British Politics Guide

[Vijay]

Even New Guinea still looks small to me tbh.

[Ares Land]

I see it as a humble brag: 'look at what our tiny, unpromising country has been able to do with our smarts and pluckiness! And have you seen my huuuuge colonial empire? I did all by myself'

Then again, England was pretty small compared to its European rivals. Both France and Spain were much larger, both geographically and in terms of population.

[quinterbeck]

As countries go, India is big - it's the seventh largest country by area, and 1.5 times the size of Greenland, the largest island, so perhaps it's not a great standard of comparison for the size of islands.

I hadn't really questioned the very common 'small island' description until Raphael mentioned it, but inclined to agree. Of 195 UN nations, the UK ranks 78 in terms of area, which is larger-than-median as countries go. It might be reasonable to call it a small country, but within the category of islands, GB is hardly small, it's medium at least. It's also currently the 3rd most populous island.

I see it as a humble brag: 'look at what our tiny, unpromising country has been able to do with our smarts and pluckiness! And have you seen my huuuuge colonial empire? I did all by myself'

Definitely

[Richard W]

During the colonial period, textbook maps in British India made Britain and South Asia look about the same size although South Asia is in fact much, much bigger. Compared to that, Britain is indeed a small island.

Don't you think it makes sense to make rhumb lines straight?

[Vijay]

As countries go, India is big - it's the seventh largest country by area, and 1.5 times the size of Greenland, the largest island, so perhaps it's not a great standard of comparison for the size of islands.

Indeed. But it was compared to this particular island, so at least in that context, mentioning how small the island really is makes sense.

During the colonial period, textbook maps in British India made Britain and South Asia look about the same size although South Asia is in fact much, much bigger. Compared to that, Britain is indeed a small island.

Don't you think it makes sense to make rhumb lines straight?

As usual, I have no idea what you mean.

[bradrn]

During the colonial period, textbook maps in British India made Britain and South Asia look about the same size although South Asia is in fact much, much bigger. Compared to that, Britain is indeed a small island.

Don't you think it makes sense to make rhumb lines straight?

As usual, I have no idea what you mean.

Rhumb line: a line on the globe which is at constant angle. The Mercartor map is designed such that rhumb lines are straight, which is very convenient for sailing. This, however, has the side-effect of making higher latitudes look larger compared to lower latitudes. Hence, Britain looks about the same size as South Asia.

[Vijay]

Don't you think it makes sense to make rhumb lines straight?

As usual, I have no idea what you mean.

Rhumb line: a line on the globe which is at constant angle. The Mercartor map is designed such that rhumb lines are straight, which is very convenient for sailing. This, however, has the side-effect of making higher latitudes look larger compared to lower latitudes. Hence, Britain looks about the same size as South Asia.

Thanks!

I assumed the problem was simply that maps of Britain were shown alongside maps of India in colonial schools as if they were the same size, but I could be wrong.

EDIT:
What happened: Illiterate children from a country with few natural resources, frequent famines, terrible weather, a serious crime problem, and basically no roads were mostly kidnapped to slaughter people all over the world
How this gets described centuries later: smarts and pluckiness

[MacAnDàil]

This is not really about politics, but it is very much about Britain: does anyone else find it a bit weird that so many people, both British and non-British, keep calling the 9th-largest island and 13th-largest landmass in the world a "small island"? I just saw that phrase again in a book about Britain by a British author. Come on, people! I mean, Jersey is a small island. Heligoland is a small island. Elba and St. Helena are small islands. A place larger than Java and only slightly smaller than Honshu doesn't strike a as geographically "small" by any reasonable standard.

I agree. It's medium-sized. I would also describe Czechia and Austria thus. Which is why Vijay correctly points out that the UK shouldn't be equivalent to South Asia either, because India is massive, and Great Britain is medium-sized.

[Curlyjimsam]

This is not really about politics, but it is very much about Britain: does anyone else find it a bit weird that so many people, both British and non-British, keep calling the 9th-largest island and 13th-largest landmass in the world a "small island"? I just saw that phrase again in a book about Britain by a British author. Come on, people! I mean, Jersey is a small island. Heligoland is a small island. Elba and St. Helena are small islands. A place larger than Java and only slightly smaller than Honshu doesn't strike a as geographically "small" by any reasonable standard.

