Lammastide said:

aardvark15 said:

1. London

2. Paris

3. Munich

4. Copenhagen

5. Milan

6. Rome

7. Cologne

8. Dublin

9. Nice

10. Venice

11. Barcelona

12. Berlin

13. Liverpool

14. Madrid

15. Athens

16 Amsterdam

17. Brussels

18. Sheffield

19. Manchester

20. Luxenbourg

21. Istanbul

22. Florence

23. Glasgow

24. Warsaw

25. Vienna

26. Geneva

27. Luxenbourg City

28. Moscow?

29. Saint Petersburg?

30. Samara?

I'm pretty sure the last 3 are in Europe but I'm not sure

These are Russian cities, and I've never heard a convincing argument as to why Russia shouldn't be considered Asian.

many consider that Europe has 4 natural frontiers: the Atlantic (beyond the Azores islands), the mediterranean southern coast (north Africa), the city of Istanbul + plus the coast of Asia Minor til Ciprus, and then Ural Mountains, which separate "european Russia" (the most popular cities, really) from the forever mysterious (and def asian) Siberia...

but Moscow and St.Petersburg are basically european cities, in every aspect imaginable...

Lammastide said:

aardvark15 said:

1. London

2. Paris

3. Munich

4. Copenhagen

5. Milan

6. Rome

7. Cologne

8. Dublin

9. Nice

10. Venice

11. Barcelona

12. Berlin

13. Liverpool

14. Madrid

15. Athens

16 Amsterdam

17. Brussels

18. Sheffield

19. Manchester

20. Luxenbourg

21. Istanbul

22. Florence

23. Glasgow

24. Warsaw

25. Vienna

26. Geneva

27. Luxenbourg City

28. Moscow?

29. Saint Petersburg?

30. Samara?

I'm pretty sure the last 3 are in Europe but I'm not sure

These are Russian cities, and I've never heard a convincing argument as to why Russia shouldn't be considered Asian.

Russia is actually semi-officially divided into the European part and the Asian part and would definitely belong on a list of European countries. Those cities are in the European part of Russia and are therefore considered European cities.


An argument would be that a large chunk of Russia, including its capital, (maybe not large in relation to its own size, but still the biggest piece of land in Europe belonging to a country) is West of the Ural, so practically in Europe. Furthermore, the richest and most of the biggest of Russia's cities are located on the European side. Russia also had a huge influence on whole Eastern Europe up until a couple of decades ago, of course, which would make it even weirder to many people to suddenly consider it an Asian country. And lastly, there might be political advantages for Russia to be able to consider itself both European and Asian, you never know.

JoeTyler said:

Lammastide said:

These are Russian cities, and I've never heard a convincing argument as to why Russia shouldn't be considered Asian.

many consider that Europe has 4 natural frontiers: the Atlantic (beyond the Azores islands), the mediterranean southern coast (north Africa), the city of Istanbul + plus the coast of Asia Minor til Ciprus, and then Ural Mountains, which separate "european Russia" (the most popular cities, really) from the forever mysterious (and def asian) Siberia...

but Moscow and St.Petersburg are basically european cities, in every aspect imaginable...

That's what I thought too.

I hear you guys. But... eh.

From a geographic standpoint, yes, we have the Ural Mountains. But 75% of Russia's land is east of those mountains. And anyway, in what way do the Urals create a real European/Asian boundary? They kinda don't. One end of Kazakhstan runs significantly west under the Urals, too, but we'd be hard pressed to find anyone who'd consider it part of Europe. Meanwhile, states like Georgia and Armenia are considered European while they are entirely separated from a contiguous Europe by the Caucasus Mountains to the north.

And from a cultural/social/economic standpoint, the relationship western Russia has to Europe is quite similar to that between, say, the whole of Africa north of the Sahara and the Arabian Peninsula -- and no one I know considers North African cities to be a part of the "Middle East," or vice versa.

It just seems to me these delineations are pretty arbitrary and often seem more to do with those with whom people don't want to be associated rather than those with whom they might be associated along less trumped-up measures.

[Edited 2/1/14 16:17pm]

^ All that said, I support self-definition. If Russians wanna be European, so be it.

Lammastide said:

I hear you guys. But... eh.

From a geographic standpoint, yes, we have the Ural Mountains. But 75% of Russia's land is east of those mountains. And anyway, in what way do the Urals create a real European/Asian boundary? They kinda don't. Kazakhstan runs significantly west under the Urals, but we'd be hard pressed to find anyone who'd consider it part of Europe. Meanwhile, states like Georgia and Armenia are considered European while they are entirely separated from a contiguous Europe by the Caucasus Mountains to the north.

