Various geography questions

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Not too long ago, I asked the question about which is the largest
US city without a nearby Interstate freeway. Today, a followup
question occured to me.

1. What is the most populous county in the US with no Interstate
freeway?


The following question is probably too easy for most North
American trivia buffs, but might make a good one for, say, Welsh
pubsters.

2. One US state and one Canadian province each border on 4 of the
5 Great Lakes. What are they and what are the lakes they don't
border on?


3. Many borders follow a river, usually through the main channel
at the time the border was drawn. But what border follows a river
with a fixed offset? That is, the border is defined as being a
certain distance away from a certain river.

--
Dan Tilque

 

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Dan Tilque wrote:
> Not too long ago, I asked the question about which is the largest
> US city without a nearby Interstate freeway. Today, a followup
> question occured to me.
>
> 1. What is the most populous county in the US with no Interstate
> freeway?
>
>
> The following question is probably too easy for most North
> American trivia buffs, but might make a good one for, say, Welsh
> pubsters.
>
> 2. One US state and one Canadian province each border on 4 of the
> 5 Great Lakes. What are they and what are the lakes they don't
> border on?
>
>
> 3. Many borders follow a river, usually through the main channel
> at the time the border was drawn. But what border follows a river
> with a fixed offset? That is, the border is defined as being a
> certain distance away from a certain river.

The England/Wales border near Chester seems to do it with respect to
the River Dee for a few miles:
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=328560&y=373760&z=5&sv=325000,375000&st=4&ar=Y&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf

Interesting you say "at the time the border was drawn", I think that
originally the main channel was where the border is, but now it has
become silted up (or something similar) and a new channel made entirely
on the Welsh side. Old maps of that area show the broad estuary
extending all the way to Chester, which was a seaport in Roman times.


Edmund

 

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Dan Tilque:
> Not too long ago, I asked the question about which is the largest
> US city without a nearby Interstate freeway. Today, a followup
> question occured to me.
>
> 1. What is the most populous county in the US with no Interstate
> freeway?

Does it matter if "freeway" is being used in the newer sense that
excludes toll roads? (If you thought that was the only sense,
look it up.) Probably not: even where toll roads are common,
urbanized areas tend to include some free freeways.

My first guess was New York County, NY, but this includes a short
section of I-95. Could it be Ventura County, CA (pop. 735,300 in
my 2001 Rand McNally Road Atlas.)? This has some non-Interstate
freeways but just misses including any of I-5.

As to the others, 2 is too easy for me to spoil it for the Welsh
pubgoers, and on 3 I have no idea and will be interested to see
the answer.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto | "The brain is amazing when it's amazing, with
msb@vex.net | apologies to Robert Biddle." --Steve Summit

My text in this article is in the public domain.

 

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Mark Brader wrote:

> Dan Tilque:
>>
>> 1. What is the most populous county in the US with no
>> Interstate freeway?
>
> Does it matter if "freeway" is being used in the newer sense
> that excludes toll roads?

That was the original sense, I believe. Freeway as opposed to
tollway. But I meant it in the more common sense of "limited
access highway".

--
Dan Tilque

 

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"Dan Tilque" <dtilque@nwlink.com> wrote in message
news:113sjscps1ith03@corp.supernews.com...
>
> 2. One US state and one Canadian province each border on 4 of the
> 5 Great Lakes. What are they and what are the lakes they don't
> border on?

The answer has an appealing symmetry

 

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"Dan Tilque" <dtilque@nwlink.com> writes:

> The following question is probably too easy for most North
> American trivia buffs, but might make a good one for, say, Welsh
> pubsters.

Har!

> 2. One US state and one Canadian province each border on 4 of the
> 5 Great Lakes. What are they and what are the lakes they don't
> border on?

Michigan/Huron?
Ottawa/Michigan?

--
Keith Willoughby http://flat222.org/keith/
They're parking camels where the taxis used to be

 

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Dan Tilque wrote:
> 3. Many borders follow a river, usually through the main channel
> at the time the border was drawn. But what border follows a river
> with a fixed offset? That is, the border is defined as being a
> certain distance away from a certain river.

I'm not certain, but the border of Gambia looks like it was defined
this way, except for the first 75 km from the ocean.

