NationStates Jolt Archive

What are your thoughts on this? It seems (to no suprise) that Americans are generally quite ignorant when it comes to Geography.

The article:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12591413/

Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 fared even worse with foreign locations: six in 10 couldn’t find Iraq, according to a Roper poll conducted for National Geographic.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Among the findings:

One-third of respondents couldn’t pinpoint Louisiana on a map and 48 percent were unable to locate Mississippi.
Fewer than three in 10 think it important to know the locations of countries in the news and just 14 percent believe speaking another language is a necessary skill.
Two-thirds didn’t know that the earthquake that killed 70,000 people in October 2005 occurred in Pakistan.
Six in 10 could not find Iraq on a map of the Middle East.
While the outsourcing of jobs to India has been a major U.S. business story, 47 percent could not find the Indian subcontinent on a map of Asia.
While Israeli-Palestinian strife has been in the news for the entire lives of the respondents, 75 percent were unable to locate Israel on a map of the Middle East.
Nearly three-quarters incorrectly named English as the most widely spoken native language.
Six in 10 did not know the border between North and South Korea is the most heavily fortified in the world. Thirty percent thought the most heavily fortified border was between the United States and Mexico.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your thoughts??? How do other countries compare to these statistics?

hate to break it to you lad, but this thread has already been done. :\

The idiocy is astounding.

No real surprises there.

hate to break it to you lad, but this thread has already been done. :\

Sorry I havent seen it. I based my post on a new article.

Thirty percent thought the most heavily fortified border was between the United States and Mexico.Ah, that's just wishfull thinking on their part. Giev it a decade and it may be ;)

Did it say what percentage didn't know what "heavily fortified" means?

This sort of thing usually comes round every so often. Geography in my opinon is one of the most under taught skills (except maybe languages but still connected). Still I think that if we were all honest I don't think that the UK is much better. Less of a US thing, more of a western thing in my opinion

It was established conclusively in 1976 by Dr. John Baldeagle of the American Institute for Foreign Policy that the United States is the only actual nation on the planet Earth, except for brief periods when other nations materialize for the purposes of invasion, immigration, anti-immigration, justification for defense spending, and buying electronics.

I'm not shocked.

I'm just out of that age group, and while I think I could do all those tasks, I'm not sure a lot of my friends/peers could.

*sigh*

It's pathetic, really.

as an european i can confirm we actually dont know a lot about the geography of the us of a, but my knowledge gap has been filled with this site: http://www.lizardpoint.com/fun/geoquiz/usaquiz.html
in combination with wikipedia, it is great learning tool
and now (without wiki) i have been training and only get the maximum score

great toy!

To me, this is almost sacrilege; give me a map and I can name every European, Asian and Middle Eastern country with little or no errors...

The idiocy is astounding.
It's willful ignorance, not idiocy. Most are perfectly capable, they just don't care enough.

To me, this is almost sacrilege; give me a map and I can name every European, Asian and Middle Eastern country with little or no errors...
Not so confident about the Americas then?

Not so confident about the Americas then?

No, nor Africa. North America is easy, but South and the Carribean... not so much.

To me, this is almost sacrilege; give me a map and I can name every European, Asian and Middle Eastern country with little or no errors...


Ditto. I can also name most national capitals.

To me, this is almost sacrilege; give me a map and I can name every European, Asian and Middle Eastern country with little or no errors...

Countries are indeed easy. I do admit however that if I were asked to name the individual states in the USA for instance I would fail miserably.

This sort of thing usually comes round every so often. Geography in my opinon is one of the most under taught skills (except maybe languages but still connected). Still I think that if we were all honest I don't think that the UK is much better. Less of a US thing, more of a western thing in my opinion

I disagree. I think that of the western nations, the USA is the most inward looking, so that's why their knowledge of the outside world is generally poor.

as an european i can confirm we actually dont know a lot about the geography of the us of a, but my knowledge gap has been filled with this site: http://www.lizardpoint.com/fun/geoquiz/usaquiz.html
in combination with wikipedia, it is great learning tool
and now (without wiki) i have been training and only get the maximum score

great toy!


The only one I didn't get a perfect score on was the one about Chinese provinces. I couldn't have even named one, much less found it on a map of China.

This thread may have been done before but it was in the Adelaide Advertiser newspaper only today. Are we behind the Times down under? That's if, if anyone knows where Australia is....

North American is easy when you don't care about the location of every state.
indeed, the Carribean is hard, just like Oceania

at the link above, you find quizzes about maps all over the world... give your knowledge a try...

