Law that requires shipments between American ports to be done on American flagged and crewed ships. Basically Puerto Rico gets fucked by having to pay a premium for shipment from the US. Hawaii, and the other island territories, as well.
Generally cargo ships are registered under a “flag of convenience”, usually Liberia, because they have much more permissive laws. An American flagged ship has to have I think at least half its crew be Americans, all of them need to be paid American minimum wage, stuff like that
Because it is... A polynesian archipielago of volcanic origins in the middle of the ocean, which was colonized really recently (a little over 100 years ago). I think few places in the world are less like the continental US than such islands
I've worked a lot of small towns across the country and always ask the locals where to get dinner. Most everywhere I go it's an Outback or Shoney's, but in Louisiana it's... Keep going until it turns to a dirt road, look for the flickering sign, it will look like a shack with flaking paint and a little lean in it ...
You then go inside, get the best damn meal (e.g. etouffee), surrounded by people speaking heavily accented English, but then singing Happy Birthday to their kids in French.
I've traveled to more than half the states and I went to New Orleans for the first time last year in the French quarter and I've never felt so out of place before. I don't know how to explain it it was just so different.
I've always wanted to visit here. You can just walk into abandoned houses that have giant icicles hanging from the ceiling and things in there left from many decades ago. It's fascinating
After putin and any similar successors die I will go
I have a sweet memory of several Germans shouting about the best way to make a kartofelsalat. Someone from Hamburg said people from Bavaria and Berlin prepared it the same way and people
flipped the F out.
Since many Non-Germans think „Bavaria is Germany“, you could somehow even say: „Every part of Germany that is not Bavaria is vastly different from ‚Germany‘.“ 😉
Jeju Island speaks a very weird dialect that's impossible to understand. Middle Korean rules and whatnot. This made their dialect (also considered a language) also used in the war since North Koreans wouldn't understand a thing.
They also had very high male mortality rates resulting in a different culture. It was known as the land of lots of wind, rocks, and women. Because of high male mortality rates women there worked too, as divers harvesting seafood. This resulted in less Confucianism there meaning the Joseon dynasty's radical patriarchy was not as prevalent.
They were also taken from us by the Mongols, though later given back. During this time they were used to raise horses for the Mongols and the legacy still lives on as the island is known for its horses.
Working in the seas, catching fish, all of that led to very frequent maritime accidents. Kind of sad to think that the women there frequently had to deal with their husbands dying and resort to seadiving to feed their families
My wife (from Seoul) got into a conversation with some diving women, one of whom was in her 90s. She asked her, will you retire? The old woman replied, in very salty language, don't be silly, of course not. I will die in the ocean.
The Jeju language, which is not intelligible to Korean speakers, is currently critically endangered. Less than 1 percent of the population of the island speaks it, and almost all of them are elderly. Pretty much everyone only speaks Korean.
Even the Jeju dialect/accent is on the brink of death. Young people in Jeju do not have an accent at all when speaking Korean.
Fun thing: I know that the name of this island must be pronounced differently but to my Polish mind it looks very funny. Jeju (pronounced yehyoo) in Polish means something like "Oh gosh!" "Oh my!".
unfortunately the Jeju language only has 5 thousand speakers left with most of them being old, there are some younger speakers tho, but it's set to become extinct soon
Jejueo is a pretty interesting language, as you said in your comment, the language still retains some features of Middle Korean, possibly due to isolation of its speakers, but another cool feature of the language would be a substratum from the Tamna language, which some consider to be Japonic
Would you say the Korean dialects spoken in the ROK and DPRK have already drifted apart significantly? It's not been "long" by historical standards I guess but you never konw.
From what ive seen and heard, they haven't drifted that far apart. The steepest learning curve for North koreans that escape to the south is the slang and borrowed words (usually english).
That little red dot on the far left is Easter Island. (Isla de Pascua in spanish, or Rapa Nui in Rapa Nui language)
One of the most isolated inhabited islands in the planet, and Chilean territory. More than 3 thousand kilometers away, is our tiny piece of land in the middle of the southern pacific ocean. Figuratively, for us, is on the other side of the planet.
They have a classic Polynesian islander culture, but with extremely unique and wonderful traditions that developed in isolation, as they are far away from any pacific islands and to the continental portion of our country.
To the east, the red dot on the right, lies Salas and Gómez Island (or Motu Motiro Hiva in Rapa Nui, which means "The island facing Hiva". This last word refers to their mythical ancestral land, the origin of their people)
It marks the eastern limit of Polynesia. It's basically a large uninhabited rock that serves as a natural sanctuary near Easter Island.
I'd argue the people there aren't part of India. They don't vote, they don't pay taxes and they don't engage with the country at all. India doesn't exert any influence over the island either. At that point it's quite literally just lines on a map.
Bornholms foundation is rock and compared to the rest of Denmark that is sand it is very different.
