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ForceOfAHorse t1_j6hmud3 wrote

Reply to comment by samfreez in TIL China is bigger than the U.S. in terms of land area. The U.S. is also bigger than Canada in terms of land area. by Mewhenthe4

Why you say so? I'd say it's a better measurement considering talking about population density. You generally can't build homes, factories, farms or cities on water.

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pzerr t1_j6iahp1 wrote

Land with lakes are far more valuable and useful than land alone and can sustain far far more people.

You want bodies of water to make land useful. Particular in that there is no lack of land in North America.

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samfreez t1_j6i0z5e wrote

Can't build any of that on mountain ranges or in inaccessible valleys, deserts, etc either..

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Jahobes t1_j6p32v4 wrote

I mean I would venture there are more mountain cities and towns inside and alongside than there are towns and cities built on or in water.

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samfreez t1_j6p3s6x wrote

It would be interesting to see the real numbers there, because a lot of big cities have "reclaimed" massive tracts of land from the oceans they butt up against, in addition to things like docks and piers and things deliberately built over top of otherwise open water.

Then there are house boats and whatnot, and even entire towns in some countries (SE Asia has more than a couple floating towns IIRC, though I don't remember where exactly)

Edit: I also don't count a city/town built at the base of a mountain, because that's just normal land. I'm talking more about the inaccessible peaks themselves. Some countries like China do that a lot more often than you see in, for example, the US, but I suspect most of that would be a wash overall.

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