explaining europe to americans 

As always happens in such videos, only Europeans will watch it to listen to what she said about their country

Nobody likes to be called Eastern Europe except Turkey because that means we're in Europe 😌

I felt so called out when she said "I do not even expect people from France to know the capital of Latvia", because I am from France and can confirm I don't know it. Searched it, it's Riga

Great video, just a small correction: United States is approximately 9,833,517 sq km, while Europe is approximately 10,180,000 sq km, making Europe 4% larger than United States.

I got into a Facebook argument with an American about Europe. He thought you could drive one side of Europe to the other in 2 hours.

Just a little correction; currency you’ve shown with tag of Poland is actually Czech. But hey, we’re still bros, so close enough 😊

" Maybe we are not even better than you but we certainly think we are." Thank you for that

Malaysian here. You inspired me!!! I hope I can make a sophisticated video about Southeast Asia and maybe Asia in the future like yours !! :D

I like how Americans saying Europe has bad Mexican food really stuck a nerve for her😂

There should also be one about Africa. The lack of knowledge in western society about African countries is crazy and I myself am included on knowing nothing.

I love that about RU-vid that a random person can make a video essay about anything in their attic or wherever and follow their passion and it gets shown to other random people via a complex algorithm that nobody really seems to fully understand. I really loved that video and the energy that was given of. Very fun to watch. Also I, as a German also want free public bathrooms, not Sanifair.

Even just in Germany every state has its differences. My family originates from two different states and we moved down. Basically my life has the worst combination of the most joked about dialects there is. My moms side is from Berlin and REALLY sounds like it, my dads side is from saxony and we moved down to bavaria. I consider myself resistent to any dialect barriers lmao I grew up with SO many different words to refer to Semmeln.

Thanks for giving Poland Kaliningrad 😂

No matter if you count the UK a "separate thing" it is still western Europe. The fact that UK isn't part of European Union anymore doesn't mean it's not Europe or western Europe.

Word of warning, Erika. Your introduction to Southern Europe saying these countries that are not doing well economically (compared to the rest of Western Europe) made me scoff a lot. Spain and Italy may not be economical powerhouses like Germany but Spain has a decent textile industry, lots of agricultural exports as well as Italy and that latter has managed to safeguard more factories than its french neighbour (just saying this as a french btw). And both Spain and Italy are major touristic destinations with the hospitality industry to support it.

Thanks Erica for such a useful video. I myself am from Russia, but I live in the most Asian part of Russia (right next to China and Korea). It was very interesting to hear about Europe, because for me it is also very far away (about 7 thousand kilometers)

I see a small mistake: Královec is annexed to Poland when in reality is a part of Czechia since 2022 referendum

You might wonder why Turkey is considered European on some maps but not others. This is because Turkey has some unique quantum properties. When you're looking through a raki glass, you will see it on the map. But when you're looking through a glass ayran bottle, you will not see it--it will reappear if you look at a map of the Middle East.

I love how raw it is ! Continue creating amazing content !

I'm from asia and this video is very helpful, i love the way you present it 👍👍

9:32 You put Czech Crowns (Koruny české) over Poland instead of Polish Zloty lol.

It is so fun watching her perspective on Europe with her northern Europe bias 😂😂

If you are confused, this is not because of her explanations, but because of Europe. 😄

Thanks Erica. I enjoyed your take on Europe. There is a lot a I agree with.

All Scandinavian countries and, in addition, Spain and Portugal would normally also be considered to be Western European countries from a cultural and political perspective.

This is hilarious, yet so accurate. Europe is chaos, a chaos we love. We're all different, yet so similar. Thanks for the video. Great job.

Your Pullover matches the topic! 🤘 Great Video! Thanks

we're so lucky to have so much cultural diversity. Like, Estonia is SMALL (smaller than most states in the USA) but the south, north, west and east cultures are soooo different from eachother. We have so many dialects and i cannot understand some.

8:50 small correction, Croatia has adopted Euro in 2023. The slide is a little bit outdated.

I find it interesting how "western Europe" doesn't include Portugal and Spain which are more western than any other Western European country 🤣

holy shit "Open a map before opening your mouth" should be a sign on every street corner in the USA

What an excellent video! Plenty of great info, well done. Good sense of humor 🤣. Subscribed👍

I don't think most Eastern Europeans would like to be called Slavic. Especially not Hungary, Romania, Albania and the Baltics.

