What region of Your Country Do You Have No Idea About?
Take me, for example. Every time in my life I forget about the existence of Penza. Tell me, does it really exist? Hell, we have 1.5 million people living there, but no one has any idea what kind of region it is what is it known for (besides the fact that no one knows anything about him), and what is going on there.
Now I look at the map of the USA and I see...Delaware. No, it's not that I forget about it, it's the first state in the United States, and in general, when you list states, it never falls out of memory... But, damn, I can't imagine that this is a real place, not a name, and people live there. I just can't imagine what could be going on there!
Therefore, I suggest you share with those regions of your country where you are wondering "damn, is it there for sure?" What is terra incognita even when being a part of your homeland?
Do Australians know about Ashmore and Cartier Islands? We can ask them, of course
(This proves that Australian education systems are horrible)
Here in Russia, for example, I can't say I never heard of any part of my country, and oc general information like capitals is known for most of the people.
But still, some regions are mentioned more, some less, and some never. For example, Sverdlovsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk are populous and because of that you always interact with people from them or hear about them in news. Kaliningrad, Dagestan or Yakutia are culturally rich regions with a vivid image.
But some of the regions are so small or so unremarkable (or bith) that you could not hear of them for a very long time. I mean, Jewish Autonomous Oblast? Really, this one exists?
Again, it's not out fault that New South Wales swallowed most of it on the map. ..
It was so boring and forgettable :D
Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Delaware, Maryland, Wisconsin, the Upper Peninsula, Vermont/NH, Kentucky, Tennessee, Western NC, West Texas, Arkansas, North Florida, North Nevada, the Outlying Islands, generally rural and backtrodden areas, and Northeastern Oregon?
I know they're near Guam and also they exist. That's it really.
Also I think they speak Chamorro there? Not sure.
-
For the Philippines, the northern coast of Mindanao along with the Siargao and Dinagat Islands remains unknown to me.
But there are some small microregions that general population might not be aware of:
Cvelferija - I personally didn't know that's a subregion of Syrmia with a distinct name before it popped up on Wikipedia. It was covered in national media only in 2014 when there was serious flood.
Prekodravlje - Probably better known among general population due to it's location north of Drava river, but I don't recall it ever being featured in national media. Although I do recall one story from regional portal about hardworking mentally challenged young man that was portrayed as heartfelt, but you could assume that locals were abusing him to do their labour.
You won't be suprised if I say I never heard of these! I think, regions in countries like Croatia could be really diverse thanks to being historically and geographically heterogenous. I mean, you have Dalmatia with Venetian background, then mountainous Balkans and lowland Slavonia, and every of them has their unique history, so of course, life there should be really different. Of course, due to the size, it's easier to fit it into a single picture, but still!
What surprises me even more is that you have names even for such small areas. Like, I see, these regions are literally a couple of villages, but still has kind of historically identity.
- Jewish AO
- Mountainous Shoria (a region in Siberia rich by coal)
- Nenets AO
- Kostroma
- East Bank of Saratov (they have that... Balashov??)
- Panhandle of Kalmykia
- PENZA
- Komi-Permyak raion (don't confuse with Komi)
- Tomsk
- Yakutia
- Kuriles
- Kurgan oblast
- Tyva
- Arctic Islands
- the 60% land of our area which is literally inhabitated.
But I think specific of our country is that due to our dispersed population concentrated in large cities over long distances. Most likely, there will be either villages or wildlife before the next big city, so it is enough to travel outside the city to get to an unknown land. So, for us, enough to say 'outside my hometown'.
However, there are some of the smaller Scottish islands that I haven't been to, Rhum, Eigg, Coll, and Tiree come to mind, these islands are separated from the mainland in more than distance, culturally they have their own history and diversity alongside the normal British way of life. There are several other small areas of the UK, I know little about, mainly islands, the Scilly Isles off the coast of Cornwall is one. I often wonder how life is on these outlying bits of rock.
I hope to visit some of the smaller Scottish isles later this year.