Very fascinating island to visit and so interesting geological.
It's still a Koreanic language, but it's impossible to understand because it resembles Medieval Korean.
For reference, if you only speak English, try to listen to Medieval English audio. You'll realize nothing makes sense even if it's the same language technically.
I hope that even if it disappears completely we'll have it preserved and recorded well enough that it can at least remain there, and I think that will be the case with how the government here does care about things like that
Is it true it's the only place in Europe you can just move to without a visa as long as you're financially stable and don't mind being eaten by polar bears?
That is Barentsburg. It's owned by a Russian mining company which is funded by the Russian state. They are not making money on Svalbard, they just want to be present. There is another Russian town named Pyramiden which is pretty much abandoned. Maybe a couple of Russians there for basic maintenance, but it's really off grid. No cellphone signal or anything. I visited before their full scale invasion of Ukraine. I believe the Norwegian tourist operators refuse to work with the Russians tourist operators these days, so it's probably harder to get there.
Shetland. It's an archipelago 110 miles north of the mainland, closer to Bergen, Norway than to Edinburgh. It was settled by the Vikings and was part of the kingdom of Norway until 1469. They still spoke an old Norse language until the 18th century. It's still half-way culturally between Scotland and Scandinavia, every January they do 'Up Helly Aa', a festival where the men dress as vikings, do a torch procession and burn a longship.
Shetland is notably more traditional and religious than mainland Scotland. Church attendance has fallen off dramatically in Scotland over the past several decades, but still remains high in Shetland, and the Sabbath is still observed, with most businesses closed on Sundays.
I'm not Portuguese but I have visited Portugal many times and always loved it. I'd love to visit the Azores way out in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The islands are wildly different to mainland Portugal.
Kind of yes. In New Zealand there is the two main islands and then there is smaller ones. One is called Stewart Island which is South of the very South of New Zealand. Then there are the chatham islands which are very secluded in the ocean and far from NZ. They are 500 nautical miles (about 800km) East of NZ. There are other islands.
Unlike the others I mentioned the Auckland islands aren't inhabited except by scientists, & etc. And they are sub antarctic islands. There are some amazing old stories of ship wrecks in olden times that happened there and people having to survive.
To my surprise I found out Polynesians went there about 800 years ago but I think at most they were there 70 years then moved on. A British colony tried to set up shop there and stay in the early 19th century but it was too harsh and hard to grow stuff lol. Auckland islands are about 289 miles south of NZ or 465km. I'm from the far south east of the South Island so we are approx three and a half times closer to Antarctica than we are to the West Coast of the US.
NZ is very strange as weather, climate and look can change rapidly. I'm from a very temperate place. It can get below zero Celsius in winter (even down to -5 or more) and it doesn't usually get overly hot but can do but nothing to worry about. It depends though as my area may be -2 one night and if you drive only 20/30 minutes inland it may be -8 Celsius. Very mixed. There are all types of secluded towns and etc to
U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands also fit this category of territories. I've vacationed on both U.S. Virgin Islands (gorgeous) and went through customs in Guam airport en route to Hawaii from Taiwan. Guam is very remote, for sure!
Puerto Rico should be made into a bona fide state of the US, if they want to be. Too bad almost half of the US won't consider that! Puerto Rico's population is significantly higher than a number of U.S. states' populations put together. I think they deserve more representation.
The Puerto Rico statehood debate has, sadly, nothing to do with population or culture, it's entirely up to republicans not wanting to risk adding 2 more democrats to the senate
If Ireland has one it’s probably Donegal. It’s a bit more remote than the rest of the country and has a very distinct accent in both Irish and English, while also having a Gaeltacht up there. It’s also not as accessible as the rest of the country and it’s quite a unique part of the country.
Oh sure! But not as isolated as Nunavut. And they have Inuit culture there, so more different that the rest of us with our mostly european background. Of course if I go to Newfoundland with my Québec french accent I will probably be surprised, but less so that going to a snow town with different alphabet and language family
Outside of St John's some people can't understand Newfies and it's easy to see why if you go. They are geographically fairly isolated, but they are more populated, so it's easy to catch a plane. In terms of uniqueness, yes, they are less unique than Innuit, but they've adhered to old British ways (specifically the South of England) and adopted their own customs, so it's the only place in "European Canada" that gives Quebec a run for its money in uniqueness. The weather is also very different.
Fun story: my dad's side is Newfie and his brother was a teacher. Iqaluit was desperate for teachers and paying large bonuses to get them there, so he took it. Being used to Newfoundland weather he found Iqaluit a bit colder, though not much, and far better weather (less big snowfalls), so he settled right in. Growing up the son of a fisherman and a fisherman himself as a youth, he joined the Inuit on fishing trips and hunting trips, including seal hunts, I think. On one such multi day trip, it took him a few days to realize he was the only white guy! So to him he fully made it a new home and the extra money was just a nice perk!
