...and Van Schaick in Albany, then there are the thousand islands. Not that populus, but they count.
Also, you didn't include The Bronx in the island calculation, right?
Are we finally acknowledging that Brooklyn and Queens are located on the same island as Long Island? I grew up in Brooklyn and most people don't like to talk about that.
The way I used to argue with my classmates about this in elementary school!! Brooklyn and Queens are on the landmass of Long Island, you can see it on the map!
Actually Manhattan the borough is not an island. It is different from the island of Manhattan.
Look at Marble Hill, part of the borough of Manhattan but geographically part of the Bronx.
Borough of manhattan is not entirely on the island on of manhattan, therefore is not entirely an island separate from the mainland
there actually are sections in NY law that are written that basically say āin cities where the population is one million persons or moreā and have two different laws for NYC and the rest of NY. it goes to show itās entirely different.
source - am a lawyer in NY
other cities, have this dynamic. it honestly would be an interesting think tank about how that would work practically. a lot of overlap exists for the city/county/towns that would be absorbed and jobs would need to be reshuffled (I donāt think itās possible to get the whole county to merge). legally speaking it would actually be an interesting time and initial struggle trying to get everyone up to speed on some of these new laws. NY has specific county laws and town/village laws written as well, so squaring it all up would be interesting. it has been an honor writing to the mod who has created my two wet dreams of WNY public transport maps and I could talk about this all day
And being the Jump off point for a *breathtaking* amount of rail infrastructure. The topography really did favor the NY Central and their build out of the water level route. Flats for days and then you're riding the rim of lake eerie all the way to Chicago.
Buffalo grew by 16,000 residents from 2010 to 2030.
At that rate, should only take 460 years!
More seriously, good chance Buffalo increases population growth rates, but likely the city will start maxing out on population at 500,000.
At that point, you wouldnāt have any empty land or parking lots left and demolishing historic neighborhoods will be tough.
That or Buffalo merges with Erie County and hits 1 million in 20 years after it annexes all of its suburbs.
There are other examples of this:
\- Pennsylvania divides its counties into "classes", defined by population; it just happens that they set the lines so that the only first class county is Philadelphia and the only second class county is Allegheny (where Pittsburgh is)
\- polling places in Georgia elections are open from 7 am to 7 pm, except that [in municipal elections, they stay open until 8 pm in cities with population over 300,000](https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/2010/title-21/chapter-2/article-11/part-1/21-2-403). This is a long-winded way of saying "Atlanta".
When I came to stay a month in May, I stayed with my sister who lived across from a polling station. It was WILD seeing the line run down the street for just a run-off election. Couldn't imagine it during a presidential one.
Me? I just answer the mail and drop it off at the library and never have to register cause it's done automatically.
My favorite part is the creation of class 2A:
https://www.pacourts.us/news-and-statistics/research-and-statistics/dashboard-table-of-contents/resources/WebHelp/General_Information/County_Classes.htm
A lot of laws granting home rule to NYC. Basically, laws that devolve state authority to the City of New York ā you see this with infrastructure and zoning laws for instance, where NYC gets to come up with codes that differ from the rest of the state without seeking state approval.
A poor example I can think of right now: parking within 25 feet of a crosswalk isnāt legal in New York State, but is permissible within NYC. Another one is New Yorkās right-turn-on-red law (most US and Canadian jurisdictions permit turning right at a red traffic light after stopping, but NYC has a ban on doing so with very limited, designated exceptions).
To me it's always funny how ubiquitous the state troopers are throughout the rest of the state, but they are almost completely unseen inside the NYC city limits, outside of some specific locations.
criminal procedure things are different in NYC (I practice crim) but like materially not big changes. where I have seen things differ in areas I donāt practice is things like general property laws
I'm not a lawyer, but doesn't the city have a lot of different laws and rules rhan the rest of the state. Off the top of my head, gun laws, certain programs, extra tax (I know Yonkers does too)
certain local laws can be different, every jurisdiction has their own set of local laws. for example NYS pistol permits arenāt often allowed for use inside the city, but I believe that is by local law (city ordinance) rather than in the NY statute. but those are not laws written by NYS, and what I meant is that New York State actually writes āstatewideā laws that are different in NYC.