And from a cultural/social/economic standpoint, the relationship Russia has to Europe is quite similar to that between, say, the whole of Africa north of the Sahara and the Arabian Peninsula -- and no one I know considers North African cities to be a part of the Middle East, or vice versa.

It just seems to me these delineations are pretty arbitrary and often seem more to do with those with whom people don't want to be associated, rather than those with whom they might be associated along less trumped-up measures.

[Edited 2/1/14 16:04pm]

The Euro-Asian border South of Kazakhstan is not clearly defined and often a topic of discussion. While it's quite clear with Kazakhstan (which is said to only have about 5% of its landmass in Europe). Georgie and the likes are not clearly Asian and European, at least not geographically, because there is no set Euro-Asian border in their region (or, alternatively, there are many different).


I still think the strong cultural link Russia has with central and Eastern Europe plays a big part in it still feeling "close" to many Europeans, and therefore it being considered (at least partly) European.


Of course all these borders are somehow "arbitrary". If you trust in the Ural being a geographical border, than a huge chunk of Russia is actually Europes biggest country with many many millions of people living there.

If you meant that it's generally arbitrary to consider Russia European, just because a part of it is West of the Ural, then yeah, so be it. It's still considered to belong to Europe by all Europeans and that's also how it is taught at schools.

Furthermore, it is very difficult to even define Russia on a "cultural/social/economic" scale, because it is inhabited by so many completely different cultures who all live under completely different (geographical) circumstances.

However, the European part of Russia is very much Eastern-European! Only that there's some people who are massively rich, and many who are massively poor, but overall their values, culture and politics don't differ much from, say, Poland.

THIRTY?!?!?!?!?



Here we go (I am not cheating...no google...and I did not read a single previous post);

1. AMSTERDAM
2. BARCELONA
3. MADRID
4. LONDON
5. PRAGUE
6. MOSCOW
7. ST. PETERSBURG
8. VATICAN CITY
9. ANDORRA LA VELLA
10. BERLIN
11. DUBLIN
12. VENICE
13. ROME
14. MILAN
15. VIENNA
16. MONACO (It's a city, right?)
17. SOCHI
18. GLASGOW
19. SARAJEVO
20. KIEV
21. COPENHAGEN
22. FRANKFURT
23. HAMBURG(?) - where the hamburger came from
24. BOLOGNA
25. SOFIA (capital of Bulgaria?)
26. ATHENS
27. GRANADA???
28. BOHN???
29. YORK???
30. BRUSSELS!!!

Those last 4 were a killer...how did I do?

Dave1992 said:

Lammastide said:

I hear you guys. But... eh.

From a geographic standpoint, yes, we have the Ural Mountains. But 75% of Russia's land is east of those mountains. And anyway, in what way do the Urals create a real European/Asian boundary? They kinda don't. Kazakhstan runs significantly west under the Urals, but we'd be hard pressed to find anyone who'd consider it part of Europe. Meanwhile, states like Georgia and Armenia are considered European while they are entirely separated from a contiguous Europe by the Caucasus Mountains to the north.

And from a cultural/social/economic standpoint, the relationship Russia has to Europe is quite similar to that between, say, the whole of Africa north of the Sahara and the Arabian Peninsula -- and no one I know considers North African cities to be a part of the Middle East, or vice versa.

It just seems to me these delineations are pretty arbitrary and often seem more to do with those with whom people don't want to be associated, rather than those with whom they might be associated along less trumped-up measures.

[Edited 2/1/14 16:04pm]

The Euro-Asian border South of Kazakhstan is not clearly defined and often a topic of discussion. While it's quite clear with Kazakhstan (which is said to only have about 5% of its landmass in Europe). Georgie and the likes are not clearly Asian and European, at least not geographically, because there is no set Euro-Asian border in their region (or, alternatively, there are many different).


I still think the strong cultural link Russia has with central and Eastern Europe plays a big part in it still feeling "close" to many Europeans, and therefore it being considered (at least partly) European.


Of course all these borders are somehow "arbitrary". If you trust in the Ural being a geographical border, than a huge chunk of Russia is actually Europes biggest country with many many millions of people living there.

But I don't trust it!

If you meant that it's generally arbitrary to consider Russia European, just because a part of it is West of the Ural, then yeah, so be it. It's still considered to belong to Europe by all Europeans and that's also how it is taught at schools.

Something interesting: Russia was taught alternately as part of Asia and Europe in the American schools i attended... but always with a certain degree of qualification, rambling and even a sense of irony from my teachers with respect to Europe. They had far less trouble explaining how it was Asian. As a matter of fact, certain teachers had a tough time even explaining why Europe was a continent unto itself!