I did europe I got 94 out of 111, mainly because I missed the austria question (clicked on the button twice) and because I haven't seen a map with most of those countries on before (I was taught with maps that still had yugoslarvia (can't spell) on them (hell some still had east adn west germany on))

Anyone else remember that Animaniacs song?

"Uuuuunited States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Haiti, Jamaica, Peru..."

Who says cartoons can't be educational? Too bad world geography changes so much... that cartoon clip would be just old enough to have a few errors.

It is as I expected, except... How can the number of people who don't know where Iraq is be so high?

Someone once said "War is God's way of teaching Americans geography"... (Ambrose Bierce I believe?) Well, I guess he has been proven wrong!

Anyone else remember that Animaniacs song?

"Uuuuunited States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Haiti, Jamaica, Peru..."

Who says cartoons can't be educational? Too bad world geography changes so much... that cartoon clip would be just old enough to have a few errors.
Yup, but here it is anyway! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OBYaZlglNk)
United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama
Haiti, Jamaica, Peru,
Republic Dominican, Cuba, Carribean
Greenland, El Salvador too.
Puerto Rico, Columbia, Venezuela
Honduras, Guyana, and still,
Guatemala, Bolivia, then Argentina
And Ecuador, Chile, Brazil.
Costa Rica, Belize, Nicaragua, Bermuda
Bahamas, Tobago, San Juan,
Paraguay, Uruguay, Surinam
And French Guiana, Barbados, and Guam.
etc etc etc ;)

Remember, kids: There is no longer a country called Czechoslovakia.

Maybe the U.S. should actually put some money/effort into the education system. That would be nice. I was never taught the state capitals, and am slightly ashamed of that. And U.S. test scores, compared to the world, are down in just about every subject.

This thread may have been done before but it was in the Adelaide Advertiser newspaper only today. Are we behind the Times down under? That's if, if anyone knows where Australia is....


A better question would be: What continent is Australia located in? :D
(That should throw them for a loop...):cool:

Maybe the U.S. should actually put some money/effort into the education system. That would be nice. I was never taught the state capitals, and am slightly ashamed of that. And U.S. test scores, compared to the world, are down in just about every subject.
Careful now, you might be accused of... socialism! :eek:

:p

as an european i can confirm we actually dont know a lot about the geography of the us of a, but my knowledge gap has been filled with this site: http://www.lizardpoint.com/fun/geoquiz/usaquiz.html
in combination with wikipedia, it is great learning tool
and now (without wiki) i have been training and only get the maximum score

great toy!

94/150 for North America. Not bad for an Aussie, hey?

Got 110/111 for Europe, but I call BS, because Luxembourg was too small to click on, so I claim full marks. :p

What are your thoughts on this?

Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 fared even worse with foreign locations: six in 10 couldn’t find Iraq, according to a Roper poll conducted for National Geographic.

As an American male, age 23, I must apologize for my stupid and uninformed associates...

Among the findings:

One-third of respondents couldn’t pinpoint Louisiana on a map and 48 percent were unable to locate Mississippi.

Oh, so they're on the fast track to a position at FEMA now?

Fewer than three in 10 think it important to know the locations of countries in the news and just 14 percent believe speaking another language is a necessary skill.

Argh...such horrible, horrible numbers. :(

Two-thirds didn’t know that the earthquake that killed 70,000 people in October 2005 occurred in Pakistan.

Where'd they think the quake happened? Nebraska?

Six in 10 could not find Iraq on a map of the Middle East.

I honestly fail to see how that number can possibly be correct, considering the amount of TV most American's watch...

...then again, I guess CNN just goes over some people's heads. :rolleyes:

While the outsourcing of jobs to India has been a major U.S. business story, 47 percent could not find the Indian subcontinent on a map of Asia.

A whole sub-continent...ignorance abounds, it seems.

While Israeli-Palestinian strife has been in the news for the entire lives of the respondents, 75 percent were unable to locate Israel on a map of the Middle East.

75%??? Where the hell are they finding these people, West Virginia???

Nearly three-quarters incorrectly named English as the most widely spoken native language.

That one is kind of tricky. Spanish is spoken in many nations, as is English. The fact that Mandarin is mainly only spoken in China would throw off some people.

Six in 10 did not know the border between North and South Korea is the most heavily fortified in the world.

Funny...I know of no other border even close to the situation on the NK/SK border.

Thirty percent thought the most heavily fortified border was between the United States and Mexico.

Wait...:p

---

As for those geography quizzes that were linked earlier, here are my scores!

