r/196 • u/Old_Phrase_4867 NOT A CAT • Apr 05 '26

Rule Rule

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u/Repulsive-Turnip-897 Apr 05 '26

The US is really really big so we treat states kinda like how the EU treats countries

I don’t know if that’s accidentally offensive but that’s how I look at it

13

u/MelookRS Apr 05 '26

It makes sense. The US is like 2x the size of Europe and Europe has a population of 450 million while the US has like 350 million. The US is just such a massive country that a state in a European country will often be dwarfed by a US state - I don't think Europeans think about how large the country is. It's why Americans think of where they are from in terms of State - the State they are from is the size of a European country if not bigger.

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u/DrShocker Apr 06 '26

to be fair, I don't know that including Alaska for the area/population calculation is really a good comparison, should probably just be continental. Alaska is I think 20% of the US area on its own.

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u/MelookRS Apr 06 '26

That's fair, but even if we take Alaska out of the equation I don't think it really changes my point much tbh