This maybe old, but it's still shocking to know, to say the least. I recently found a National Geographic Survey which showed how much certain countries, including America, knew about the world. What I found out makes me ashamed to be a citizen of this country.

Here are some quick stats I find in the study:
*Six in ten (63%) cannot find Iraq on a map of the Middle East, despite near-constant news coverage since the U.S. invasion of March 2003.
*Although 73% know the U.S. is the world’'s largest consumer of oil, nearly as many (71%) do not know the U.S. is the world'’s largest exporter of goods and services -– half think it'’s China.
*Half or fewer of young men and women 18-24 can identify the states of New York or Ohio on a map (50% and 43%, respectively).

How does everyone on Metal Storm feel about this?

Hej,
Well I can't quite understand how people can not know geography stuff because I have myself always be aware of where every country is, and the capitals. I can also name big cities of many europeans countries.
Geography has just always been one of my interest, not sure why though.
Maybe in europe people are just more aware of that because of the proximity everyone got (or almost) here with borders. In USA you may not be aware about borders with countries but between different states with different laws (well I least I hope you there know about the USA states).
Anyway some interest about football (yeah, soccer) people have made them know about geography, as I once stated in the shoutbox (said so. like "old football fans with half a brain would know where hungary is")
There are just imo so many good reasons to check where a country is...

i also think it's embarassing. when i was still in high school we had to take a test and identify all 50 states. more than 25% of the class failed. it makes no sense to me because it should be common knowledge. as for older generations (Y and up) i'm sure it boils down to being apathetic to it, or simply naive/uneducated.

as for myself, i could probably identify most countries/provinces on a world map, but then again geography has always interested me.

Well I cant judge and entire population but I can say that all the north american people I know don't care much about the rest of the world and arent curious about it. I love to find out new cities and im specially curious about european cities. I'm very much aware of whats around me and I like to know different cultural aspects too. But thats me, other people may find it boring.

Yes, unfortunately I am aware of this, and this reminds me of that link K7 posted where woman from US in some quiz didnt know that Budapest was capital of Hungary, and what is worse, she even thought Europe is a state!! Thats criminal... Im not a geography expert, but some things are basic knowledge, you can even say basic culture.
Ive noticed that lack of basic knowledge of some people from USA, not just in geography, and I really cant say why is that so, but it is rather awkward I think.

Written by Stalker on 31.12.2007 at 23:39

Yes, unfortunately I am aware of this, and this reminds me of that link K7 posted where woman from US in some quiz didnt know that Budapest was capital of Hungary, and what is worse, she even thought Europe is a state!! Thats criminal... Im not a geography expert, but some things are basic knowledge, you can even say basic culture.
Ive noticed that lack of basic knowledge of some people from USA, not just in geography, and I really cant say why is that so, but it is rather awkward I think.

Sorry... I didn' know that Budapest was the capital of Hungary [I know the name of both as one is a city and the other a country] But I didn't know that they had something in common
Shame on me u.u
But.... Europe?.. a state?... That's insane @@
I'm not so good with geography but I can say that I'm not stupid ajjajaja xD

The lack of knowledge?, mmm is a difficult question, but my opinion is very simple. They just don't even care about the entire world. And that sucks... Like Bloodtears.. I'm really interested in the different cultures and things like that... so I really want to learn more about History amd geography of the other countries.
The only problem is that... Geography is soooooooooo damm boring IMO [Maybe is my teacher's fault?]

I think it's retarded. Here in Sweden geography is really important. I had a test in eighth grade, they gave you a map of the world and you was supposed to name all the countries and their capital towns. Oh, and I got an A on the test!

i also hate it. i mean, how can you be THAT ignorant? there was a model contest here about 2 years ago and they showed it all on TV and one girl didn't know what the capital of Greece is! i mean, not many people know the capital of Cameroon, but this is basic knowledge that anyone should possess....

i know i can't do anything about it, but it's a harsh reality. of course Americans don't actually need to know many countries or capitals, as most of them go to Mexico or Canada, not Europe, but we europeans should be better than this, since in a space that is about the size of the U.S. there's like 40 different countries.