Hello Erika, one note on the currencies: What you display as Polish money is actually Czech crowns, in Poland they have zloty :) I enjoyed the video a lot, even though I'm not the target demographics. You have a nice way of explaining things and you also sound and look good.

As a Polish guy i'd like to mention that the pics of our currency is outdated ;) Currently Polish Zloty (PLN) in paper form starts with 10 and ends with 200 i believe. If we're talking coins it's 1,2,5 pln. Besides that, great video!

I saw so many videos recting to this one and I finally found the original! Is amazing as always ✨🇮🇹🇪🇺

Portuguese here! The "beef" between Portugal anda Spain is History. Nowadays we just deslike to be catalogued like spaniards because we have an ancient culture and identity, about 900 years as state nation and an impressive past, so just call us for what whe are, Portuguese of course!

Here Spanish guy, we love our Portuguese neightbours! often we called them brothers/cousins along with italians. of course there's always dumb ppl but in general no beef down there) Paldies Erika un priecīgus Ziemassvētkus!

A great video! As a Polish person, I really enjoyed watching it, despite the small mistakes, and I agree with most things said here. Poland is totally a part of Central Europe 😂

Just saw your video on a rection site, so I am just here to leave a like and comment. Have a nice day. Greetings from Germany

It would be really helpful to show a topographic map of Europe - the mountain ranges and seas imply a lot of the national boundaries

"We dont have good mexican food, because mexico is in america." i love that hahaha

Solid presentation, braliukė.

Wonderful video, excellent production and even better research. Keep going you woman, really good presentation. From San Francisco, CA

As a Dutchie: Love to all my brothers and sisters from Europe!

There are a lot of mistakes in the video but it is a pretty good tutorial video for Americans

Erika - I really appreciate the combination of facts and your dry humour - both informative *and* entertaining!

You should definitely teach kids at school 🔥 Your explanation is so much more interesting than any teacher I've ever had!

The reason people here don't like the name "Eastern Europe" is because we understand based on the questions we get from Western Europeans, that they basically see us as all the same and basically Russia, while Poland or Czechia in many cases have more similarities with Germany or Austria, nevermind the geography of Czechia which people call Eastern, while calling Austria Western. BTW 9:45 that's not Polish money, just a small nitpick

"And Russia with..... everybody in the world" that's the funniest truth i've ever heard in a geography video ... That joke was so spot on...

Paldies par šo izskaidrojumu, ļoti labs un informatīvs video. Tā tik turpināt! Ar mīlestību no Latvijas ❤❤🇱🇻🇱🇻 Thank you for the explanation, a very great and informative video. With love from Latvia!

Great video, but as Spaniard I must say that our economy has improved a lot in the last decades and it is an honor to be the south of Europe in terms of culture (or mediterranean Europe) but we are Western Europe in terms of social and economic indicators. We are not only a country to visit in summer but a very cultural diverse and leading in the renewable energy. Our economy has little in common with that of Greece, the Balkan countries or even Italy.

The thing about Central Europeans not enjoying being called Eastern European is not just because they don't want to be associated with countries like Russia, Belarus and Ukraine like you've briefly mentioned. It is in fact, for multitude of reasons. If anybody is interested, here's my take (being from one of those countries): Reasons for them to be called Eastern European: 1. they were on the Eastern side of the Iron Curtain back when Europe was divided into 2 parts only. And that only lasted for a certain period of time. Reasons against them being called Eastern European: 1. they are part of the Western culture (unlike countries east of them) 2. they have democratic political systems (unlike countries east of them) 3. they are part of the European Union and NATO (unlike countries east of them) 4. their lands were called Central European before the Iron Curtain was established - like The Austro-Hungarian Empire was always thought to be in Central Europe. These countries are just descendants of that Empire + Poland. (unlike the land areas east of them) 5. geographically, they are in the center of Europe. (countries east of them are on the eastern edge of Europe) 6. culturally, they are not western european, nor eastern european. (they are their own cultural group that shares similarities in cultural traits with both the westerners and easterners) 7. in terms of religion, they are mostly Roman Catholic and Protestants just like western Europeans, but on the other hand, they tend to be less secular and more conservative just like the eastern Europeans. (maybe because they are their own group of countries?) 8. freedom of speech, more liberal and relaxed and progressive than the easterners but at the same time a bit more slow and careful & conservative than the westerners 9. more relaxed, laid back and less punctual and more hospitable than the north europeans but at the same time more reserved & careful around complete strangers and calmer than the south Europeans. 10. they are just in the center, Karen. Just look at the map darling. Also, the Balkan people are just Southern Europeans. But just because these lands were for a certain period of time on the Eastern side of the Iron Curtain, people have problems calling them Southern Europeans, the Greeks, the Italians, the Spaniards, the Turks, they'd have a problem if these countries would be grouped with them just because of the Eastern side of teh Iron Curtain rep. But the history is much richer than that. They were part of the Roman Empire, the Byzantine, the Ottoman etc. It's not just the period of communism that defines their entirety. it's a set of different historical imputs that shape their culture and identity. You can't isolate one specific event or period and fix that upon them as the only trait. This is still a pretty good video for non-Europeans