USA - 150/150
Africa - 147/162 (Stupid little island nations like Seychelles and Sao Tome & Principe really piss me off)
Asia - 86/87 (ARGH! I mixed up Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan on the first try! :( )
Australia - 24/24
Canada - 39/39
Carribean - 55/66 (Tough one...)
China - I'm not even going to pretend I know these...
Mexico - Ditto
Europe - 111/111 (PWNED! :D )
Middle East - 87/87
Oceania - 81/96 (Another tough one...)
South America - 39/39

So HA! I laugh at your stupid poll...HAHAHA! :p

There was a guy at my school that could name and pinpoint every capital in the world. Photographic memory.

As for me, I'm more than sufficient at locating countries and capitals, but probably couldn't locate 15 US states, but then again I don't need to.

It is as I expected, except... How can the number of people who don't know where Iraq is be so high?

Someone once said "War is God's way of teaching Americans geography"... (Ambrose Bierce I believe?) Well, I guess he has been proven wrong!

Paul Rodriguez. I posted it in the other thread on this, along with a pithy comment about there obviously not being enough wars recently. :p

I wonder how many American kids could tell you where Iraq is...?

I did some of the others...

Africa 157/162
Asia 86/87 (Brunei was too small :()
Australia 24/24
Canada 35/39
Carribean (not going to bother)
Central America 42/42 :)
China (No.)
Middle East 87/87
Oceania 84/96
South America 39/39

Funny...I know of no other border even close to the situation on the NK/SK border.

I thought this one wasn't as bad as some of the others. I don't know maybe it comes up a lot more in the US because of your troop presence there, but it doesn't seem as necessarily as obvious as some of the others. I mean when you think about it it seems logical what with the DMZ and all that, but then there are several other prominent militarised borders around the world.

as an european i can confirm we actually dont know a lot about the geography of the us of a, but my knowledge gap has been filled with this site: http://www.lizardpoint.com/fun/geoquiz/usaquiz.html


45 on the first attempt. I did manage to find Alaska, Hawaii, Florida, Texas, Washington, Ohio and California with no problems, though.

I think it's typical from imperial societies, where "outside" it's not important at all. Anyway it helps to build the topic about american ignorance.

Sad, I can pinpoint most of countries and capital, although as I studied history it's not so unsual, but most of my colleagues cannot.

America: 96/150
Africa: 116/162
Asia: 84/87 - where is Brunei, anyway?

Now I'm bored, might come back later.

I thought this one wasn't as bad as some of the others. I don't know maybe it comes up a lot more in the US because of your troop presence there, but it doesn't seem as necessarily as obvious as some of the others. I mean when you think about it it seems logical what with the DMZ and all that, but then there are several other prominent militarised borders around the world.

I don't know, you rarely hear about our presence in South Korea...it just doesn't come up very often.

I know there are other militarised borders, but I doubt anything comes even close to Korea. It seems our schools are bad at teaching history as well as geography...anyone with a basic knowledge of the Cold War should have been easily able to answer that question correctly.

I wonder how many American kids could tell you where Iraq is...?

Well, when I was in AP Human Geography last year, we had a pop map quiz. I got the top score on it in the class because I was able to identify 70 of the 150 or so countries that we had to identify. I'm pretty sure the next highest score was in the low 30s.

Asia: 84/87 - where is Brunei, anyway?

That tiny speck on one of the Malaysian islands. Look closely.

The ever funny CNNN video. If they did this enough times then Australia would be in for a really rough time.

http://www.tian.cc.nyud.net:8090/cnnnonthestreets.mov

That isn't really suprising, Americans aside, most people can't find the provinces of their own country or tell you which nations border there own. People just prefer giving the isolationist which is disliked, the test rather then humiliating the equally geographical ignorant nations.

It's no surprise to me. And for most of them they have no real reason to know too much. Most interactions are with other parts of the US. The same as people in the south of England, who tend to be very ignorant of anything nearing Brum and you can forget about anything north of that. As far as most of them are concerned there is London, a blank York (possibly) then a blank then Edinburgh.

What are your thoughts on this? It seems (to no suprise) that Americans are generally quite ignorant when it comes to Geography.

The article:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12591413/

Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 fared even worse with foreign locations: six in 10 couldn’t find Iraq, according to a Roper poll conducted for National Geographic.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Among the findings:

One-third of respondents couldn’t pinpoint Louisiana on a map and 48 percent were unable to locate Mississippi.
Fewer than three in 10 think it important to know the locations of countries in the news and just 14 percent believe speaking another language is a necessary skill.
Two-thirds didn’t know that the earthquake that killed 70,000 people in October 2005 occurred in Pakistan.
Six in 10 could not find Iraq on a map of the Middle East.
While the outsourcing of jobs to India has been a major U.S. business story, 47 percent could not find the Indian subcontinent on a map of Asia.
While Israeli-Palestinian strife has been in the news for the entire lives of the respondents, 75 percent were unable to locate Israel on a map of the Middle East.
Nearly three-quarters incorrectly named English as the most widely spoken native language.
Six in 10 did not know the border between North and South Korea is the most heavily fortified in the world. Thirty percent thought the most heavily fortified border was between the United States and Mexico.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your thoughts??? How do other countries compare to these statistics?
Nearly three-quarters incorrectly named English as the most widely spoken native language.
Six in 10 did not know the border between North and South Korea is the most heavily fortified in the world. Thirty percent thought the most heavily fortified border was between the United States and Mexico.