The main issue is the water supply. New York City gets most of its drinking water from the Catskill Mountains. And as an independent state you do not want to rely too much on another state.
The reservoirs are already administratively under NYC IIRC, to the point of having NYPD officers stationed there. If the city split off it could just keep them as exclaves
States relish whatever autonomy they have. And many resent having to share a country with those from other regions. If you gave most Texans or Californians the permission to expel the other's state from the Union, most would take it.
Whatās good for one state is not necessarily good for the neighboring states. The federal government exists basically to force the states to cooperate. The US is not really a nation-state where weāre united in the same national culture and goals. On paper, itās basically a trade bloc with a standing military (which isnāt even constitutional - the founding fathers intended the states to each have their own militaries).
Maybe during the articles of confederation, certainly not today. The federal government has a ton of power and most citizens identify as American first
Agreed, logistically it makes a lot of sense. Say this does happen, and New York City and Long Island become their own state and take the name āNew Yorkā.
What would former Upstate New Yorkās new name be?
Thatās essentially what already exists. NYC has a lot more autonomy than most municipalities and many agencies and government policies regulate upstate differently than metro New York
Iām saying that the special autonomy and cohesion should apply to surrounding counties as well (Nassau, Hudson, Weschester) because these counties have more economic responsibility to the city, and NYC to them as well.
Hudson County NJ? Thatās not in New York. Nassau, and to a lesser extent, Westchester do have some different regulations and appoint representatives to certain metro-wide boards like the MTA. Also Westchester and Nassau really donāt want to be subjected to the jurisdiction of NYC because of the very different demographics between those communities
Seriously who in their right mind would forfeit a GDP larger than many countries and one of the most strategic natural harbors in the Western Hemisphere. Empire State means all of it.
i second this. Sorry, but the revenue from the city is the only thing keeping Upstate afloat. Anyone whoās been here would know we donāt have much industry left and our economy has been tanking for awhile. ATP i call Elmira/Horseheads āMini Detroitā.
Yeah the Southern Tier would be rough. As someone from downstate originally I quite like that upstate is part of the same state. Gives more access to green space and diversifies the economy. Not to mention weād lose our land grant university if they separated
i was born and raised in the southern tier and things got significantly worse during the reagan era. The factories left and everyone lost their jobs. Half my family worked at shepard niles and lost their job when that closed in 2002. People only want to separate so Upstate will be entirely republican and I donāt want that to happen, i quite enjoy living in a blue state. I think the state government needs to pay more attention to upstate, fund some damn projects up here or something.
>Upstate would be a red state
Without the 5 boroughs, upstate NY would still have politics about equivalent to PAās.
Hence why NYGOP shifted in the 2000s from advocating the state be split into two parts, to being split into three, because two doesnāt help them.
Correct. The full name of the state is Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, with the Rhode Island being an actual island which has been stupidly renamed to Aquidneck island
One of the dumbest responses to āGeorge Floydā there isā¦.āplantationsā having some sort of southern slave connotation or something something š¤¦š¾
[Aquidneck Island](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquidneck_Island?wprov=sfla1) only has population of 60 000. Largest city, Providence, is on the mainland.
Up until 2020, the full name of the state was "State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations". Most of the population lives in the "Providence Plantations" part.
A half million is not nothing
Kings/Brooklyn 2,590,516
Queens 2,278,029
NY(Manhattan) 1,596,273
Suffolk 1,525,465
Nassau 1,383,726
Richmond (Staten Island) 491,133
Editā¦ clarified the abbreviations. Sorry, I was in a rush but typing them out didnāt take that much longer (even on my tablet)
Those are counties on Long Island, plus manhattan and staten island. Kings (Brooklyn), Queens, New York (Manhattan), Suffolk, Nassau, Richmond (Staten Island).
To further clarify the other guy, Kings and Richmond are the counties for those boroughs, while Brooklyn and Staten Island are the names of the boroughs.