As a swede I did not expect to be called out so many times in this video. Also, I don't know either what's happening over here. Please help.

Very cute video! Enjoyed watching it!!!😂

I would love this type of video on Asia.

Its always funny to see Austria labeled as western and Czechia as eastern Europe, when the name "Austria" literally means "eastern realm", with Prague being some 300km further west than Vienna, both nations being genetically related to each other more than to anyone else and both countries being basically right in the middle.

Finland is honorary Scandinavian. Sure, their language is completely different, but they have the same struggles and ideologies as us.

GREAT VIDEO! As always

You are amazing! The way you presented it was very educational, but made me laugh a lot! (I'm from Europe)

"Scandinavia" is a relic left over from the Kalmar Union between Sweden, Denmark and Norway. It has four criteria: 1) Mainland nation (which disqualifies countries like Iceland and the Faroe Islands). 2) History and traditions. 3) Mythology (which disqualifies Finland). 4) Language (which disqualifies Finland). Denmark, Sweden and Norway are the only nations in Scandinavia. Finland is considered an honorary member of Scandinavia in terms of military and economic partnership but isn't actually an official "member". Also, Europe and the EU are not synonymous. Europe is a continent and the EU is a membership club. Europe has 44 nations but the EU only has 27 members.

As an Estonian, I felt nostalgic seeing Latvian lats :D I remember going on bus trips to Riga and exchanging Estonian kroons (crowns) to lats and thinking what's up with the fish :D

i always enjoy your videos erika, please upload more next year ❤

I love your videos so much and as well as informative,interesting and I hope you will make new videos in near future...♥

I am French. Regarding tips, we don't usually leave money after paying; the tip is included in the price of the dish. Some restaurants may add a service charge, such as 10% or similar, to the bill.

3:05 A small correction here, Hungary is not considered to be part of the Balkans but instead Central Europe. But, it's shown correctly on the graphic seen at 3:45 - with Germany & Austria also being part of the Central group - even with their association with Western Europe.

just for little correction, bulgaria, macedonia, albania, serbia, kosovo, montenegro, bosnia and herzegovina, croatia and slovenia (and formely romania) are considered the balkans and not only russia, ukraine and belarus are slavic, all of the ones counted for "eastern europe" are slavic excluding greece, turkey, lithuania, latvia and estonia

Again, you've done a great job!

Hi from Poland. I don't quite understand the oversensitiveness of my countrymen when being called "Eastern European" (you'll be corrected every single time regardless of context), but it all stems from not wanting to be associated with Russia or the part you called "Russia soon to be" 😄. This tradition is at least a few decades old, but only recently did people start interpreting it as "oh, OK", instead of "strange obsession with a Russophobic overtone". 😊

Representing 🇮🇹 here, this was a great video! Bravissima!

Perfect video, very entertaining and educating. Greetings from Pilsen, CZ

10:46 "In some ways, we're not that different from you. And maybe we're not even better than you. But we certainly think we are." I CACKLED 😂😂😂😂

"so maybe open a map before opening your mouth" is a pretty good quote btw

Cool video. From a Portuguese living in Estonia, I feel like it's a decent summary. Some minor mistakes, but that doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

I am an American, I was born in Argentina. Canadians are also Americans... Other than that haha awesome video I laughed a lot

I loved this video, I would have loved a video like that about every continent, made by people from those continents

I might have fallen a little bit in love with you. Simplistic format, but very informative, nice visualization. But most of all, fantastic humor! Definitely earned a sub right here.

