Not FAQs about the USA
Replies: 113 - Last Post: Nov 4, 2012 8:57 AM Last Post By: Powerlurker
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45
Name a state (I'm aware of just one) whose territory is disconinuous--such that you must pass through another state to get from one part of the state to another. No islands involved.Yes, I'm disallowing (or rather allowing) water crossings. There is one state with a true land-based exclave, which is what I was looking for. Whether you travel by land, air, or water, you pass through another state to get there.
I think the state you are looking for is Kentucky.
46
Name a state (I'm aware of just one) whose territory is disconinuous--such that you must pass through another state to get from one part of the state to another.
Here's a couple questions: Does the territory of the state itself include water? Technically, the water between (for example) Point Roberts and the rest of xWashington is part of xWashington. The same with (for example) the water between Finns Point and the rest of xDelaware, or the lakes that surround the Land Between the Lakes in xKentucky. And does the "passing" have to be by car?Anyone got an answer for #36?
47
How many Native-American languages are spoken nowadays in the USA?
That is actually a question with no real answer. First there are a number of languages where there are only a handful of speakers. So the language can still be used, but it is not. It will probably become extinct when the last speaker dies.
There are languages where there are speakers, but none are fluent. Some of these are languages that have been revived, through use of old recordings and writings, and questioning of elders. Much vocabulary has been lost. These languages may be taught in schools or privately, but are rarely used for everyday communication.
Here is one answer Native North American Languages Spoken at Home in the United States and Puerto Rico: 2006–2010 from the Census Bureau. (this does not include native Hawaiians).
The census has 160 Native North American languages, but note that there are fewer than 500,000 speakers of them. "The size of the Native North American language speaking population is dwarfed by the 60 million people speaking a different non-English language and the 227 million people who speak English only." About 15% of Indians and Alaska Natives speak only the native language at home. 80-90% speak only English at home.
The primary native language that is still in use is Navajo, with an estimated 372,000 speakers. Most of these speakers are in Arizona and New Mexico.
Another source estimates that there are about 1000 speakers of Hawaiian.
48
Does the territory of the state itself include water?
All states do--and yes, the anomaly in question is created by water.
Technically, the water between (for example) Point Roberts and the rest of xWashington is part of xWashington.
The water in this case, though, is part of different states than the land in question is. So even if you go by boat, you'll leave the state before re-entering. (Like I said, no islands involved, so I'm not looking for Liberty and Ellis Islands here. Though that, by itself, is another noteworthy geographic quirk.)
But of course, the question has already been answered correctly:
I think the state you are looking for is Kentucky.
--M.
49
Though that, by itself, is another noteworthy geographic quirk.
One that made it to the Supreme Court.But of course, the question has already been answered correctly:
In case people were wondering.
I think the state you are looking for is Kentucky.
51
He was willing to count canals, though. You'd need a canal over the Rocky Mountains. Maybe linking the Missouri in Montana to the Snake in Wyoming? Not exaclty practical.52
Thanks nutrax (#47) for the info about the Native American languages. It's really interesting. Do you have a similar link about the Native Hawaiian languages?#44 is the fabled search for the Northwest Passage.
My question about if it was possible to cross the USA by boat was due to a misunderstanding by my part. I read somewhere that it was possible to make it (at least that was what I understood at first) and I was quite surprised about it so I decided to ask here. Once I got your answers confirming my suspicion (i.e. it isn't possible), I read once again the text where I got the info and realised I didn't have read it properly (these things happen when you aren't a native English speaker).
Anyone got an answer for #36?
Not yet. I found several possible examples that could meet #34 but not yet an example that could meet #36. Give us a little more of time. I'm learning a lot while looking for it.
54
I looked at a map and I think the shortest portage on your Atlantic-to-Pacific pirogue or canoe trip might be from Yellowstone Lake, which feeds into the Yellowstone River, part of the Missouri-Mississippi system (which connects to the Great Lakes by canal as Mr Penney mentioned) to Shoshone Lake, also in Yellowstone NP, which feeds into the Snake River, a tributary of the Columbia, via the Lewis River and Jackson Lake. It seems to be well under ten miles.55
There is only one Hawaiian language. although there are dialects.The 70 or so residents of the island of Niihau mostly speak Hawaiian at home. However, the number of fluent speakers is declining. You can read more about it here.
The University of Hawaii has a Hawaiian language program. they say that "There are approximately 7,500 people learning the Hawaiian language today."
According to this source, [By 2002] second language speakers of Hawaiian had already outnumbered native speakers by perhaps 2000 or more. Native speakers probably number fewer than 1000 (no census has ever been taken, so this is an estimation).
The Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander Population: 2010. 527,077 people self-identified their race as Native Hawaiian alone or in combination with another race. In Hawaii itself, 80,000 were native Hawaiian alone; 210,000 as Hawaiian in combination with another race.
56
Canoe across AmericaHis website. He started on April 2011. In August, 2011 he blogged:
It is with sad heart that I must concede to the floods of the Columbia and Missouri River basins. I have been fighting floods not seen since the 1800′s from day three of this trip. After waiting for two months for the waters to subside, I tried to paddle the Platte River, but it was still out of its banks in Wyoming and only had 1 to 2 ft. clearance under the bridges entering Nebraska. I decided to skip it and put on the Missouri in Omaha. Once there, I found out that they were arresting and fining people who were on the river. The latest reports were the river would not be down until the first of Oct. Heck, Interstate 29 is still closed because of flooding. So, Canoe Across America has been postponed indefinitely because of a shortage of time and money.
Now then, because I hate to quit anything without giving everything I have, there is a new plan (I think I’m up to Plan W). After a quiet week back in Madison with Eve, I will be putting on the Wisconsin River at Sauk City tomorrow. I plan to canoe down it to the Mississippi. From there I will canoe down the Mississippi to St. Louis and pick up my original route from there.
Now then, because I hate to quit anything without giving everything I have, there is a new plan (I think I’m up to Plan W). After a quiet week back in Madison with Eve, I will be putting on the Wisconsin River at Sauk City tomorrow. I plan to canoe down it to the Mississippi. From there I will canoe down the Mississippi to St. Louis and pick up my original route from there.
In October, 2011:
They say some things just aren’t meant to be. Well, sadly Canoe Across America in 2011 has turned out to be one of those things that wasn’t meant to be. After the record flooding that deluged my route all summer , I also hurt my back shortly after putting on the Wisconsin River as part of my “Plan W” reroute.
That injury was a last straw for me. I decided it was best to let go and end the trip.
That injury was a last straw for me. I decided it was best to let go and end the trip.
Earlier
57
Hawaiian Pidgin, an English-based creole, is more widely spoken than Hawaiian. Most linguists consider it a language distinct from English.58
From that articlePublic school children learned Pidgin from their classmates, and eventually it became the primary language of most people in Hawaii, replacing the original languages.
One of my aunts taught elementary school in Hawaii in the late 1930s. (I forget where, but it was pretty rural.) She said that most children came to school knowing no English, only Pidgin (and probably their parents first language.)
I recall in 1965 having a little kid warn me about stepping on sea urchins. "Da kine porkoopine; him sting."
59
#39Can I go overland in all the states from the most populated city of the State to the Capital city of that State?
Bronx aside, New York is another example where you can't.
And there are four continguous states where the answer is no for a different reason. What are they?
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