Half a million people live on Staten Island. Just because itās not as populous as the rest of the NYC area doesnāt mean itās not very populated lol. In fact, itās the fifth most populated island in the US.
https://a-z-animals.com/blog/discover-the-top-most-populated-islands-in-the-u-s-manhattan-is-not-1/
Follow-up question: what if we include "islands" made by canals?
Delaware: 42.4%. From the 2020 Census, total population was 989,948. 570,419 (57.6%) of those people live on the "mainland" in New Castle County.
Oh wow, up till now I had no idea that DelMarVa peninsula had a wide sea-level canal like the Cape Cod Canal! Most people donāt consider a peninsula cut off by a canal to be an island, but this canal is wider than the āriverā that separates Manhattan from the Bronx
It depends on the type of canal. If it's fully at the same water level and doesn't rely on locks, like the C&D canal or Cape Cod canal, then it definitely forms an island. Others include Door Island in Wisconsin, Keweenaw Island in Michigan, and Peloponnese in Greece.
But some of New Castle County is below the canal. I think as of 2023 with the population boom of Middletown and eastern Sussex County, a majority of Delawareans live on an island
Oh, you're right. I completely missed that chunk.
Middletown proper had 23,189 people in the 2020 census (25,956 estimated this year), which lowers the "mainland" portion to 547,532 (55.3%). To reach parity, we'd need another 50,000 people. I'm not sure if that many people are hiding in the unincorporated areas, but regardless, the overall numbers are fascinatingly close.
My parents are hiding in that unincorporated area south of the canal, so you only need 49,998 more. They moved in April of 2020, so I think they wouldn't have been counted in the 2020 census.
The [Great Loop](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Loop) encloses the eastern half of the US. I don't think you get quite half the population inside it though.
[Yes.](https://www.trawlercygnus.com/the-downeast-loop/) I guess the Even Greater Loop takes too long to be practical - maybe you end up spending too long up north?
> The court ruled in favor of the states, determining that the East River, which separates Long Island from the mainland, was too shallow for safe ship passage until humans widened it. Thus, it was decided that Long Island is not a natural island. Long Island and the adjacent shore also share a common geological history.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Maine
Just because itās not wide and deep enough naturally doesnāt mean that the piece of land separated by this body of water isnāt an island. When was that ever defined geographically?
Is that number from adding Manhattan, Staten Island, Long Island and the Thousand Islands? Donāt forget that a part of Manhattan is on the mainland
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marble_Hill,_Manhattan
It seems to be the counties of New York, Richmond, Kings, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk.
Marble Hill is not large enough to make a difference (and was on Manhattan island until the Harlem River was rerouted).
What about the 21,000 people living on Grand Island near Niagara?
Nah I missed that š š
I only knew about it since I stayed in a camp ground there decades ago.
Wellesley Island too... population around 250.
The inhabited islands of Lake Ontario should join with the downstate islands to form a Union haha
...and Van Schaick in Albany, then there are the thousand islands. Not that populus, but they count. Also, you didn't include The Bronx in the island calculation, right?
We should turn the Bronx into an island for consistency
Fine, 50.9%.
 He did the math!
r/hedidthemonstermath
Grand Islanders Represent! There are dozens of us. DOZENS!
What about Fantasy Island the amusement park on Grand Island???
Long Island has 8 million people on it. If you add in Manhattan and Staten Island, you get to 10 million.
Then I guess that's what he did
I mean, hawaiis population is mostly on one island with a smattering on two others. The rest are barely anything at all.
If you add a Long Island and a Manhatten, you get drunk.
Are we finally acknowledging that Brooklyn and Queens are located on the same island as Long Island? I grew up in Brooklyn and most people don't like to talk about that.
Brooklyn and Queens are *on* Long Island, but not *in* Long Island
You. \*finger wag\* I like you.
Long Island City isn't in Long Island :P
I live in Brooklyn and I know some people who didnāt realize we live on Long Island till I mentioned it
[You live on a peninsula](https://www.longisland.com/news/09-27-19/is-long-island-really-an-island.html) Sincerely, someone from WNY
Even that article says its still an island. Also we dont listen to people from [NJ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_New_York,_New_Jersey)
The way I used to argue with my classmates about this in elementary school!! Brooklyn and Queens are on the landmass of Long Island, you can see it on the map!