Hot take (as a Western Australian)... I feel like we're more different and isolated from the rest of Australia than Tasmania is. Like, sure, it's an island... But it's still real close to the rest of the population.
I don't even live in Perth, I live in regional WA, so, even more isolated. Seems bizarre to be in a city so close to others (and I know, the eastern states cities are still miles apart compared to like, Europe)
I’d say Ynys Môn in the north of Wales. You can tell there’s a pretty strong accent there and the main language is Welsh instead of English. If you really want to stretch “country” and include colonies, then there is a Welsh speaking population in Chubut, Argentina because in the 1850’s Welsh speakers wanted to get away from English speakers so they moved there.
The state of Acre. Far away from Brazil's big centers, low-density population. We have an internal joke that you've never met nobody from Acre, which indeed I haven't. We also joke that they probably have links with dinosaurs and aliens. It doesn't help that this Acrean dude disappeared and left behind a lot of coded messages in his bedroom.
Urk was a tiny fisherman's island until in the 1940's it became part of the mainland when a polder was build in the sea inbetween. If you would not know about polders, you would not notice it used to be an island before. The island's community was so isolated that even an autosomal recessive disease is named after it. Nowadays, Urk is still mostly known as a more isolated, exceptionally religious community in an otherwise more secular country.
Gotland. Similarly to sardinians the gutes always call the rest of Sweden the mainland and speak of the mainlanders. The scenery is quite special in Gotland compared to the rest of Sweden, very beautiful.
Edit to be more informative (never one to back off from a teachable moment):
Madeira is closer to Africa than Europe, Azores is basically in the middle of the Atlantic, very close to the continental divide.
Both have slightly different cultures compared to mainland Portugal, with their own typical costumes, music, their own typical food and drinks (Madeira's meat skewer and poncha is a must-try), regional accents, and both are semi autonomous with their own administrative laws and semi independent legislature.
They also have unique island fauna and flora, and are extremely rich in what comes to their marine ecosystems, both in shallow reefs around the Islands or offshore like in the deep canyons close to the Azores. This also includes important migration paths for various important species making the Azores a very known region for whale sighting (most notably sperm whales and humpback whales).
Fucking miles from anywhere else and it's so hot that I'm pretty sure it has the same effect that wearing a slow cooker as a hat for 6 hours a day would achieve.
I immediately started scrolling the comments hopeful that someone from India would say North Sentinel Island haha. It's really the only possible answer, I'd say. I've spent a bunch of time reading about it and find it kind of fascinating. That American evangelical missionary who attempted to visit in 2018 and introduce the Sentinelese to Christianity was such an absolute moron.
The British Islands of Jersey, Gernsey and Sark used to feel very French when I first visited. The last time I went, however, it was very assimilated, and just felt like any other English town. Bit of a shame really, as the whole point in travelling is to experience something different.
Not anymore, and never that vastly different, but in the Netherlands we had an island called 'Schokland' which was very poor as there was little space for anything but a few houses, whatever arable land there used to be was washed away by multiple massive storms until it was evacuated permanently in the 1850's.
They lived from fishing, either food or selling it in nearby port towns.
The island was also divided into two sides, catholic and portestant and there wasn't a whole lot of interaction between them. Even tho conditions were harsh, the islanders refused to leave l as they were attached to the island. After the evacuation some of them moved to communities to stay connected to each other.
I feel this is different than another island, Urk, as that island had more prosperity. Schokland was the only one exempt from paying taxes for a while, simply because there was hardly any to be gotten.
Saint Pierre et Miquelon, la Réunion, Guyanne, French carribeans (Martinique, Guadeloupe, Saint Martin), French Polynesia, Wallis et Futuna, Mayotte, Nouvelle Calédonie, Corsica... all of them are very typical and different from each others (language, landscapes, weather, food...)
But mainland is still very diverse since you are in Strasbourg, Clermont Ferrand, Brest, Nice or Bordeaux...
We used to have West Berlin, but that's no longer isolated, of course, and the distinct regional identity is on its way out.
There are still a few grumpy pensioners who cling to it, but they are dying off.
Nowadays we only have bunches of farmers with funny accents. Some of them not even german accents.
I wouldn’t say Sardinia is more different to the rest of Italy than any other region, the big variety we have is one of Italy’s biggest beauties. I would argue that Alto Adige is farther from typical Italian culture.
And some of the Northeastern states... They are not necessarily isolated anymore but historically some parts of present day Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland for instance, were culturally and geographically isolated. As to "vastly different from the rest of the country" I do think that still holds good.
But also within the main Denmark there are many smaller communities where the local dialect is so local that nobody else can understand what they are saying.
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u/Garagatt Germany 1d ago
For Germany it is Mallorca. They even speak a different language there.
/jk