I can understand mistaking China for the U.S. though. But yeah some of that is really bad though. To be honest though, I am great with other countries, but the United States, well finding certain states is difficult for me. Knowing each state's capital city is even more difficult .

the same applies for any US citizen when it comes to identifying capitals of other countries, especially the smaller, or less involved, ones. just because most american's are naive (like i mentioned before) about other countries doesn't mean EVERY american is.

there's technically two sides to this topic. for SOME (not all) people in the US it's hard to name capitals of different countries. and for SOME (not all, again) people from europe/asia/africa/australia it's hard to name the capitals of the 50 states in the US.

Written by X-Ray Rod on 01.01.2008 at 05:07

Written by Stalker on 31.12.2007 at 23:39

Yes, unfortunately I am aware of this, and this reminds me of that link K7 posted where woman from US in some quiz didnt know that Budapest was capital of Hungary, and what is worse, she even thought Europe is a state!! Thats criminal... Im not a geography expert, but some things are basic knowledge, you can even say basic culture.
Ive noticed that lack of basic knowledge of some people from USA, not just in geography, and I really cant say why is that so, but it is rather awkward I think.

Sorry... I didn' know that Budapest was the capital of Hungary [I know the name of both as one is a city and the other a country] But I didn't know that they had something in common
Shame on me u.u
But.... Europe?.. a state?... That's insane @@
I'm not so good with geography but I can say that I'm not stupid ajjajaja xD

The lack of knowledge?, mmm is a difficult question, but my opinion is very simple. They just don't even care about the entire world. And that sucks... Like Bloodtears.. I'm really interested in the different cultures and things like that... so I really want to learn more about History amd geography of the other countries.
The only problem is that... Geography is soooooooooo damm boring IMO [Maybe is my teacher's fault?]

Like I said it varies. I like it, you find it boring. I dont have geography classes anymore but I had it for a while and I always liked it maybe thats what got me interested. I make a point at checking my world atlas whenever I hear about a new town I dont know where it is. Its also common here to discuss world geography in our classes that we are supposed to know considerably well.

Written by b0000mst1ck on 01.01.2008 at 23:22

the same applies for any US citizen when it comes to identifying capitals of other countries, especially the smaller, or less involved, ones. just because most american's are naive (like i mentioned before) about other countries doesn't mean EVERY american is.

there's technically two sides to this topic. for SOME (not all) people in the US it's hard to name capitals of different countries. and for SOME (not all, again) people from europe/asia/africa/australia it's hard to name the capitals of the 50 states in the US.

Can I ask you something? In your classes are u encouraged to study other continents' geography? I know that the organization of the educational system is different there (different from the portuguese one, the only one I can compare it to) specially as far as universities go.

Written by BloodTears on 01.01.2008 at 23:38

Written by b0000mst1ck on 01.01.2008 at 23:22

the same applies for any US citizen when it comes to identifying capitals of other countries, especially the smaller, or less involved, ones. just because most american's are naive (like i mentioned before) about other countries doesn't mean EVERY american is.

there's technically two sides to this topic. for SOME (not all) people in the US it's hard to name capitals of different countries. and for SOME (not all, again) people from europe/asia/africa/australia it's hard to name the capitals of the 50 states in the US.

Can I ask you something? In your classes are u encouraged to study other continents' geography? I know that the organization of the educational system is different there (different from the portuguese one, the only one I can compare it to) specially as far as universities go.

in high school, no. the first eight years is a mixture of social studies, basic american government, american history, etc. the high school i went to required one year of world history, but things like identifying countries/capitals wasn't stressed as much as how those other countries were involved with the US (wars, political alliances, foreign treaties, etc.)

when it comes to universities it depends, based on your major. if i were to major in foreign affairs or economics i'd probably have to take a few classes that involved studying other countries more in-depth. aside from that, it's mostly optional.

i'm personally too interested in world history/current affairs to be naive to it. i'm sure most americans couldn't say they know that sweden joined the EU in 1995.

Written by Warman on 01.01.2008 at 18:32

I think it's retarded. Here in Sweden geography is really important. I had a test in eighth grade, they gave you a map of the world and you was supposed to name all the countries and their capital towns. Oh, and I got an A on the test!

was this a big test, or just a random paper for geography class?

Written by b0000mst1ck on 01.01.2008 at 23:50

Written by BloodTears on 01.01.2008 at 23:38

Written by b0000mst1ck on 01.01.2008 at 23:22

the same applies for any US citizen when it comes to identifying capitals of other countries, especially the smaller, or less involved, ones. just because most american's are naive (like i mentioned before) about other countries doesn't mean EVERY american is.

there's technically two sides to this topic. for SOME (not all) people in the US it's hard to name capitals of different countries. and for SOME (not all, again) people from europe/asia/africa/australia it's hard to name the capitals of the 50 states in the US.