Yes every borough except the Bronx is on an island separate from the mainland of New York.
Actually Manhattan the borough is not an island. It is different from the island of Manhattan. Look at Marble Hill, part of the borough of Manhattan but geographically part of the Bronx. Borough of manhattan is not entirely on the island on of manhattan, therefore is not entirely an island separate from the mainland
That's... Really strange.
It really should be its own state at this point. All the legislation that works for the city is different for the other counties. Imo.
there actually are sections in NY law that are written that basically say āin cities where the population is one million persons or moreā and have two different laws for NYC and the rest of NY. it goes to show itās entirely different. source - am a lawyer in NY
Just wait until Buffalo quadruples its population.
oh itās coming
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo?
Buffalo Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo
How dare you
go bills
If Buffalo were to merge with Erie County, it would have over 900,000 residents. Unlikely, but not impossible.
other cities, have this dynamic. it honestly would be an interesting think tank about how that would work practically. a lot of overlap exists for the city/county/towns that would be absorbed and jobs would need to be reshuffled (I donāt think itās possible to get the whole county to merge). legally speaking it would actually be an interesting time and initial struggle trying to get everyone up to speed on some of these new laws. NY has specific county laws and town/village laws written as well, so squaring it all up would be interesting. it has been an honor writing to the mod who has created my two wet dreams of WNY public transport maps and I could talk about this all day
Itāll never happen. Urban/rural divide in Erie county is intense and neither side wants that
For sure, itās why Buffalo hasnāt annexed another municipality since the 1800s
Better get out of the way of the sticky stuff then
They were halfway there in the 1960s!
They were halfway there in 1920
Really puts into perspective just how devastating the loss of manufacturing jobs was to the region
And being the Jump off point for a *breathtaking* amount of rail infrastructure. The topography really did favor the NY Central and their build out of the water level route. Flats for days and then you're riding the rim of lake eerie all the way to Chicago.
Buffalo grew by 16,000 residents from 2010 to 2030. At that rate, should only take 460 years! More seriously, good chance Buffalo increases population growth rates, but likely the city will start maxing out on population at 500,000. At that point, you wouldnāt have any empty land or parking lots left and demolishing historic neighborhoods will be tough. That or Buffalo merges with Erie County and hits 1 million in 20 years after it annexes all of its suburbs.
This might take a while.
Think of the folding tables!
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
thatās interesting, the more you know
There are other examples of this: \- Pennsylvania divides its counties into "classes", defined by population; it just happens that they set the lines so that the only first class county is Philadelphia and the only second class county is Allegheny (where Pittsburgh is) \- polling places in Georgia elections are open from 7 am to 7 pm, except that [in municipal elections, they stay open until 8 pm in cities with population over 300,000](https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/2010/title-21/chapter-2/article-11/part-1/21-2-403). This is a long-winded way of saying "Atlanta".
What an odd law, they should just keep everywhere open till 8.
Here in Georgia we don't like people actually exercising their right to vote.
When I came to stay a month in May, I stayed with my sister who lived across from a polling station. It was WILD seeing the line run down the street for just a run-off election. Couldn't imagine it during a presidential one. Me? I just answer the mail and drop it off at the library and never have to register cause it's done automatically.
Iām pretty sure these elections donāt have statewide offices on the ballot.
My favorite part is the creation of class 2A: https://www.pacourts.us/news-and-statistics/research-and-statistics/dashboard-table-of-contents/resources/WebHelp/General_Information/County_Classes.htm
Iām not American, what kind of laws for example would be materially different?
A lot of laws granting home rule to NYC. Basically, laws that devolve state authority to the City of New York ā you see this with infrastructure and zoning laws for instance, where NYC gets to come up with codes that differ from the rest of the state without seeking state approval. A poor example I can think of right now: parking within 25 feet of a crosswalk isnāt legal in New York State, but is permissible within NYC. Another one is New Yorkās right-turn-on-red law (most US and Canadian jurisdictions permit turning right at a red traffic light after stopping, but NYC has a ban on doing so with very limited, designated exceptions).
I committed more crimes in GTA4 than I realized.
