Timeline for Why are the capitals of central Asian countries right against the borders?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
27 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Mar 6, 2022 at 17:22 | vote | accept | Joshua Fox | ||
| Jan 14, 2022 at 21:00 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/StackHistory/status/1482095195671965697 | ||
| Jan 10, 2022 at 9:01 | answer | added | James | timeline score: 1 | |
| Jan 9, 2022 at 23:55 | answer | added | Moishe Kohan | timeline score: 16 | |
| Jan 9, 2022 at 18:23 | comment | added | Joshua Fox | @StephanMatthiesen It seems that those are not quite so close to the border (relative to country size) as these five. Still, I am wondering at what appears to be a coincidence. | |
| Jan 9, 2022 at 18:22 | comment | added | Joshua Fox | @StephanMatthiesen "claiming that there is a general rule that capitals are located centrally or on a coast". No, just saying that most -- but by no means all-- are somewhere a bit farther from the border, or else on a coast; and wondering at what appears to be a coincidence here. | |
| Jan 9, 2022 at 12:43 | comment | added | uUnwY | In Europe, Berlin (and formerly Bonn), Vienna, Bratislava, Sofia, Bucharest, Vilnius are all capitals that are neither on the coast nor central in their country. So it doesn't seem to me very unusual. | |
| Jan 9, 2022 at 12:33 | comment | added | uUnwY | Hmm, perhaps "assumption" isn't the best word, but it does seem to me that you are claiming that there is a general rule that capitals are located centrally or on a coast. All I'm saying is it would help if you state explicitly that you see this as the general or typical situation. I would think that, if you say "near trade routes" instead of "on a coast" (coasts are essentially trade routes) then there is no anomaly left. So it does depend very much on what you define as the "normal situation". | |
| Jan 9, 2022 at 10:34 | comment | added | Joshua Fox | @MoisheKohan ok. Let's say that "Capitals of the Central Asian 'republics' were also chosen by fiat of the Central Soviet authorities" (or any other process). Why did this process choose capitals, by apparent coincidence five, so near borders, where worldwide this seems rarer? | |
| Jan 9, 2022 at 10:02 | comment | added | Joshua Fox | @StephanMatthiesen Not assuming that anything is normal or any specific factors that position capitals. Rather, I note that this area seems to be a statistical anomaly: Elsewhere in the world, capitals are more frequently more central or on a coast (which of course we don't have here). Any one of these 5 might not be a surprise, but these are 5 countries next to each other. | |
| Jan 9, 2022 at 8:53 | comment | added | uUnwY | Your question seems to assume that there is some rule for a "normal" location for capitals and that these examples are an exception or don't follow that general rule. Perhaps it would help if you write explicitly what you assume as general rules for the location of capitals and what these rules are based on (eg. military, economic factors). | |
| Jan 9, 2022 at 8:39 | comment | added | Moishe Kohan | @JoshuaFox: Yes, this could have been an argument, if one values symmetry or administrative efficiency for the regional administrations. There is no evidence that the Soviet leadership in Moscow did. Capitals of the Central Asian "republics" were also chosen by fiat of the Central Soviet authorities thousands miles away. None of these capitals was of particular historic significance, except for, to limited degree, Tashkent (the capital of Russian Turkistan in the Tzarist times). I will add another answer later discussing these issues. | |
| Jan 9, 2022 at 7:32 | comment | added | Joshua Fox | @MoisheKohan thank you. If the borders were arbitrary, that could be an argument for drawing them symmetrically around capital cities, and not stretching away in own direction from the capital. And except, maybe, for Kazakhstan, none has a deep-frozen distant north as Canada does. | |
| Jan 8, 2022 at 18:34 | comment | added | Moishe Kohan | Keep in mind that during the days of USSR all the borders between the republics were not particularly important (except for the administrative purposes). Nobody thought in terms of a possible cross-border war between the republics. | |
| Jan 8, 2022 at 17:14 | answer | added | Pere | timeline score: 13 | |
| Jan 8, 2022 at 17:03 | comment | added | Joshua Fox | @justCal OK, I can accept the idea that each has its own explanation. But is it a pure coincidence that 5 neighboring countries have capitals so overwhelmingly close to the borders than to their far-away centers? (Worldwide, this seems rarer, unless there is a coastline as a reason.) | |
| Jan 8, 2022 at 17:02 | history | edited | Joshua Fox | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Jan 8, 2022 at 16:42 | comment | added | justCal | As you said, 'each one has its own history'. Cities exist though time, while political boundaries and nations change often. Where boundaries are now may have no connection to where they were when the cities were established. | |
| Jan 8, 2022 at 16:41 | comment | added | Joshua Fox | @MCW I have added maps. It makes sense that the capitals are close to transportation and trade, but how would that make the border close to the capital? The borders between the US and Canada, between France and Spain, etc, are not close to the capitals and the borders are also not on transportation lines. | |
| Jan 8, 2022 at 16:40 | history | edited | Joshua Fox | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Jan 8, 2022 at 16:34 | history | edited | Joshua Fox | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Jan 8, 2022 at 16:27 | history | edited | justCal | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Jan 8, 2022 at 16:17 | comment | added | MCW♦ | What preliminary research have you done? If this assertion is true, the hypothesis I would explore is that by locating close to the capital they have more access to transportation and trade. Looks to me like they are all adjacent to rivers. | |
| Jan 8, 2022 at 15:50 | history | edited | Joshua Fox | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Jan 8, 2022 at 15:50 | history | undeleted | Joshua Fox | ||
| Jan 7, 2022 at 8:15 | history | deleted | Joshua Fox | via Vote | |
| Jan 7, 2022 at 8:14 | history | asked | Joshua Fox | CC BY-SA 4.0 |