Those are BS.
English Rules!
I wouldn't expect a high number of people to know the Korean Border was the most guarded.
But the U.Sian Mexican one surprises me, look at all the Mexicans in America!!!

Those are BS.
English Rules!
I wouldn't expect a high number of people to know the Korean Border was the most guarded.
But the U.Sian Mexican one surprises me, look at all the Mexicans in America!!!

Did you ever hear of a little place called CHINA???? The most widely spoken language is Mandarin Chinese, over 1 BILLION people speak it. English is spoken by only 400 million.:rolleyes:

As for the Korean border, you would have to have been living under a rock for the last 60 years not to know that, especially since its the AMERICANS who are responsible for it.:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

The Mexican border? Of course, just plain stupidity on that one...:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Remember, kids: There is no longer a country called Czechoslovakia.Or Burma for that matter...

What blows my mind is that all this material that American kids don't know is taught, or atleast dictated, to them two times or more in their public school careers. Changing the program won't do a damn thing, the problem is the kids don't care. The kids don't care mainly because the system doesn't. The parents only care if there is some big problem. If little Johhny or Sally doesn't get it, they don't hold him back, they just pass him through anyway. I guess it wasn't a big deal years ago when it was only a few, but now it's really gotten out of hand.

What are your thoughts on this? It seems (to no suprise) that Americans are generally quite ignorant when it comes to Geography.
That's because so much teaching time is taken up with feel-good courses, self-image bullshit, and other PC nonsense. Add to that stupid parents who don't give a damn about their own children and this is the result.

They should make a version of risk that has all the countries on it. Then kids can go off and conquer the world while learning where all the countries are..

Is it really so surprising that, given the relatively limited reach of and extremely insular nature of China, people would assume that English, with few doubts the most influential language in the modern world, is the most widely spoken? English is the primary language of dozens of nations, and the secondary language of millions worldwide.

I'm not out to declare that Mandarin isn't the most widely-spoken native language in the world, I'm just saying is it really so disconcerting that so many people would assume English is? I think that not knowing this bit of trivia (and I mean that in the purest sense of the word - it is rather trivial for day-to-day purposes) is not quite a cause for alarm.

This thread has also made me think that maybe geography's primary purpose these days is to provide bragging rights. I, for example, got 149 on the US states map (Rhode Island was too small, I dispute that docked point), I can identify every European and Asian nation on an unlabeled map, I can sketch and label the entirety of what is commonly referred to as "Southeast Asia," I can name a large handful of the easier-to-pronounce national capitals... but how does this really assist me daily? Am I that much better off being able to picture a country's outline in my head when it's mentioned on the news? Geography is, a bit paradoxically, important trivia. It's assigned a great deal of weight by the Cortex Police, but it is relatively useless for almost all frequently-encountered purposes.

What I find more disconcerting than the geography test results is how quick people are to assign the title of "idiot" or to "apologize" for the perceived shortcomings of others. Personally, I consider compassion, kindness, and tolerance higher virtues than knowledge of geography.

English is possible the most widespread popular language, though. We can safely say that most Mandarin speakers are Chinese.

USA - 138/150
Africa - 130/162
Asia - 86/87
Europe - 111/111
Middle East - 86/87
South America - 37/39
World - 33/33 :p

English is possible the most widespread popular language, though. We can safely say that most Mandarin speakers are Chinese.It beats Spanish and French?

Geography isn't really taught in American schools past the seventh grade. Personally I'm not worried if my fellow citizen can't locate Romania or even France on a map because it doesn't really matter.

I've never once come across a situation where I said: "Oh thank god I knew where the Cape of Good Hope was!"

It beats Spanish and French?

I said possibly...

Geography isn't really taught in American schools past the seventh grade. Personally I'm not worried if my fellow citizen can't locate Romania or even France on a map because it doesn't really matter.

I've never once come across a situation where I said: "Oh thank god I knew where the Cape of Good Hope was!"


You think it's much different in other places?

Even in the best of countries, around the 7th grade the topic of the exact location of Uzbekistan gets replaces with topics like 'what causes a river to meander'.