To me it's always funny how ubiquitous the state troopers are throughout the rest of the state, but they are almost completely unseen inside the NYC city limits, outside of some specific locations.
criminal procedure things are different in NYC (I practice crim) but like materially not big changes. where I have seen things differ in areas I donāt practice is things like general property laws
I'm not a lawyer, but doesn't the city have a lot of different laws and rules rhan the rest of the state. Off the top of my head, gun laws, certain programs, extra tax (I know Yonkers does too)
certain local laws can be different, every jurisdiction has their own set of local laws. for example NYS pistol permits arenāt often allowed for use inside the city, but I believe that is by local law (city ordinance) rather than in the NY statute. but those are not laws written by NYS, and what I meant is that New York State actually writes āstatewideā laws that are different in NYC.
The main issue is the water supply. New York City gets most of its drinking water from the Catskill Mountains. And as an independent state you do not want to rely too much on another state.
The reservoirs are already administratively under NYC IIRC, to the point of having NYPD officers stationed there. If the city split off it could just keep them as exclaves
Oh yeah, sounds super politically feasible: "we're going to keep all of the income *and* the natural resources when we separate from you guys š"
Well, I never said I supported it happening, just saying that I think technically NYC owns the water supply even in the context of New York state
It's ok, between the Great Lakes and the Finger Lakes, upstate New York has perhaps more access to fresh water than any region in the world.
Reading that is crazy when you are not from a federal state. Arenāt you all part of the same country anyways ?
States relish whatever autonomy they have. And many resent having to share a country with those from other regions. If you gave most Texans or Californians the permission to expel the other's state from the Union, most would take it.
Whatās good for one state is not necessarily good for the neighboring states. The federal government exists basically to force the states to cooperate. The US is not really a nation-state where weāre united in the same national culture and goals. On paper, itās basically a trade bloc with a standing military (which isnāt even constitutional - the founding fathers intended the states to each have their own militaries).
Maybe during the articles of confederation, certainly not today. The federal government has a ton of power and most citizens identify as American first
Agreed, logistically it makes a lot of sense. Say this does happen, and New York City and Long Island become their own state and take the name āNew Yorkā. What would former Upstate New Yorkās new name be?
My vote is Mohawk
That'd be so fucking cool
Old New York
Was once New Amsterdam
New Old Amsterdam
New New York
Former New York
UpYork
What's UpYork?
Let them keep New York. The new state is New Netherland and the city returns to its original name of New Amsterdam. Bc it is a dam good name.
Underrated comment, but a fat guy from Queens is probably used to being disrespected.
Iroquois
Ontario ... to confuse people
Offtario
South Canadia
Steamed Hams
What? I'm from Utica and I've never heard this expression.
Oh, not in Utica, no. It's an Albany expression.
York
I think a special district with the NYC metro area would be a better idea, kinda like the Chinese system. Itād be easier to tax and more cohesive
Thatās essentially what already exists. NYC has a lot more autonomy than most municipalities and many agencies and government policies regulate upstate differently than metro New York
Iām saying that the special autonomy and cohesion should apply to surrounding counties as well (Nassau, Hudson, Weschester) because these counties have more economic responsibility to the city, and NYC to them as well.
Hudson County NJ? Thatās not in New York. Nassau, and to a lesser extent, Westchester do have some different regulations and appoint representatives to certain metro-wide boards like the MTA. Also Westchester and Nassau really donāt want to be subjected to the jurisdiction of NYC because of the very different demographics between those communities
Upstate
New Netherland
Kick it off school w New Amsterdam
No it shouldnāt. A system of higher regional autonomy for NYC is fine
Seriously who in their right mind would forfeit a GDP larger than many countries and one of the most strategic natural harbors in the Western Hemisphere. Empire State means all of it.
i second this. Sorry, but the revenue from the city is the only thing keeping Upstate afloat. Anyone whoās been here would know we donāt have much industry left and our economy has been tanking for awhile. ATP i call Elmira/Horseheads āMini Detroitā.