If I'm being entirely honest, these silly nondescript separations only made sense when/if the equally silly factor of race came into play. (But I don't want to sully this fun, lighthearted thread with a racial discussion.)

[Edited 2/1/14 16:42pm]

Dave1992 said:

Furthermore, it is very difficult to even define Russia on a "cultural/social/economic" scale, because it is inhabited by so many completely different cultures who all live under completely different (geographical) circumstances.

However, the European part of Russia is very much Eastern-European! Only that there's some people who are massively rich, and many who are massively poor, but overall their values, culture and politics don't differ much from, say, Poland.

I will trust you on this.

Paris!!!!



How could I have forgotten Paris????

PurpleJedi said:

THIRTY?!?!?!?!?



Here we go (I am not cheating...no google...and I did not read a single previous post);

1. AMSTERDAM
2. BARCELONA
3. MADRID
4. LONDON
5. PRAGUE
6. MOSCOW
7. ST. PETERSBURG
8. VATICAN CITY
9. ANDORRA LA VELLA
10. BERLIN
11. DUBLIN
12. VENICE
13. ROME
14. MILAN
15. VIENNA
16. MONACO (It's a city, right?)
17. SOCHI
18. GLASGOW
19. SARAJEVO
20. KIEV
21. COPENHAGEN
22. FRANKFURT
23. HAMBURG(?) - where the hamburger came from
24. BOLOGNA
25. SOFIA (capital of Bulgaria?)
26. ATHENS
27. GRANADA???
28. BOHN???
29. YORK???
30. BRUSSELS!!!

Those last 4 were a killer...how did I do?

You did well! Most people probably wouldn't consider Andorra, because it's a tiny town at most. And if no. 28 is meant to be the German city, it's Bonn!

ThisOne said:

Paris Rome Milan Venice Athens Stockholm Barcelona Moscow Amsterdam Berlin Copenhagen I know more but can't think because of the heat!!!

Are you saying you need to get undressed asap?

Dave1992 said:

PurpleJedi said:

THIRTY?!?!?!?!?



Here we go (I am not cheating...no google...and I did not read a single previous post);

1. AMSTERDAM
2. BARCELONA
3. MADRID
4. LONDON
5. PRAGUE
6. MOSCOW
7. ST. PETERSBURG
8. VATICAN CITY
9. ANDORRA LA VELLA
10. BERLIN
11. DUBLIN
12. VENICE
13. ROME
14. MILAN
15. VIENNA
16. MONACO (It's a city, right?)
17. SOCHI
18. GLASGOW
19. SARAJEVO
20. KIEV
21. COPENHAGEN
22. FRANKFURT
23. HAMBURG(?) - where the hamburger came from
24. BOLOGNA
25. SOFIA (capital of Bulgaria?)
26. ATHENS
27. GRANADA???
28. BOHN???
29. YORK???
30. BRUSSELS!!!

Those last 4 were a killer...how did I do?

You did well! Most people probably wouldn't consider Andorra, because it's a tiny town at most. And if no. 28 is meant to be the German city, it's Bonn!

Yes, I meant BONN in Germany, and I know about Andorra from high school...looking up the world's smallest countries after reading "The Mouse That Roared". I was going to include Luxemburg and San Marino but wasn't sure if they had capital cities with a different name or not.

PurpleJedi said:

Paris!!!!



How could I have forgotten Paris????

I did it, too. Odd, eh?

Dave1992 said:

ThisOne said:

Paris Rome Milan Venice Athens Stockholm Barcelona Moscow Amsterdam Berlin Copenhagen I know more but can't think because of the heat!!!

Are you saying you need to get undressed asap?

I think that's EXACTLY what she's saying...

...can we continue this conversation on Skype, ThisOne?

Lammastide said:

PurpleJedi said:

Paris!!!!



How could I have forgotten Paris????

I did it, too. Odd, eh?

Dave1992 said:

ThisOne said:

Dave1992 said:

Are you saying you need to get undressed asap?

Yep!!!! Remember my bare arse Poem...... Well it's about to get wet in the waters of my pool... X

I remeber your bare arse... poem.

PurpleJedi said:

ThisOne said:

PurpleJedi said:

I think that's EXACTLY what she's saying...

...can we continue this conversation on Skype, ThisOne?

How come we have never skyped????? ! U don't need to worry Jedi...... I already know snow causes shrinkage so to help your ego u know we can always org note!!! !

The snow has already melted away in Vienna, though...

Dave1992 said:

PurpleJedi said:

THIRTY?!?!?!?!?