106/111 for Europe. I always get the Balkans mixed up.
75/87 in Asia
Only 64/87 in the Middle East. Disappointing
34/39 for Canada
34/39 for South America
22/24 for Australia
33/33 for the continents/oceans one

It beats Spanish and French?Yes, it does, see http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0775272.html for a breakdown.
Although, I suspect it only covers native-speakers. Not second languages.

http://www.linguasphere.org/language.html claims that including second languages, english reaches about a billion, just like mandarin

I've never once come across a situation where I said: "Oh thank god I knew where the Cape of Good Hope was!"

Funnily enough, I thought exactly that last night, when the question "Where is the Cape of Good Hope?" came up at a pub quiz I was taking part in.

As for the Korean border, you would have to have been living under a rock for the last 60 years not to know that, especially since its the AMERICANS who are responsible for it.:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Yes, but as Rumsfeld might have said, there are known knowns and unknown knowns and so on, or something like that.
Take the India question, I KNOW where India is, I've been taught it, I've seen it on maps and in the news. But the fortified border question is far more open ended. As you say you'd have to have been living under a rock to not know that it exists, and clearly I know that it is heavily fortified. But I don't believe I've necessarily ever heard or read that it is the most fortified in the world.

And there are lots of things I know I don't know. I don't know the criteria for calling it the most fortified. Does troop concentration count, because I know I don't know anything about the relative concentrations of troops on say the Korean border as opposed to the India/ Pakistan border. What's the conversion rate between concrete walls and barbed wire?

I also know that my geographical knowledge isn't limitless and there could be fortified borders I've never even heard about.

You see it's likely that the Korean border is the most fortified but not knowing it isn't exactly on the 'more people recognise Ronald McDonald than George Washington' level of ignorance. Except if they put US/Mexico - as you said that isn't really excusable.

Typing these in as I do them...

US states: 150/150
Africa: 156/162 (Mixed up Togo and Benin, and Mauritius and the Seychelles)
Asia: 87/87
Australia: 24/24... I SHOULD BLOODY WELL HOPE SO!!!!
Canada: 39/39 (I would be disowned by half my family if I got that wrong...)
Caribbean: 45/66 For shame. And I got some of the cricketing countries wrong!
Central America: 42/42
China. Gasp! I know this will be hard. ... 33/93, most guesses.
Europe: 111/111
Mexico. Same category as China. 21/96
Mid East: 87/87
Pacific Islands (OK, Oceania): 87/96. Got a few tiny places mixed up. And I thought Guam and the Marianas Islands were one and the same.
South America: 39/39
Continents/Oceans: 33/33. But that was very easy.

Well, in school I *was* one of those kids who had a photographic memory regarding countries, capitals, etc. But... I still need some work.

33/33 for the continents/oceans one

I only got 31 for that one. Three fucking attempts to find the Arctic Ocean (I knew roughly where it was, it was just a case of working out which bit of the top of the map I was meant to click on)

[QUOTE=Callixtina]What are your thoughts on this? It seems (to no suprise) that Americans are generally quite ignorant when it comes to Geography.

The article:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12591413/

Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 fared even worse with foreign locations: six in 10 couldn’t find Iraq, according to a Roper poll conducted for National Geographic.

Young people have busy lives (whether partying or studying) and I'm sure they're aware that their nation is at war in Iraq. Now, what I wanna know is, can Bush point out where Iraq is? :D

USA 150/150 (and I should have been flogged if I'd gotten much less)
Europe 95/111 (Damned Balkans)
Asia 69/87
Middle East 81/87
Canada 39/39

And the site keeps timing out so that's all I'm going to do for now. I know for a fact I would do terribly at Africa, though.

I couldn't get into lizardpoint at all. I took the map quizzes on www.ilike2learn.com (happy name :)) . I scored 95% on North America (which included Central America and the Caribbean); 92.5% on Asia; 90% on the Mid-East; 85% on Europe (fucking principalities); 80% on South America (where the hell is Argentina? :( ); only 45% on Africa (I figured out the regions; with practice I'll get better -- but I was completely defeated by Burkina Faso); and finally my brain imploded in Oceania (I got the big countries and Hawaii, but for the rest -- spots! I see spots before my eyes!!). I think I did pretty well for an American.

Even when I didn't really know the countries, I was able to make educated guesses by what I knew about them. Pakistan is obviously next to India and to the north because Pakistan and India are constantly fighting and because al Qaeda is thought to have crossed from Afghanistan into Pakistan, and Afghanistan is next to the 'Stans that used to be in the USSR.

Bangladesh is next to India and floods all the time. It can be identified by its coast line.