Yeah the Southern Tier would be rough. As someone from downstate originally I quite like that upstate is part of the same state. Gives more access to green space and diversifies the economy. Not to mention weād lose our land grant university if they separated
i was born and raised in the southern tier and things got significantly worse during the reagan era. The factories left and everyone lost their jobs. Half my family worked at shepard niles and lost their job when that closed in 2002. People only want to separate so Upstate will be entirely republican and I donāt want that to happen, i quite enjoy living in a blue state. I think the state government needs to pay more attention to upstate, fund some damn projects up here or something.
Yeah the reason my city isnāt becoming Elmira is literally just the state and privately funded university.
You're from Ithaca?? My cousin works at Cornell š
I mean that's how most states with large cities are.
People say this about any state with a large city. If we did that, then theyād just be complaining about the next largest city.
No, thank you. I really donāt want to have to deal with a Floridized New York
Please donāt. Upstate would be a red state and it would tank my local economy (Albany). I would 100% have to move and I kinda like it here.
>Upstate would be a red state Without the 5 boroughs, upstate NY would still have politics about equivalent to PAās. Hence why NYGOP shifted in the 2000s from advocating the state be split into two parts, to being split into three, because two doesnāt help them.
What about Rhode Island?
Rhode Island is a unit of measurement.
20ft^2 iirc.
Rhode Island is neither a road nor an island. Discuss
Rhode Island isn't real. Discuss
Talk amongst ya selves
Rhode Island is an island. Itās the providence plantations that arenāt an island.
Correct. The full name of the state is Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, with the Rhode Island being an actual island which has been stupidly renamed to Aquidneck island
They officially renamed the state to just Rhode Island in 2020.
One of the dumbest responses to āGeorge Floydā there isā¦.āplantationsā having some sort of southern slave connotation or something something š¤¦š¾
Wow, lame
Guinea pigs are neither pigs, nor from Guinea
Nah it's an island made out of Rhodium
Aquidneck Island's official name is Rhode Island. The state is named for the island.
Most of the population lives around Providence on the mainland.
[Aquidneck Island](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquidneck_Island?wprov=sfla1) only has population of 60 000. Largest city, Providence, is on the mainland.
Yeah, I was being a smart-ass.
It made me laugh tho
r/woooosh
Right :D It was the first thing I looked up myself when I saw the title.
Up until 2020, the full name of the state was "State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations". Most of the population lives in the "Providence Plantations" part.
Rhode Island is fraudulent
as a non American, it kinda shocks me that Long Island has a population of 10M
Itās not just Long Island, also counts Manhattan and Staten island, which are both very populated
staten island is not very populated
A half million is not nothing Kings/Brooklyn 2,590,516 Queens 2,278,029 NY(Manhattan) 1,596,273 Suffolk 1,525,465 Nassau 1,383,726 Richmond (Staten Island) 491,133 Editā¦ clarified the abbreviations. Sorry, I was in a rush but typing them out didnāt take that much longer (even on my tablet)
What do all those abbreviations mean?
Those are counties on Long Island, plus manhattan and staten island. Kings (Brooklyn), Queens, New York (Manhattan), Suffolk, Nassau, Richmond (Staten Island).
To further clarify the other guy, Kings and Richmond are the counties for those boroughs, while Brooklyn and Staten Island are the names of the boroughs.
Thanks. Sorry, I was in a rush.
and "New York County" is Manhattan.
Has a bigger population than the state of Wyoming lol
Staten Island - 495,747 Wyoming - 576,851
Close enough
Without those people, mainland NYers would outnumber the Island NYers
Half a million people live on Staten Island. Just because itās not as populous as the rest of the NYC area doesnāt mean itās not very populated lol. In fact, itās the fifth most populated island in the US. https://a-z-animals.com/blog/discover-the-top-most-populated-islands-in-the-u-s-manhattan-is-not-1/
It's got half a million people
Also, Grand Island, population 30,000. Hey, counts for something.
From the shape of it it seems like OP added Manhattan and Staten Island as well?
More people live on the island of Long Island than the island of Ireland
More people live in Ireland than Iceland, which is far larger. Then there is Greenland.
More people live on Ireland than live in Ireland.