Can I ask you something? In your classes are u encouraged to study other continents' geography? I know that the organization of the educational system is different there (different from the portuguese one, the only one I can compare it to) specially as far as universities go.

in high school, no. the first eight years is a mixture of social studies, basic american government, american history, etc. the high school i went to required one year of world history, but things like identifying countries/capitals wasn't stressed as much as how those other countries were involved with the US (wars, political alliances, foreign treaties, etc.)

when it comes to universities it depends, based on your major. if i were to major in foreign affairs or economics i'd probably have to take a few classes that involved studying other countries more in-depth. aside from that, it's mostly optional.

i'm personally too interested in world history/current affairs to be naive to it. i'm sure most americans couldn't say they know that sweden joined the EU in 1995.

Interesting to know all these new things. Thanks Can I ask u other things not related to geography? lol

Written by Damnated on 01.01.2008 at 23:57

Written by Warman on 01.01.2008 at 18:32

I think it's retarded. Here in Sweden geography is really important. I had a test in eighth grade, they gave you a map of the world and you was supposed to name all the countries and their capital towns. Oh, and I got an A on the test!

was this a big test, or just a random paper for geography class?

I wanted to ask the same thing... It looks like a very big test... I couldn't make it. I'm not so good when it comes to geography.

I care more about the cultures, lenguages and history of the entire world.. for me that's more interesting
When I was like 10 years old.. we had geography with a teacher who was soooo boring. That's why I really hate that geography. Unfortunately my wishes of learning are stronger jajajajjaja ^^U

Written by BloodTears on 01.01.2008 at 23:57

Written by b0000mst1ck on 01.01.2008 at 23:50

Written by BloodTears on 01.01.2008 at 23:38

Written by b0000mst1ck on 01.01.2008 at 23:22

the same applies for any US citizen when it comes to identifying capitals of other countries, especially the smaller, or less involved, ones. just because most american's are naive (like i mentioned before) about other countries doesn't mean EVERY american is.

there's technically two sides to this topic. for SOME (not all) people in the US it's hard to name capitals of different countries. and for SOME (not all, again) people from europe/asia/africa/australia it's hard to name the capitals of the 50 states in the US.

Can I ask you something? In your classes are u encouraged to study other continents' geography? I know that the organization of the educational system is different there (different from the portuguese one, the only one I can compare it to) specially as far as universities go.

in high school, no. the first eight years is a mixture of social studies, basic american government, american history, etc. the high school i went to required one year of world history, but things like identifying countries/capitals wasn't stressed as much as how those other countries were involved with the US (wars, political alliances, foreign treaties, etc.)

when it comes to universities it depends, based on your major. if i were to major in foreign affairs or economics i'd probably have to take a few classes that involved studying other countries more in-depth. aside from that, it's mostly optional.

i'm personally too interested in world history/current affairs to be naive to it. i'm sure most americans couldn't say they know that sweden joined the EU in 1995.

Interesting to know all these new things. Thanks Can I ask u other things not related to geography? lol

lol, if you wish.

Written by Damnated on 01.01.2008 at 23:57

Written by Warman on 01.01.2008 at 18:32

I think it's retarded. Here in Sweden geography is really important. I had a test in eighth grade, they gave you a map of the world and you was supposed to name all the countries and their capital towns. Oh, and I got an A on the test!

was this a big test, or just a random paper for geography class?

No, it was a big test.

In fact I admit I can't name the US states...I don't know their capitals and I don't even know their locations within the US....our geography program sorta ignored the geography of US.....

I am lucky to have taken a geography class in middle-school. It was taught by a teacher with a PhD, and he had us learn the location and capital of very country on every continent, as well as most every important physical characteristic of each continent. How the Hell else would I know that the Caucasus Mts. have the highest peak in Europe?

Unfortunately, I doubt quality programmes like that one exist in all public districts. Hell, only half our school was given that teacher, the other one being, from what I heard, rather incompetent.

I have a couple of problems with the report though. They didn't further break the data down by class, and they only gave a few broad assertions on how the US ranked compared to other areas of Earth - or at least by region of the US. Their methodology was fine, but it could have used a bit more data.

Also, it's unfortunate to know that these figures are improvements to previous data sets.