Bermuda is constantly being advertised as being less than two hours by air from Massachusetts, therefore, it must be the most northerly Caribbean island.

It's not a question of "did we learn this?" How about "did we learn anything at all that we can use to figure out other things?" Apparently, not so much in the USA. I wonder why we bother to have schools at all.

US: 149/150 (I misclicked for RI)
Africa: 154/162 (damn "republic of Congo" vs. "democratic republic of congo")
Asia: 84/87 (where the hell is Brunei?)
Australia: 23/24 (misclicked for capital territory)
Canada: 39/39
Caribbean: Oh hell no.
Cent. Am.: 42/42
China: I know Xinjiang, Tibet, Inner Mongolia, and Hainan...so I'm not even going to try.
Europe: 110/111
Mexico: nope.
Middle East: 85/87
Oceania: you're kidding, right?
South America: 39/39
World: 33/33

not bad considering I've been taking finals since 8 AM and have another one in half an hour. I would have tried Oceania if I was more awake

(where the hell is Argentina? :( )

It's only the really big one below Brazil. :p

The ever funny CNNN video. If they did this enough times then Australia would be in for a really rough time.

http://www.tian.cc.nyud.net:8090/cnnnonthestreets.mov


What in fucks name! Oh my god... now I can understand not knowing where Iran is (I do, but if you dont care about the news, why are you going to have found out), but willing to believe that Australia is those countires. Have they ever seen a map? I mean, just even glance at it? Or is that video a complete set up?

A friend of mine once went into an American school room (visiting from Britain), where they had a map of the States. There was sea to the East and West. Ok, thats fine, but then they also had sea to the south and north. No Mexico or Canada anywhere.

Mind you this was a long time ago.

What in fucks name! Oh my god... now I can understand not knowing where Iran is (I do, but if you dont care about the news, why are you going to have found out), but willing to believe that Australia is those countires. Have they ever seen a map? I mean, just even glance at it? Or is that video a complete set up?

A friend of mine once went into an American school room (visiting from Britain), where they had a map of the States. There was sea to the East and West. Ok, thats fine, but then they also had sea to the south and north. No Mexico or Canada anywhere.

Mind you this was a long time ago.
um...that was probably JUST a map of the US...most maps are set on a light blue background. And most countries have maps of themselves in isolation. Particularly with younger children, it is easier to teach internal geography without having to show them Canada and Mexico. Yes, we have our bad spots, but we're not THAT stupid.

It's only the really big one below Brazil. :p
I could swear I clicked on that one. Brain cramp. I forgot to read what I clicked on, I guess.

Originally Posted by Kanabia
It's only the really big one below Brazil.
I could swear I clicked on that one. Brain cramp. I forgot to read what I clicked on, I guess.
Oh, there it is. Argentina, the embarrassingly big one under Brazil that only takes up half the lower end of the continent. (*makes note to shoot self later*) I don't know whether it makes me look better or worse, but I'm also one of those "have you seen my glasses" people. My landlord once told me that I was "dangerously unobservant" when he said something about the gas company doing work and I said "when?" -- while they were jackhammering the driveway outside my window. Oh, well, I've survived this long...

(EDIT: At least, I'm up to 80% on African countries.)

Americans are dumb, but i dont think they are that dumb. you could easily go to a mental asylum and ask people who are american and between the ages of 18 - 23 what 2 + 2 is.

chances are your going to have a few answers of "bannana" or "where are my hands"

What are your thoughts on this? It seems (to no suprise) that Americans are generally quite ignorant when it comes to Geography.

The article:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12591413/

Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 fared even worse with foreign locations: six in 10 couldn’t find Iraq, according to a Roper poll conducted for National Geographic.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Among the findings:

One-third of respondents couldn’t pinpoint Louisiana on a map and 48 percent were unable to locate Mississippi.
Fewer than three in 10 think it important to know the locations of countries in the news and just 14 percent believe speaking another language is a necessary skill.
Two-thirds didn’t know that the earthquake that killed 70,000 people in October 2005 occurred in Pakistan.
Six in 10 could not find Iraq on a map of the Middle East.
While the outsourcing of jobs to India has been a major U.S. business story, 47 percent could not find the Indian subcontinent on a map of Asia.
While Israeli-Palestinian strife has been in the news for the entire lives of the respondents, 75 percent were unable to locate Israel on a map of the Middle East.
Nearly three-quarters incorrectly named English as the most widely spoken native language.
Six in 10 did not know the border between North and South Korea is the most heavily fortified in the world. Thirty percent thought the most heavily fortified border was between the United States and Mexico.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your thoughts??? How do other countries compare to these statistics?
You know, every single time I read these statistics, my mind just jumps off the deep end. I don't understand why people don't know this stuff. I mean, I could understand the whole foreign countries bit, but not even knowing where states in the fucking country you live in are?!