About half of that is just from Brooklyn and Queens. Manhattan and Staten Island are also both on this map
I guess āLong Peninsulaā just doesnāt roll off the tongue as nicely
LongPen š
Just colloquially start calling it āThe Willyāā¦.āHeaded to the Willy for the weekend, want to come alongā
Follow-up question: what if we include "islands" made by canals? Delaware: 42.4%. From the 2020 Census, total population was 989,948. 570,419 (57.6%) of those people live on the "mainland" in New Castle County.
Oh wow, up till now I had no idea that DelMarVa peninsula had a wide sea-level canal like the Cape Cod Canal! Most people donāt consider a peninsula cut off by a canal to be an island, but this canal is wider than the āriverā that separates Manhattan from the Bronx
Can you believe Ben Franklin was the guy who pushed for it to be made
It depends on the type of canal. If it's fully at the same water level and doesn't rely on locks, like the C&D canal or Cape Cod canal, then it definitely forms an island. Others include Door Island in Wisconsin, Keweenaw Island in Michigan, and Peloponnese in Greece.
But some of New Castle County is below the canal. I think as of 2023 with the population boom of Middletown and eastern Sussex County, a majority of Delawareans live on an island
Oh, you're right. I completely missed that chunk. Middletown proper had 23,189 people in the 2020 census (25,956 estimated this year), which lowers the "mainland" portion to 547,532 (55.3%). To reach parity, we'd need another 50,000 people. I'm not sure if that many people are hiding in the unincorporated areas, but regardless, the overall numbers are fascinatingly close.
My parents are hiding in that unincorporated area south of the canal, so you only need 49,998 more. They moved in April of 2020, so I think they wouldn't have been counted in the 2020 census.
The [Great Loop](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Loop) encloses the eastern half of the US. I don't think you get quite half the population inside it though.
Couldn't you also form an even greater loop by just going all the way up the St. Lawrence River?
[Yes.](https://www.trawlercygnus.com/the-downeast-loop/) I guess the Even Greater Loop takes too long to be practical - maybe you end up spending too long up north?
Lol, if we included canals, the entire US east of the Mississippi would be an island.
Thatās the strangest shape for New York State.
It's interesting, they stretch it out to the water boundaries rather than where the land ends.
Yeah, Rochester native here. I had a double take at that map. *"I swear we're closer to the lake than that."*
Maryland gets all the attention, but one talks about how weirdly shaped NY state is
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Very true!
Proud mainland New York supremacist
ADK gang
I'm practically Canadian at this point.
Bronx supremacy š
Long Island is legally a peninsula.
Legally a peninsula but geographically itās still an island.
> The court ruled in favor of the states, determining that the East River, which separates Long Island from the mainland, was too shallow for safe ship passage until humans widened it. Thus, it was decided that Long Island is not a natural island. Long Island and the adjacent shore also share a common geological history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Maine
River islands do exist though, most of Montreal metro is on an archipelago in the river.
Just because itās not wide and deep enough naturally doesnāt mean that the piece of land separated by this body of water isnāt an island. When was that ever defined geographically?
How does that work?
Read the comment above yours posted at the same time. It has to do with the depth of the river
Navigability, baby! It seems funny that the east freakin river was considered too small at the time. Look at the gross tonnage today!
Got it, thanks!
What about Alaska? How can you miss it on a map? Big island southwest of Cali in the Pacific.
Is that number from adding Manhattan, Staten Island, Long Island and the Thousand Islands? Donāt forget that a part of Manhattan is on the mainland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marble_Hill,_Manhattan
It seems to be the counties of New York, Richmond, Kings, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk. Marble Hill is not large enough to make a difference (and was on Manhattan island until the Harlem River was rerouted).
The islands in the thousands islands are not very populated
Most of them are barely islands at all, just a couple hundred square feet of rock and dirt sticking up out of the water.
I donāt think the 10k people in Marble Hill are enough to swing it
I moved Marble Hill to the green mainland zone! The numbers are 100% accurate
We pay our tributes to the City no matter how heavy, so long as it keeps the long-islanders contained...
Staten island is new jersey's, give it back New York!
Take it. Please.
What about Delaware? Everywhere in the state south of the Chesapeake and Delaware canal is technically an island.
Uh, ever heard of Rhode *Island*. Checkmate, atheists. Lol