Eugene

 

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pijll@gmx.net wrote:

> Dan Tilque wrote:
>> 3. Many borders follow a river, usually through the main
>> channel at the time the border was drawn. But what border
>> follows a river with a fixed offset? That is, the border is
>> defined as being a certain distance away from a certain river.
>
> I'm not certain, but the border of Gambia looks like it was
> defined this way, except for the first 75 km from the ocean.

It sure looks like it, but it wasn't the border I had in mind.
Googling, I find this text at
http://www.africaguide.com/features/trvafmag/018.htm

# Well, in the 1890’s one such predicament was resolved by
# sailing a gunboat up a river and using the range of its
# cannon to delineate the state boundary. The resulting twisted
# finger of land, about 10 miles (16kms) either side of the
# river Gambia, is a legacy of Anglo-French rivalry over
# control of trade in West Africa.

I wonder how many cannon shots it took to establish the border.
And what did they fire? Survey monuments?

At any rate, there's another such border.

--
Dan Tilque

 

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Keith Willoughby wrote:

> "Dan Tilque" <dtilque@nwlink.com> writes:
>
>> The following question is probably too easy for most North
>> American trivia buffs, but might make a good one for, say,
>> Welsh pubsters.
>
> Har!
>
>> 2. One US state and one Canadian province each border on 4 of
>> the 5 Great Lakes. What are they and what are the lakes they
>> don't border on?
>
> Michigan/Huron?
> Ottawa/Michigan?

Two out of four correct.

--
Dan Tilque

 

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"Dan Tilque" <dtilque@nwlink.com> wrote in message
news:1140t7uqp25cd6d@corp.supernews.com...
> pijll@gmx.net wrote:
>
> > Dan Tilque wrote:
> >> 3. Many borders follow a river, usually through the main
> >> channel at the time the border was drawn. But what border
> >> follows a river with a fixed offset? That is, the border is
> >> defined as being a certain distance away from a certain river.
> >
> > I'm not certain, but the border of Gambia looks like it was
> > defined this way, except for the first 75 km from the ocean.
>
> It sure looks like it, but it wasn't the border I had in mind.
> Googling, I find this text at
> http://www.africaguide.com/features/trvafmag/018.htm
>
> # Well, in the 1890's one such predicament was resolved by
> # sailing a gunboat up a river and using the range of its
> # cannon to delineate the state boundary. The resulting twisted
> # finger of land, about 10 miles (16kms) either side of the
> # river Gambia, is a legacy of Anglo-French rivalry over
> # control of trade in West Africa.
>
> I wonder how many cannon shots it took to establish the border.
> And what did they fire? Survey monuments?
>
> At any rate, there's another such border.

Denmark-Germany, the Kiel Canal?

 

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Steve Grant (ACE1242@comcast.net) writes:
> Denmark-Germany, the Kiel Canal?

No, that border was established by other means. Which?


--
Erland Sommarskog, Stockholm, esquel@sommarskog.se

 

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Dan Tilque wrote:

> 1. What is the most populous county in the US with no
> Interstate freeway?

Mark Brader answered Ventura County in California. AFAIK that's
the right answer.


> 2. One US state and one Canadian province each border on 4 of
> the 5 Great Lakes. What are they and what are the lakes they
> don't border on?

The state of Michigan borders on all the lakes except Ontario.
The province of Ontario borders on all the lakes except Michgan.

>
>
> 3. Many borders follow a river, usually through the main
> channel at the time the border was drawn. But what border
> follows a river with a fixed offset? That is, the border is
> defined as being a certain distance away from a certain river.

The answer I had in mind was the eastern part of
Massachusetts-New Hampshire border which follows the Merrimac
River at a distance of 3 miles. But I have to give credit to
pijll for the Gambia-Senegal border, since it is also a valid
answer to the question.

--
Dan Tilque

 

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Erland Sommarskog (esquel@sommarskog.se) writes:
> Steve Grant (ACE1242@comcast.net) writes:
>> Denmark-Germany, the Kiel Canal?
>
> No, that border was established by other means. Which?

By referendum.


--
Erland Sommarskog, Stockholm, esquel@sommarskog.se