I love geography. I get a kick out of maps and making maps and seeing maps of all sorts of things, be they fact or fiction. I don't understand why no one else shares my love for it.

Remember, kids: There is no longer a country called Czechoslovakia.
You remember it better when flirting with a Slovakian and accidentally slipping: "What's life like in Czechoslovakia?" That slap to the left cheek hurt. But in a good way. :p

:eek: I got 62.5% on the African capitals quiz. All bow to my superiority!
http://www.ilike2learn.com/ilike2learn/africacapitals.html

How on Earth did I manage that? I as really suprised I either new the capitals instantly or had no clue at all. Kinda like my attempt at the US states, I either new them instantly (in the case of the states by lakes or coasts and Tennesse. One should always know where ones whiskey is coming from). I tell a lie actually. I got Alabama and Missisippi the wrong way round.

18-24-year olds??? Oh my God, I'm 14 and I can pont out Iraq on a map! :headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :headbang:

I can name so many countries, and ALL the states (being an American myself)... Dear Sweet Jesus, where in the WORLD did the repondents come from?:headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :headbang:

Aww, no fun geo quiz for me, my computer sucks :(

I don't really think we should be expecting the population to know where the most heavily fortified border in the world is. Find Iraq, India, or Israel on a map, sure. But that last one seems more like a trivia fact than something obvious that everyone should know.

As a geography freak, I always get depressed when I see these studies.:(

Woot... i can take it after all! here's my scores:

Africa: 120/162 (I only spent one semester of my seventh grade year on Africa, you can only blame the school i go to)

Asia: 74/87 (I spent that same semester studying Asia too...)

Australia: 21/24 (couldn't find the Australian Capital Territory... and I also spent that semester studying Australia ><)

Canada: 32/37 (considering that I've never studied Canada in school, but I have seen a few maps of it...)

Carribean: 38/66 (never studied that, nor see a very good map of it ><)

Central America: 38/42 (and the last time I had ever seen a map of it was in FIFTH GRADE! WOOT!)

Europe: 91/111 (I'd only spent one semester of SIXTH grade studying Europe AND SOuth America)

Mexico: 39/96 (I have NEVER studied Mexico. EVER. And I have never seen its provinces on a map. GAAH!)

Middle East: 80/87 (I knew the general area of where Qatar was, but i couldn't find it! GAAH! And yes, I studied the Middle East in that one semester of 7th grade.)

Oceania: 47/96 (Same semester of seventh grade.)

South America: 38/39 (spent semester of sixth grade in it, got pretty good. Got Paraguay and Uruguay screwed up.)

USA: 150/150 (WHOO!!! But I am an American.... :D)

World: 33/33 (I re-learn the continents and oceans EVERY YEAR, so I've got it stuck in my head.)

Not so good... I think the USA does need to spend more time on geography. And yeah, in seventh grade, the cause of tsunamis is far more important than the location of ANYTHING. :headbang: And social studies is, in fact, a one-semester course.

Curse the American education system!

It makes me sad to see how stupid some people can be when it somes to maps. I have always liked maps, for some reason. I was even in a Geography Bee back in middle school.

My Scores:

Europe - 97.5%
Africa - 77.5%
Asia - 100%
Australia & Oceania - 85%
North America - 100%
Middle East - 85%
South America - 100%
United States - 100%

African Capitals - 52.5%
Asian Capitals - 80%
Europe Capitals - 95%
North America Capitals - 95%
Middle East Capitals - 55%
South America Capitals - 95%
United States Capitals - 95%

http://www.lizardpoint.com/fun/geoquiz/usaquiz.html

I made some silly mistakes on the USA quiz, but I managed a perfect score on Canada (I live here), Central America, South America, Asia, Middle East, and Europe. I did very poorly on Africa and the Caribbean - I must not care about black people.

It makes me sad to see how stupid some people can be when it somes to maps. I have always liked maps, for some reason. I was even in a Geography Bee back in middle school.
Me too. In fact, I sometimes even doodle imaginary ones when I'm bored /nerdiness

Me too. In fact, I sometimes even doodle imaginary ones when I'm bored /nerdiness

Used to do that. Bought pads of graph paper soley for that purpose. and the back of my square paper maths jotter was full of maps. Of course, I stopped along time ago.

Personally, I always wonder where they get the people they poll from. I swear they don't do it anywhere near a decent school system. I personally believe they polled people from Texas because the people down there think that the world (which revolves around their redneck state) doesn't exist beyond their borders:sniper:

I did a pathetic job for someone who got a 4 on my AP Human Geography test...