This has long irritated me too. I think what people mean is "small country (which also happens to be an island)" . Though even this is stretching it (UK is one of the larger countries by population, and above median by area).

[Travis B.]

Great Britain (excluding NI) has a land area of 209,331 sq km and, according to the 2011 census, a population of 60,800,000. Austria has a land area of 83,879 sq km and, according to the October 2020 estimate, a population of 8,935,112. Czechia has a land area of 78,866 sq km and, according to the 2020 estimate, a population of 10,707,839. Consequently we can say that Great Britain is larger, both in land area and especially in population, than both Austria and Czechia.

[Ares Land]

During the colonial period, textbook maps in British India made Britain and South Asia look about the same size although South Asia is in fact much, much bigger. Compared to that, Britain is indeed a small island.

Don't you think it makes sense to make rhumb lines straight?

It makes a lot of sense if you're navigating an ocean liner but that hardly comes up in the classroom, does it?

[Travis B.]

During the colonial period, textbook maps in British India made Britain and South Asia look about the same size although South Asia is in fact much, much bigger. Compared to that, Britain is indeed a small island.

Don't you think it makes sense to make rhumb lines straight?

It makes a lot of sense if you're navigating an ocean liner but that hardly comes up in the classroom, does it?

Thing is, should the Mercator projection be avoided just because it might result in some having the grievance that one country is shown as being roughly the same size as some other country despite actually having a greater land area?

[Vijay]

For the record, that's...not what I was saying...

[Ares Land]

Thing is, should the Mercator projection be avoided just because it might result in some having the grievance that one country is shown as being roughly the same size as some other country despite actually having a greater land area?

Of course. If you're teaching or studying history and geography, you want an accurate idea of how big the countries involved are compared to each other.

[MacAnDàil]

Great Britain (excluding NI) has a land area of 209,331 sq km and, according to the 2011 census, a population of 60,800,000. Austria has a land area of 83,879 sq km and, according to the October 2020 estimate, a population of 8,935,112. Czechia has a land area of 78,866 sq km and, according to the 2020 estimate, a population of 10,707,839. Consequently we can say that Great Britain is larger, both in land area and especially in population, than both Austria and Czechia.

Sure, but countries come in orders of magnitude, not just thrice the size of the other. You compare Russia's area to the Ukraine's, you have a massive difference but they're still both big countries. Also, I understand 'big island' as referring to the area and not the population.

[alice]

Five years on: this is how you unite a nation!

[Raphael]

Wasn't there a time when some of the more subdued of British patriots took pride in the fact that their country wasn't that much into this kind of stuff?

[Frislander]

Wasn't there a time when some of the more subdued of British patriots took pride in the fact that their country wasn't that much into this kind of stuff?

I mean, some of us would still like it to be that way. But no, it's part of the current Tory trend of aping American political culture in order to help push some of their more libertarian agendas like ultimately dismantling the NHS and trying to make sure we have the largest Covid peak yet when they lift all restrictions in the next couple of days.

In other news - we've finally managed to have a decent Sex Scandal once again! Matt Hancock was caught on camera being touchy-feely with an aide who he appointed under suspicious circumstances. He resigned a day later and immediately left his wife to go live with said aide, which come on that's still an arsy thing to do, but at least he experienced some consequences for it, whereas of course Bozza cheated on and left his previous while she was on cancer treatment. Also it's meant that the new health secretary is Sajid Javid, who bears the distinction of being one of the few fans of Ayn Rand active in British politics, so he naturally is very much keen on lifting all restrictions as soon as possible supposedly to help the economy, which seems all the more irresponsible given that many NHS hospitals have already started cancelling routine operations because they are filling up with Covid patients again.

[alice]

Also it's meant that the new health secretary is Sajid Javid, who bears the distinction of being one of the few fans of Ayn Rand active in British politics, so he naturally is very much keen on lifting all restrictions as soon as possible supposedly to help the economy, which seems all the more irresponsible given that many NHS hospitals have already started cancelling routine operations because they are filling up with Covid patients again.

Karma's a bitch. He's just tested positive.

[Nachtswalbe]

What would a radically Utilitarian state’s policies be?