So last month several people around here lost their minds over a news story. Amazon wanted to open a distribution center in Brno but the city council rejected the offer.
The problem came when the press printed that Brno is a village and is located near Prague.
First of all, Brno is the country's second largest city and is over 200 km (125 miles) from Prague.
![](//2.bp.blogspot.com/-A3Tcd2ws2Ic/U3J5BpVpNhI/AAAAAAAAVF4/UATkufYl8rc/s1600/EasyCapture1.jpg)
So many comments were posted online that a correction was posted indicating that Brno is not a village.
It took me by surprise when I moved here and heard the term "village" because only some U.S. states actually use village to designate an unincorporated area. Every time I hear 'village', I always picture the Middle Ages, knights in armor, and ye olde town blacksmith or something.
Every country has its own rules on what differentiates a village, a town, and a city. Some are based on population while some are based on legal definitions of autonomy. In the UK, a town becomes a city when it contains a cathedral while a charter from the Crown makes it a city.
The bottom line is that a sure fire way to piss off Czechs is to call their 2nd largest city a "village".
![](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rKxVo7p-GNI/U3J6gcXo4oI/AAAAAAAAVGE/fOTioiKEcD0/s1600/Map.jpg)
First of all, Brno is the country's second largest city and is over 200 km (125 miles) from Prague.
![](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A3Tcd2ws2Ic/U3J5BpVpNhI/AAAAAAAAVF4/UATkufYl8rc/s1600/EasyCapture1.jpg)
So many comments were posted online that a correction was posted indicating that Brno is not a village.
It took me by surprise when I moved here and heard the term "village" because only some U.S. states actually use village to designate an unincorporated area. Every time I hear 'village', I always picture the Middle Ages, knights in armor, and ye olde town blacksmith or something.
Every country has its own rules on what differentiates a village, a town, and a city. Some are based on population while some are based on legal definitions of autonomy. In the UK, a town becomes a city when it contains a cathedral while a charter from the Crown makes it a city.
The bottom line is that a sure fire way to piss off Czechs is to call their 2nd largest city a "village".
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