tirsdag den 20. juli 2010

Putting Brazil on the map

It may not be very difficult for you to guess why I googled maps of Brazil today. This one is from geology.com

Perhaps it is more amazing that the inhabitants of this huge country have discovered Denmark on the map. But the following dialogue about a spoilt woman goes to prove it:

"If she spends more than a week living on the fazenda she gets claustrophobic."
"Claustrophobic? How big is this place?"
"About half the size of Denmark."

L. Gage, Blood of the Wicked, p 195.

And before you ask, Denmark is c 43,ooo square km, and Brazil is 8,547,400.

6 kommentarer:

Jose Ignacio Escribano sagde ...

LOL. Don't worry Dorte at the mouth of the Amazon there is an island (Marajó, 15,483 sq m) about the size of Switzerland (15,940 sq m).

Anonym sagde ...

Dorte - I'm always fascinated by the way people conceive of distances and sizes.... And I look forward to your review of this book : ).

Dorte H sagde ...

Jose: oh, I don´t think we are too small "we" - I think all the other countries are too big! ;)
(typical Danish megalomania)

Margot: in fact we have very large farms in Denmark when one considers the size of the country - that is the only way the farmers can earn a decent living.

Unknown sagde ...

YEP

Beth F sagde ...

You may be able to a train from west to east across Denmark in one day (which I did!), but I would go back to your country in a heartbeat; South America? One visit did it for me.

Dorte H sagde ...

Beth: most of the time I am quite happy about living in tiny old Denmark.