I have to admit, I'm mildly geographically ignorant in areas that I have no intrest in. Its more by choice than anything else.

Written by Warman on 02.01.2008 at 01:16

No, it was a big test.

i asked because we write ordinary papers like these. ie. we get a blank map and we have to recognize 20-30 countries.

What amazes me the most is how women are generally more keen on traveling around the world for leisure, yet they a lot of them know jack shit about what's where...

I never excelled in Geography. It's really not an interest of mine, but when it comes to Europe and Asia I'll mostly probably be able to tell you the capital cities and some must know info for a certain country. My knowledge is very basic (my definition of basic) and doesn't go further than what I think everyone should know. We covered all of this a million times in school. To be honest, my knowledge of USA and it's states is not that great and the little i do know certainly did not come from school. I'd dare say that part of the world was ignored by the curriculum which doesn't surprise me because there's of course little point in memorizing this. I can say Europe was pretty well covered and as a result I think I have a pretty accurate image of every country, and also if i get interested in a place, I don't rely only on what I already know. I like to read what people who visited wrote..etc.

I can see that many people wrote that the ignorance seems to be bigger in the USA. I can't say how true this is since the media everywhere, especially in Europe is preoccupied with portraying Americans as unbelievably stupid people, so I don't buy that shit anymore. Though they do have huge differences in the level of education in different states etc. Maybe since America is so big.. they're more preoccupied with themselves..or i don't know. In Europe we're closer to each other and so more aware. At least that's what i think. And it seems when Americans study world history (someone said before) it seems to be more focused on the relation of countries to America and not the cities and different things in every country.

Failing to know facts about your own country however is inexcusable. I can understand people who could care less about Geography and find things difficult to memorize, especially if there is a lot. But effort is needed. Since this is, after all your country.

@Xaphiris - I don't want to turn this into a gender thing since I don't believe in things like that. But your point is lost on me and i don't see anything in it except trying to single out one gender. .Sorry. I say this only because i have met a lot of people in my life and would of course even agree with you if I had seen this is true. But no. I still have no proof of one gender being more ignorant.

Written by b0000mst1ck on 02.01.2008 at 01:01

Written by BloodTears on 01.01.2008 at 23:57

Written by b0000mst1ck on 01.01.2008 at 23:50

Written by BloodTears on 01.01.2008 at 23:38

Written by b0000mst1ck on 01.01.2008 at 23:22

the same applies for any US citizen when it comes to identifying capitals of other countries, especially the smaller, or less involved, ones. just because most american's are naive (like i mentioned before) about other countries doesn't mean EVERY american is.

there's technically two sides to this topic. for SOME (not all) people in the US it's hard to name capitals of different countries. and for SOME (not all, again) people from europe/asia/africa/australia it's hard to name the capitals of the 50 states in the US.

Can I ask you something? In your classes are u encouraged to study other continents' geography? I know that the organization of the educational system is different there (different from the portuguese one, the only one I can compare it to) specially as far as universities go.

in high school, no. the first eight years is a mixture of social studies, basic american government, american history, etc. the high school i went to required one year of world history, but things like identifying countries/capitals wasn't stressed as much as how those other countries were involved with the US (wars, political alliances, foreign treaties, etc.)

when it comes to universities it depends, based on your major. if i were to major in foreign affairs or economics i'd probably have to take a few classes that involved studying other countries more in-depth. aside from that, it's mostly optional.

i'm personally too interested in world history/current affairs to be naive to it. i'm sure most americans couldn't say they know that sweden joined the EU in 1995.

Interesting to know all these new things. Thanks Can I ask u other things not related to geography? lol

lol, if you wish.

Ok this can sound silly to you but I'm doing a translation of an american text and someone says "hot girl at 3 o'clock". Im aware of what a hot girl is, my doubt is what does 3 oclock means in this context? I know its a cultural thing. Its about the direction I think. But I'm not quite sure. I know this has nothing to do with the topic so sorry.

Written by BloodTears on 02.01.2008 at 12:18

Written by b0000mst1ck on 02.01.2008 at 01:01

Written by BloodTears on 01.01.2008 at 23:57

Written by b0000mst1ck on 01.01.2008 at 23:50

Written by BloodTears on 01.01.2008 at 23:38

Written by b0000mst1ck on 01.01.2008 at 23:22

the same applies for any US citizen when it comes to identifying capitals of other countries, especially the smaller, or less involved, ones. just because most american's are naive (like i mentioned before) about other countries doesn't mean EVERY american is.

there's technically two sides to this topic. for SOME (not all) people in the US it's hard to name capitals of different countries. and for SOME (not all, again) people from europe/asia/africa/australia it's hard to name the capitals of the 50 states in the US.

