Russia, Canada, and China) with a total area of 9,372,610 km2. However, in the 1997 edition, the U.S. added coastal waters to its total area (increasing it to 9,629,091 km2). And then again in 2007, the U.S. added territorial water to its total area (increasing it to 9,833,517 km2). During this time, China's total area remained unchanged. In other words, no coastal or territorial water area was added to China's total area figure.”

-From the source of the rankings(Britannica, United Nations)

So basically in the US we acknowledged China was bigger until 1997 then decided to count 100 miles of water off our entire coast to boost our stats. Hawaii too and I bet we even counted Puerto Rico to boost our stats even though we won’t allow territories to become actual states and get the benefits. Which isn’t a big deal but it is a lil lets wave our dick in the wind uncle sam type of thing.

0

Mewhenthe4 OP t1_j6lf7d9 wrote

So since some geniuses keep making dumb responses to the post, I’ll answer the questions here.

  1. When it says LAND area it means SURFACE LAND AREA. I didn’t think I would have to specify since it’s obvious.

  2. No it’s not common knowledge, neither Is it regularly taught in schools like some people are claiming.

  3. I didn’t do the measurements. So stop asking me “what ifs”.

  4. Land area is not that specific of a measurement, so talking about how it’s too specific doesn’t really apply here.

0

torsun_bryan t1_j6hq1fe wrote

lol — what a sad state the American education system is in now

−1

Mewhenthe4 OP t1_j6e2bbj wrote

This is a repost because the link I gave before was bad.

−2

[deleted] t1_j6e2ium wrote

[deleted]

−7

Mewhenthe4 OP t1_j6e2q4x wrote

No I'm not???? Have you even looked at the link? Why do you keep commenting on my posts saying I'm wrong, search it up I'm literally right.

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[deleted] t1_j6e8td2 wrote

[deleted]

−2

GetsGold t1_j6e9x6k wrote

Canada is bigger than both overall, but has less land area than both.

3

Ok-disaster2022 t1_j6gsyea wrote

Does dick measuring surface area matter in the scheme of things? Farm able land seems more important.

−6

monotrememories t1_j6f75rn wrote

I can’t believe someone just learned this today

−7