U.S. 138/150
South America 35/39
Middle East 76/87
Africa 86/162
Asia 72/87
Australia 13/24
Canada 28/39
Caribbean 31/66
Central America 35/42
China 16/93
Europe 85/111
World 32/33 (misclicked on Arctic Ocean...)

Well, I always knew I didn't know shit about the US...

http://www.lizardpoint.com/fun/geoquiz/usaquiz.html

72/150

Depressingly, I got many of the Southern States right, but virtually none of the "blue ones" in the North East.

For that North American quiz, I got 121/150.

Thank you, American history! The only states I had trouble with were the Western states.

In America, we don't study geography. We study more important things, like tap-dancing, and..and pancake making.

Well, I always knew I didn't know shit about the US...

http://www.lizardpoint.com/fun/geoquiz/usaquiz.html

72/150

Depressingly, I got many of the Southern States right, but virtually none of the "blue ones" in the North East.
redneck.

Used to do that. Bought pads of graph paper soley for that purpose. and the back of my square paper maths jotter was full of maps. Of course, I stopped along time ago.
Heheheh. Well, some people never totally grow up. In fact, most people have some behaviors they've kept since their earliest years. Hmmm, that's a good thread topic...

Me too. In fact, I sometimes even doodle imaginary ones when I'm bored /nerdiness

So did J. R. R. Tolkien. ;)

Thats cuz americans are simply very ignorant people.

Thats cuz americans are simply very ignorant people.

I think that most people are ignorant. While Americans may have developed the reputation for being totally and willfully ignorant about anything that happens outside our borders, I doubt that many other countries would do much better in a similar poll. Was this survey only implementedin America or do we have results from other countries too.

I, for one, am pretty damn good a geography.

Yes, but as Rumsfeld might have said, there are known knowns and unknown knowns and so on, or something like that.

.

The very idea that you would quote Donald Rumsfeld and his nonsensical spin speaks volumes about what is wrong with America today....:rolleyes:

Did you ever hear of a little place called CHINA???? The most widely spoken language is Mandarin Chinese, over 1 BILLION people speak it. English is spoken by only 400 million.:rolleyes:

As for the Korean border, you would have to have been living under a rock for the last 60 years not to know that, especially since its the AMERICANS who are responsible for it.:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

The Mexican border? Of course, just plain stupidity on that one...:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
OMG Heard of sarcasam?:sniper:
USA 98/150- Democrats
Africa 72/162-I couldn't find Rhodesia or Belgian Congo on the map anywhere
Asia 69/87-I don't give a crapistan
Australia 8/8-:p
Canadia 30/39
Carribean 35/66
Central America 40/42
China 19/93 I remembered a few from 5th form History.(10 years ago)
Europe 94/111-Balkan states.:rolleyes:
Mexico 24/96
World 33/33

Africa and America i was relativly close with the ones i got wrong.

Here are my other scores, some hopefully making up for my dreadful 72/150 for the US Quiz.

South America: 36/39
Australia: 34/34
Asia: 78/87
Africa: 98/162 (Bah!)
Europe: 109/111 (silly Baltic Countries!)
Canada: 28/39 (a lot of guessing)
World & Oceans: 32/33
Middle East: 82/87
Central America: 23/42
Caribbean: 29/66
Oceania: 55/96 (I never even heard of these places!)
China: 42/93 (holy sh*t, I need an education!)

My gf is georaphically illiterate.. But she's so cute and I think half the time it's an act. Meh, she's hot. She can do whatever.

Edit: Oh yea, and where are you guys doing this quiz thing? Link someone please?

I'm trying to go throurgh the Chinese quiz.

'Where is Shanxi?'
'No, that's Shaanxi, try again.'

:headbang:

Ah yes, Shanxi is the neighbouring one.

85/93 for China... could've done better.

USA: 150/150
Europe: 111/111
Canada: 39/39
Australia: 24/24
Asia: 87/87
Middle East: 87/87
Africa: 162/162
Caribbean: 60/66 (Bah, they split the countries into islands! Antigua and Barbuda are separate here, just like Curacao and Bonaire!)
Mexico: 56/96 (Disgraceful, although I've never been interested in the geography of Mexico.)
Central America: 42/42
South America: 39/39
Oceania: 80/96 (well...)
World & Oceans:33/33

Europe: 109/111 (silly Baltic Countries!)They're in alphabetical order from top to bottom:
Estonia
Latvia
Lithuania

They're in alphabetical order from top to bottom:
Estonia
Latvia
Lithuania
Or we could do away with them altogether!


Peisandros
http://www.lizardpoint.com/fun/geoquiz/usaquiz.html