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Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
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We live on an incredible planet with beauty throughout.
The United States is blessed with great scenery. Are we any more scenic than Mexico, Russia, or South Africa? I don't think so. We do have a more responsive and less corrupt government than those places that let us have a higher quality of living that let's us often drive our nice cars to those scenic areas and enjoy them.
Location: Concrete jungle where dreams are made of.
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No...prettiest country I've been to is Greece. The thing with the US is that we have such a variation of landscapes, which does make it pretty; but I think many places in the world are just as pretty, or prettier.
Well, in terms of overall geographic diversity, China would win. That country has regions (like the vast sand dunes of the Taklamakan desert, or the tropical limestone karst gorges along the southern rivers, or tropical mountain ranges along the Burmese border) that do not have direct US analogues (only limited ones). China also has far taller mountains (not just the Tibetan Himalayas, but also ranges like the Tian Shan), along with bioregions that don't exist in the US, either (such as large, high-altitude plains at 17,000+ feet).
The difference, though, is that a lot of this stuff is difficult to reach. If you want to go tour a high-altitude semitropical river canyon somewhere near the border of southern Tibet and northern Burma, it's going to be a hell of a journey, and you might have to spend a couple weeks each way on mules or on foot.
The US has much more accessible scenery in that regard. Even very remote landforms like the Kobuk sand dunes up in Alaska can be reached relatively easily by charter flight.
Also, China actually does have quite a bit of tundra, but it is located up in remote areas near the Russian or Mongolian borders, or in those high-altitude plains.
You have to remember that China's borders stretch from the tropics of Laos to the mountainous, glaciated border with Afghanistan, and beyond. People tend to forget how large China actually is.
Highest mountains - not in the U.S.
Vastest deserts - not in the U.S.
Greatest glaciers - not in the U.S.
Greatest rainforests - not in the U.S.
Most diverse and concentrated wildlife - not in the U.S.
Most spectacular beaches - not in the U.S.
Best corral reefs - not in the U.S.
So...
Last edited by BigCityDreamer; 05-23-2010 at 08:46 AM..
If you are a US citizen than you are just as American as any other.
I think what people mean is traditionally you aren't that American, depending on what their reason were. I said it because when America was first starting out people from around the world were flocking here for a better life and it's natural beauty was also a factor. That's why we have paitriotic songs about our country's beauty. Recongnizing our lands beauty was always part of being american throughout our history.. It just saddens me to read so much negativity on here and lack of pride of being an American. It offends me more than the eff bomb. If people don't like it here so much why don't they leave instead of trying to change the coustoms this country was created on.
I'm American, born and raised and lived there until I was 48. I had ancestors in the revolutionary war. But if I say anything negative about America I'm un-American and unpatriotic. Especially since I'm looked at as a traitor since I don't live there anymore.
I find Scotland a much more beautiful country than the US. Not as diverse. However, you are never more than a 15 minute drive from gorgeous scenery, even if living in a slum.
Highest mountains - not in the U.S.
Vastest deserts - not in the U.S.
Greatest glaciers - not in the U.S.
Greatest rainforests - not in the U.S.
Most diverse and concentrated wildlife - not in the U.S.
Most spectacular beaches - not in the U.S.
Best corral reefs - not in the U.S.
So...
who says the highest, and vastest, meant the most beautiful?
who says the highest, and vastest, meant the most beautiful?
Magnitude is a major component of beauty. A few great things can outweigh a larger number of lesser things. Anyway, beauty depends on how the observer measures it.
Location: Concrete jungle where dreams are made of.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lmkcin
I personally think Greece and Italy are the most beautiful countries as a whole in the world. Europe in itself is far more diverse than the US-why do you think there are thousands of cultures there-geographic diversity?
Haven't been to Italy, but I agree about Greece. Seriously, nothing in the US can compare to the scenery I experienced in Santorini:
I call this place heaven on earth, right from the very hotel I stayed at.
Bermuda is another place that's prettier than anywhere I've been in the US.
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