Those subtle burns were divine :D Very well articulated and presented - well done!

There are actually buildings on the US/Canadian border where the international boundary divides the structure somehow, and there are markers to denote which country you're standing in or sitting in or whatever within that building. Most of these situations are in the eastern most part of the border area.

There's probably correlation between central European geography and the consumption of beer. Maybe something about the profitability of growing stuff like rye coupled with less favourable conditions for, I don't know, grapes. Anyways fun video, I subscribed.

I first was sceptical about you vid here, BUT i began to love your dry humor about the whole world....dry but true. I am totally with you! love it! Greetings from Germany!

I find your almost total neglection of southern European countries interesting, Italy and Greece account for much of the foundations of the concept of Europe and Spain and to a lower extent Portugal for the creation of most countries in America, but yeah, southern Europe is that place where it’s hot and they’re not that rich. You have more in common with Americans than you think, at least regarding a great deal of Europe lack of knowledge and misconceptions

hello erika, very good video! love the humour!

Geographically the Baltic countries are already considered in the northern Europe. Especially Estonia and Latvia, I think the line would go somewhere from Lithuania. I am an Estonian and I always say I'm from the northern Europe lol! It is true that when you use the word 'Eastern European' people expect you to have Slavic background, actually even if I don't say it, people often think so..I live in South Korea and that's the kind of reaction I've got when I say I'm from Estonia! (tho there are people who know the Baltics very well!!) but the truth is Estonian (similar to Finnish) and Russian languages and cultures are very different. Estonian culture and traditions do share many similarities with the Nordics so I'd say that culturally I feel more close to the northern countries

3 comments from a Polish person: 1) Thanks for giving us Koenigsberg (Russian exclave), very nice of you (; 2) Please don't divide Europe into East and West. That division makes absolutely no sense 3) You can divide Europe into North West East South and Central, that is still limited, but not as horrible as having something literally black or white East/West division is LITERALLY what Americans do. The cold war is over and we want to get rid of it's legacy. Please help in doing so! -> that's the goal of the EU anyway.

The school I was learning in was in Peoples Republic of Poland and I was told there about 40 years ago Poland lies in central Europe. There is also a German word Mitteleuropa which means central Europe. It is a geographic, political and historical term, so... It just suprises me a bit that nowadays people in internet try to change my mind on where I live, suggesting me I make some funny and silly claims on that matter 😅

Found you, love you, thank you. Subscribed.

I’m new 2 your channel- is wonderful- greetings from Chicago Illinois ✌🏼🌼

Not all of Europe is in the EU - that's true (and will be be for a very long time) but also not all of the EU is located in Europe: Portugal, Spain, France, the Netherlands and even Italy has overseas territories (mostly islands that are leftovers from their former colonial empires) that are legally a part of the EU but located outside of Europe

Das hast du schön gemacht 😊

Make a video explaining the Baltic countires and a deep dive into its culture.

Funny and amazing explanation!!!

As a German living on Austria, this was very entertaining to watch. Love your dry humour. 😄

Finally, the approach that makes this topic funny and entertaining. Pozdrav iz Slovenjije - central south Europe :)

you´re so funny thanks alot for that video!

Wow!! Great video ✌🏼✌🏼🌼

well done lady. this should be shown to every american ( the whole continent), not just tourists but even in schools.

Italy isnt economicly bad. We are number 10 of the biggest economies of the world💀

In Poland on sundays there are some shops opened, but it depends, i think that it must be ran by the owner of the shop or family or someone employed only once, on that Sunday. But I'm not sure of it. For example you can buy in some polish shops "Żabka" on Sunday. There are many things in the shop, e.g food, beverages, cigarettes, bread, receive shipments. Some service industry offers services for higher prices on Sunday and Saturday.

In the beginning when you explain northern europe, I think the "criminality problem" is blown way out of proportion. The negatives of a country is usually blown out of proportion when it happens to catch the public eye more.