Can I ask you something? In your classes are u encouraged to study other continents' geography? I know that the organization of the educational system is different there (different from the portuguese one, the only one I can compare it to) specially as far as universities go.

in high school, no. the first eight years is a mixture of social studies, basic american government, american history, etc. the high school i went to required one year of world history, but things like identifying countries/capitals wasn't stressed as much as how those other countries were involved with the US (wars, political alliances, foreign treaties, etc.)

when it comes to universities it depends, based on your major. if i were to major in foreign affairs or economics i'd probably have to take a few classes that involved studying other countries more in-depth. aside from that, it's mostly optional.

i'm personally too interested in world history/current affairs to be naive to it. i'm sure most americans couldn't say they know that sweden joined the EU in 1995.

Interesting to know all these new things. Thanks Can I ask u other things not related to geography? lol

lol, if you wish.

Ok this can sound silly to you but I'm doing a translation of an american text and someone says "hot girl at 3 o'clock". Im aware of what a hot girl is, my doubt is what does 3 oclock means in this context? I know its a cultural thing. Its about the direction I think. But I'm not quite sure. I know this has nothing to do with the topic so sorry.

The three o clock thing isn't a cultural thing but a universally used term from the military where when describing a position of something or someone the clock is used and its division into twelve where twelve o clock is straight ahead

Written by BloodTears on 02.01.2008 at 12:18

Ok this can sound silly to you but I'm doing a translation of an american text and someone says "hot girl at 3 o'clock". Im aware of what a hot girl is, my doubt is what does 3 oclock means in this context? I know its a cultural thing. Its about the direction I think. But I'm not quite sure. I know this has nothing to do with the topic so sorry.

lol, i think it's like this: you hold an arm straight up. if one were to step to the side and look at you, it would look as if your arm is one of those clock sticks pointing at 12 o clock. 3 o clock would therefore be right in front, or something like that lol

about every country on every continent: that sounds a little extreme to me(i know most of these just because i was a geography freak when i was 10, but it's too harsh for someone to be actually forced to learn these). i mean, everyone should know that London is the UK's capital, but what about New Caledonia, Eritrea or Niue? Sure, it's good, but focusing on simply learning the capitals and countries is a little distracting from the subjects which should also be taught in geography class(like Economics, Politics etc.)

@Marcel H. Thanks a lot for your help. I didnt know it was related to the military. I really thought it was a american thing because I never heard an englishman say it for instance. But now its clear.

@Cursed: thanks a lot to you too.

That clock thing is like Cursed said, it goes like this: 12 is in front of you, 6 is behind, 3 is on your right, 9 is on your left. Now, all this stuff is well known to me, I've even heard that there was a research once that showed that some 40% or so of Americans couldn't find USA on the map, and a lot of those people pointed at Russia instead. However, what's the use if I know what's the capital of Lesotho, when what is needed in today's world is that you know to do what you're qualified for. Here in Serbia all the politicians are proud of our educational system and they are sometimes mentioning that people in the US don't know anything about geography. The truth is, our system sucks, when we go out of school, we don't have almost any practical knowledge, and no one is going to pay me for knowing hom many sheeps are there in Uzbekistan or wherever, so I don't think it's such a problem that people can't find something on the map.

Written by b0000mst1ck on 01.01.2008 at 23:22

there's technically two sides to this topic. for SOME (not all) people in the US it's hard to name capitals of different countries. and for SOME (not all, again) people from europe/asia/africa/australia it's hard to name the capitals of the 50 states in the US.

Anyway, there is a big difference between asking a US citizen to know other countries' capitals and asking an European to name and locate all the states in the USA (besides the best known: California, Florida, Hawaii and Alaska come to mind... although I know many people who would still name Los Angeles as California's capital ). I mean, if we are supposed to know North Dakota's capital and Iowa's location, American people (including Canadians and Latin Americans) should have some knowledge about other federal subjects in the world, e.g. Germany's Länder, Russia's oblasts and republics, Mexican and Brazilian states and so on. I think it's just fair not to treat countries and federal subjects as equal.