Categorizing Countries

I try to organize my stamps in albums by regions defined by common culture and history. This leads to numerous quandaries. In this thread I am looking not just for answers to these questions but for similar enigmas.

Is Finland better grouped with the Baltic states, or with Scandinavia?
Is Bermuda better grouped with Caribbean islands, or with other Atlantic islands such as Iceland and Tristan de Cunha?
Does Papua New Guinea belong with Indonesia/Asia or Australia/Oceania?

I'd put Finland with Scandinavia.

I agree and I'd also place Iceland with Scandinavia. In spite of being in the middle of the Atlantic, it's Scandinavic in all senses.
As for Bermuda, I'd place on the Caribbean group.

"Does Papua New Guinea belong with Indonesia/Asia or Australia/Oceania?"

definitely with Australia/Oceania group more in common

Bermuda is Caribbean

Finland with Scandinavia if you told a Finnish person they were from the Baltic States you are asking for trouble

No kidding ;)

It's basically more about the history, than geography & languages spoken. Finland has a long history under Swedish crown (+ one century under Russian opression), whereas Baltic states have a history more closely related Russian, Polish & German empires (though they too were part of Swedish crown every now and then).

Also, Papua & New Guinea used Australian stamps (not sure which years), and some of the cancellations are quite valuable.

I fully agree with our Finnish friend view. I've been in all Continental Scandinavian countries capitals (Oslo, Stockholm, Kobenhavn and Helsinki) and also in Tallinn (Estonia). The four first, although different in many ways, have a lot in common, very different from the Post-Soviet Tallinn.
It's true, anyway, that both Estonian and Finnish speak Fino-ugric languages, while Danish, Swedish and Norwegian are of Germanic stock. So, for someone speaking English and/or German is easier to go around.

When in 2011 I was in the later and went for a day trip to Helsinki (2 h by ferry), after ten days in Estonia, it was like "coming home" (Barcelona, Catalonia); so western-like is Helsinki compared to Tallinn! And both cities are quite at the same longitude!
I remember, when in Estonia, a polemics going along to definite if Estonia was a Baltic or a Scandinavian country...

Something I must say: girls in all the above said countries are very beautiful!

Thank you. A few more:
Does Nauru belong with Australia or with Micronesia?
Does Guinea-Bissau belong with other West African states or with other former Portuguese colonies?
Should Afghanistan go with Pakistan and South Asia, or with Iran and the Middle East, or with the ex-Soviet stans?

Nauru with Australia

Guinea-Bissau with West African States

Afghanistan not sure but definitely not with the ex-Soviet Stans

Well, in Finland.. Both Swedish and Finnish is spoken and taught at school. If I remember correctly, Swedish is mandatory as well. Correct me if I'm wrong. :)

Do Hawaiian stamps belong with the USA or with Polynesia?

The fact that Hawaii was admitted as the 50th state on August 21,1959 could be a clue

Also, the stamps appear to have been printed by American printers in a style similar to those of the US.

However, Hawaii was a Polynesian kingdom at the time they issued their stamps. Part of the story that the stamps could tell, when juxtaposed with those of French Polynesia, German Samoa, and various British posessions is of how a somewhat unified culture area got chopped up by different colonial powers, each of which left their mark.

Sorry, I didn't grasp your intent at first.

I agree that the Kingdom of Hawaii, at the northern edge of the Polynesian culture, could be grouped there.

See my blog for a sympathetic review:

http://bigblue1840-1940.blogspot.co...sHawaii.html

True... Though there are some trials (on eastern Finland) where students can replace Swedish with Russia. It's just an issue of being practical. Never saw a Swedish person during all those years I lived next to Russian border; but lots of Russians.

Additionally learning English is mandatory from the 3rd grade onwards... So most Finns are more or less trilingual (and some like me have studied one or two additional languages on top of it).