Redrawing the Map

[mythmonster2]

All right here are mine.

No offense to Israelis.

 

[Mirc]

All right here are mine.

No offense to Israelis.

Wow. Interesting map.

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

Wow. Interesting map.

Particularly since he seems to have given St. Petersburg to the Finns, but left a neutral zone of sorts between it and Finland proper

 

[Mirc]

Yes, and let's look at some other things:

- Why would most of Yugoslavia, together with Albania, unite again, after they had just split?
- Why would half of Poland and half of Ukraine go to Russia? Ukrainians hate Russians more than most people in the world...
- Why would the Czech Republic join Germany?
- Why would Romania and Hungary ever unite (being some of the greatest enemies in the past), and why would they then join half of Ukraine, with all the disputes between Hungary and Ukraine and Romania and Ukraine
- Why split Ukraine in two anyway?
- Why would you give a part of Greece to Bulgaria?
- What's so unique about Bulgaria to make it independent in a world where EVERYTHING joined something?



I do realize the purpose of many maps here was not to be serious, though.

 

[Pokurcz]

Well I can at least understand why the eastern part of Ukraine is given to Russia. Because Russians are in majority there, but why give the western part to Romania/Hungary?

Furthermore, why split Poland between Germany and Russia as most Poles hate either one or the other or both?

And why on earth give Copenhagen to Sweden, which is preposterous? Why not rather give Skåne to Denmark ?

Is the reason lack of information, perhaps?

 

[s.c.dude]

real u.s.

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

Hmm, might want to redistrict Utah . . .

And who originally settled Iceland, I always thought it was the Vikings?

 

[ArneHD]

Scheisse! Your right.

But Iceland was invaded and colonized by the vikings, so some of the indigenous people might find that offensive even dough the official language of the country is very much Scandinavian.

Are/were there any native Icelandians? I've never heard of them (first time vikings encounterd indians was at Greenland).

PS: Icelandic has just about nothing in common with modern scandinavian. At least as far as I know.

 

[emzie]

Are/were there any native Icelandians? I've never heard of them (first time vikings encounterd indians was at Greenland).

PS: Icelandic has just about nothing in common with modern scandinavian. At least as far as I know.

The Vikings were the settlers of Iceland. Vikings were the first settlers in much of Greenland too, with Inuit migrants invading as the Middle Age Warm Period Thing made Greenland uninhabitable for the non-adaptive Vikings.

Linguistically, Icelandic is Scandinavian, but far removed. While a Norwegian might understand quite a bit of Swedish, Icelandic would sound foreign.

edit: Greenland was settled by Eskimos until ~150 AD. Between then and Viking times, it was uninhabited.

 

[Mirc]

Well I can at least understand why the eastern part of Ukraine is given to Russia. Because Russians are in majority there, but why give the western part to Romania/Hungary?

Furthermore, why split Poland between Germany and Russia as most Poles hate either one or the other or both?

And why on earth give Copenhagen to Sweden, which is preposterous? Why not rather give Skåne to Denmark ?

Is the reason lack of information, perhaps?

I have no idea either. But I Would say that eastern Ukraine won't have any intentions of joining Russia in the predictable future, as a lot of them can't stand the (regular) Russians. And I don't see any point in uniting Hungary with Romania and Slovakia and giving them half of Ukraine...

 

[Pokurcz]

Well, I have been given the notion of some Icelanders not feeling part of the Viking heritage because of an interview with Björk, made by a Swedish magazine I read sometimes in the nineties.

The interviewer greeted her as a fellow Viking and etc. but Björk was not amused and wrote the Norse of as invaders. She does look rather more Inuit then Scandinavian, wouldn't you say?

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

I think that although Greenland was uninhabited when the Norse got there, they were eventually wiped out/assimilated by a new wave of (I think) Inuit. This after climate change had severely disrupted them and reduced their numbers. Interesting, kind of the reverse of the normal course of American history.

 

[Ingvina Freyr]

When the first scandinavians started colonizing Iceland there were a few irish monks (papar) there. They either fled from there or were killed.

The icelanders are ethnically scandinavians but there is an influence of celtic genes because the first settlers (mostly Norwegians) interbred with women from Ireland.

Icelanders are very much a part of the viking heritage. In fact, many traditions are still alive on Iceland. That doesn't mean everyone feels that way, and someone like Björk will probably want to promote herself as an artist and not become some silly cliché.

The icelandic language is much closer related to Danish/Norwgian/Swedish than you might think when you hear it the first time. Some words are exactly the same while others are more remotely related. The language has stayed mainly the same since the 1100s-1200s while the other three dialects have changed. If you want to study history and archeology in Scandinavia you probably need to learn some basic icelandic. In the words of the Swedish writer August Strindberg; Icelandic is the latin of the north.

EDIT: My favourite example of the closeness of the languages/dialects; I love you:

Danish: Jeg elsker dig.
Norwegian: Jeg elsker deg.
Swedish: Jag älskar dig.
Icelandic: Ég elska þig.

 

[Hitti-Litti]

And then Finnish, which is close to Hungarian:

Minä rakastan sinua.

And Finland is usually united to Scandinavia in these maps...

 

[Pokurcz]

Ingvina Freyr

Yes today Iceland is more Viking than the rest of Scandinavia, I have heard that blood sacrifices to the Norse gods are still allowed.


Hitti-Litti
And Estonian.

I sort of thought them to be culturally close.

A joke:
A Finn and a Swede sit down to drink some vodka, every time the Swede raises his glass he says "Skål" (cheers).
This goes on for a while until the Finn finally gets irritated and says "Are we supposed to talk or are we supposed to drink!?"

 

[Hitti-Litti]

^^

The joke:

Well, Estonia is closest in culture to Finland, but I just wanted to mention Hungary. Estonia is so obvious...

 

[ArneHD]

Personally I want to see the creation of a Baltic/Nordic Bloc.

 

[Ingvina Freyr]

Seconded! IIRC the baltic countries have actually applied for membership of the Nordic Council.

And Finland is usually united to Scandinavia in these maps...

As it should. Finland is 100% linked to Scandinavia by culture and tradition. It is actually interesting to see the ongoing unification of the nordic stock-markets and the fact that Swedes and Finns always seems to have the same attitude to business while the Danes and especially the Norwegians show other attitudes.

Yes today Iceland is more Viking than the rest of Scandinavia, I have heard that blood sacrifices to the Norse gods are still allowed.

You mean the rest of us are involved in illegal business?

 

[emzie]

Why does everyone want to break up Switzerland?

 

[Rossiya]

Why does everyone want to break up Switzerland?

No "real" national identity- perhaps just a strange amalgamation of some Germans, some French, and some magnificent, majestic, and marvellous Italians.