Here we go (I am not cheating...no google...and I did not read a single previous post);

1. AMSTERDAM
2. BARCELONA
3. MADRID
4. LONDON
5. PRAGUE
6. MOSCOW
7. ST. PETERSBURG
8. VATICAN CITY
9. ANDORRA LA VELLA
10. BERLIN
11. DUBLIN
12. VENICE
13. ROME
14. MILAN
15. VIENNA
16. MONACO (It's a city, right?)
17. SOCHI
18. GLASGOW
19. SARAJEVO
20. KIEV
21. COPENHAGEN
22. FRANKFURT
23. HAMBURG(?) - where the hamburger came from
24. BOLOGNA
25. SOFIA (capital of Bulgaria?)
26. ATHENS
27. GRANADA???
28. BOHN???
29. YORK???
30. BRUSSELS!!!

Those last 4 were a killer...how did I do?

Monaco isn't a city, it's a principality. Monte Carlo is the city.

jone70 said:

PurpleJedi said:

THIRTY?!?!?!?!?



Here we go (I am not cheating...no google...and I did not read a single previous post);

1. AMSTERDAM
2. BARCELONA
3. MADRID
4. LONDON
5. PRAGUE
6. MOSCOW
7. ST. PETERSBURG
8. VATICAN CITY
9. ANDORRA LA VELLA
10. BERLIN
11. DUBLIN
12. VENICE
13. ROME
14. MILAN
15. VIENNA
16. MONACO (It's a city, right?)
17. SOCHI
18. GLASGOW
19. SARAJEVO
20. KIEV
21. COPENHAGEN
22. FRANKFURT
23. HAMBURG(?) - where the hamburger came from
24. BOLOGNA
25. SOFIA (capital of Bulgaria?)
26. ATHENS
27. GRANADA???
28. BOHN???
29. YORK???
30. BRUSSELS!!!

Those last 4 were a killer...how did I do?

Monaco isn't a city, it's a principality. Monte Carlo is the city.

Actually, Monte Carlo is only one part of the city (the famous one with all the casinos and stuff). The actual city is called Monaco, too!

Dave1992 said:

jone70 said:

Monaco isn't a city, it's a principality. Monte Carlo is the city.

Actually, Monte Carlo is only one part of the city (the famous one with all the casinos and stuff). The actual city is called Monaco, too!

Actually I've been there so I know that Monaco is the "country" and Monte Carlo is the city.

jone70 said:

Dave1992 said:

Actually, Monte Carlo is only one part of the city (the famous one with all the casinos and stuff). The actual city is called Monaco, too!

Actually I've been there so I know that Monaco is the "country" and Monte Carlo is the city.

Monte Carlo's only part of it.....

aardvark15 said:

jone70 said:

Actually I've been there so I know that Monaco is the "country" and Monte Carlo is the city.

Monte Carlo's only part of it.....

I know. I've been there. Monte Carlo is the administrative / most populated quarter of the PRINCIPALITY of Monaco. Monaco is not a city.

Ok, I'll try this.

1. London

2. Paris
3. Berlin
4. Glasgow
5. Dublin
6. Manchester
7. Cardiff
8. Birmingham
9. Belfast
10. Edinburgh
11. Reykjavik
12. Oslo
13. Stockholm
14. Helsinki

15. Orleans

16. Nice
17. Frankfurt

18. Munich
19. Bonn
20. Amsterdam

21. Brussels

22. The Hague
23. Torino (Turin)
24. Florence
25. Rome
26. Venice
27. Milan
28. Geneva
29. Zurich
30. Bern
31. Davos
32. Seville
33. Barcellona
34. Lisbon
35. Warsaw
36. Prague
37. Vienna
38. Budapest
39. Bucharest
40. Sofiya
41. Split
42. Sarajevo
43. Belgrade
44. Athens
45. Istanbul
46. Ankara
47. Riga

48. Vilnius
49. Kiev
50. Moscow

51. St. Petersburg
52. Sochi
53. Baku

54. Rotterdam

55. Vatican City

[Edited 2/1/14 18:05pm]

Dave1992 said:

Especially non-European orgers! I'd like to see which cities stick in your mind and for what reason.

Don't be embarrassed if you can't. Most Europeans probably couldn't name more than 5 U.S. cities.

I like this quiz, but sadly, there are a huge number of Americans who couldn't name five U.S. cities, and a larger number that couldn't name five U.S. cities outside of their region. For example, I'm sure there are people in the northeast of the USA (New York, New England) who could very easily tell you names of the cities within that region but would be hard pressed to name anything in the midwest (Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Kansas City, Oklahoma City, etc.).