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The True Size of Africa (2015)

kai.sub.blue

201–210 of 226 posts

Re: The True Size of Africa (2015)

#201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm always surprised to hear people say "The world is overpopulated" - I'm thinking there's plenty of room to grow in regions that live sustainably.

No, there isn't room to grow unless you're talking about decimating other species and habitats. I live in one of those densely populated areas, and see the environmental, social, and political challenges of overpopulation every day.

with the population density of NYC the entire World population would fit in Texas.

the environmental benefits would be enormous

Re: The True Size of Africa (2015)

#202
post #4

The edited title is incorrect, in that it is a comparison with countries . How big is Africa compared to Asia? Okay, there’s one comparison with Europe (scroll down). Otherwise it’s a matter of how many countries one could cram in there. Of course, Africa already has a bunch of countries, so I guess I just didn’t get it. Comparing to, say, North America or something would be a better visualization for me.

I think a lot of Americans think that Africa is a country.

That sounds more like a language quirk. For example, gas does not refer to a state of matter, it refers to a liquid fuel used in cars.

Calculus doesn't refer to categories of calculations, it refers to infinitesimal calculus.

America doesn't refer to the combination of both South and North America, it refers to a specific country in North America called the "United States of America".

In your case they simply may have decided to just drop the "South" from "South Africa".

I don't understand the logic behind these abbreviations so I will never understand why someone would refer to a single African country by "Africa" as a whole, but apparently that is what some Americans do or at least it sounds believable when you consider the 3 examples I have mentioned above.

Re: The True Size of Africa (2015)

#203
post #35

Africa has 54 countries, thousands of languages and 1.2 billion people. As an African, whenever I see this map I'm more astonished by how densely populated Europe and India are, how big and populated China is and how homogeneous the US is compared to its size.

Check out these latest photos taken all across various USA cities by NYTimes photographers: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/16/us/scenes-from-americas-r...

It's quite varied for a homogeneous country.

Re: The True Size of Africa (2015)

#204
post #153
post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not taking away anything from what you said, my experience has been a bit different. I actually found US more federal in nature for doing business compared to India and to some extent Europe. The tax laws are lot more state specific than India, California has very different rules for privacy(ccpa) or environmental regulations than other states. Europe largely following GDPR is good enough (with some exceptions for Ge…

Try running a barbershop in France, Germany and the UK. They are far from business homogeneous. In eg Germany you need three years of government approved training to work in one. And another two years of government approved training to run one. (And I don't think those training certificates can be used for anything in other countries?)

Not saying regulations are lighter in the Europe compared to the US , like the other poster below mentioned I have usually found some mechanism for cross border applications.

On a fundamental level access to free market and European project has a goal of synchronizing the regulations across member countries.

US states are proudly unique, Texas doesnt even keep frequency sync to the national grid!

Even UK(Texas of Europe?) , generally need to follow similar rules if they want access to common market brexit or not.

Re: The True Size of Africa (2015)

#205
post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, the one example you've picked there (grocery stores/supermarkets) is quite a bad one. There are very few national supermarkets in the US. Ironically, Whole Foods Market (now owned by Amazon) is as close as any to this title. Safeway may once have been widespread, but in terms of stores bearing that brand (as opposed to be owned by the company), there are not many Safeways anymore. Instead, there are regiona…

While Albertsons itself might be mostly in western states, the parent company owns plenty of other chains in other states, e.g. Safeway or Jewel-Osco. These chains all run the same promotions, carry the same generic brands, etc.

Thanks. I didn't realize that the parent company of Safeway had gobbled up Albertsons as well. Good to know.

Re: The True Size of Africa (2015)

#206
post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The lobster roll is really delicious. I’m sure you’re aware you had New England clam chowder, And that there’s also Manhattan clam chowder. But few folks know there’s also a Hatteras clam chowder. It’s made with a broth and the taste of clams really comes through a lot better than with the cream or tomato based variants. https://blog.carolinadesigns.com/outer-banks-food/hatteras-i... (And now that I’ve worked my way…

Definitely New England clam chowder. I'm not sure I'd like Manhatten style. You're just teasing me now with this Hatteras style. I don't think there's a good way to get decently fresh clams to the middle of the country. I don't have a taste for grits. I finally came around to gravy on my rice, but I'm still iffy on grits. I'm holding out hope that there's a decent lobster roll around here somewhere. You can get live…

I live in Manhattan and will defend it in all things EXCEPT clam chowder. Manhattan clam chowder is hot garbage.

Re: The True Size of Africa (2015)

#207
post #35

Africa has 54 countries, thousands of languages and 1.2 billion people. As an African, whenever I see this map I'm more astonished by how densely populated Europe and India are, how big and populated China is and how homogeneous the US is compared to its size.

What does it mean to be an African? Is there unifying culture of all of Africa? Like when I say I am an American, I don't mean the continent, I am talking about living in the US, but when someone calls themselves an African, what can I glean from that other than they live on a large, heterogenous continent?

It's an identity. It attracts people who have it and repels people who don't have it. With efficient communication channels around it you can eventually build homogeneity. (I'm African)

Re: The True Size of Africa (2015)

#208
post #35

Africa has 54 countries, thousands of languages and 1.2 billion people. As an African, whenever I see this map I'm more astonished by how densely populated Europe and India are, how big and populated China is and how homogeneous the US is compared to its size.

America understood very early on the power of story telling to build homogeneity. Medias are not just entertainement. They are the back bone of a nation.

Re: The True Size of Africa (2015)

#209

>> The Good Design Grand Award, arguably Japan’s most prestigious award for design, went out to architect Hajime Narukawa’s completely groundbreaking design for a map of the world. His map, the AuthaGraph World Map, isn’t your average map of the globe: It’s a near-perfect representation of the continents and oceans as they exist on our spherical planet, all laid out on a two-dimensional surface. https://totravelistol…

The map also follows the tradition of putting one's own country at the center

Re: The True Size of Africa (2015)

#210

I remember flying to Munich once from Cape Town and a German colleague guessed the flight was three to four hours. I said no, it was over eleven hours and he was shocked. I laughed and told him to check out a globe sometime - not a map - so he could trace for himself how massive Africa really is. The surface area of the moon is only 20% larger.

whoa, now there's a statistic for you!

And, according to a very literal reading of 1917 Catholic law, under the jurisdiction of the diocese of orlando.

https://aleteia.org/2018/08/03/yes-the-moon-has-its-own-cath...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholic_Diocese_of_Orla...

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