Are Americans really bad at geography?

Question

I see a lot of videos on social Media of americans who doesn't know any country name. Like, they think Europe is country lol Are they Real or they are faking for views?

misogynistic_pig · Accepted Answer

According to various studies and surveys, Americans tend to have lower ability than the world average when it comes to geography knowledge.

For example, a US Global Affairs Council study found that only 27% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 could correctly locate Iraq on a world map.

Another study by the National Geographic Society found that only 15% of American youth between the ages of 18 and 24 were able to correctly locate multiple countries on a map.

However, it is important to note that these statistics do not apply to all Americans and that there are many people in the United States who have excellent knowledge of geography.

In addition, it is possible that factors, such as the emphasis on education in other areas, the size and diversity of the country, and the fact that many Americans do not travel abroad, may contribute to a lack of knowledge of geography in some cases. In any case, it is important that all citizens of the world develop a basic understanding of geography in order to better understand the world in which we live.

abc3643 · Accepted Answer

It's pretty bad.
I was always good at geography but I've gotten a lot better recently due to some daily games:

INTERNATIONAL

Worldle
https://worldle.teuteuf.fr/

WhereTaken
https://wheretaken.teuteuf.fr/

USA

Statele
https://statele.teuteuf.fr/

WhereTaken USA
https://wheretakenusa.teuteuf.fr/

You can find them all here:
https://teuteuf.fr/
and they keep making new geography games.

Playing Worldle so much, I can now name every country on an unlabeled map of Africa; something I was never able to do until this past week.

Msputiton · Accepted Answer

Girl it's true. I am not good, but my 16yr old cousin. Like she didn't even know 1/3 of the states, let alone countries.

purplepoppy · Accepted Answer

No they just use a different map.

BCA6010 · Answer

Nope, that is probably accurate. During my freshman college geography class, we were given maps with only national borders on it, and told to name as many as we could off-hand.

Only 5 (out of 40) of us including myself had more than the US, Canada, and Mexico listed. Only 2 of us had more than ten accurately listed. I don't remember what the other guy had, but I finished with 75 only because the professor ended it while I was still going. The really crazy thing is that a lot of my classmates had been to other countries but couldn't find them on a map.

This was over a decade ago, but I seriously doubt it has gotten any better. Pretty much everyone, especially at that age, is only concerned about what goes on in their immediate bubble, and if they follow the news at all, they either obsess over single issues or celebrity drama, or latch on to the story of the last five minutes until moving on to the next crisis.

NamerOfStars · Answer

Both, probably- we're not very good at the geography of other continents, but what you're seeing is most likely cherry-picked to make us look even worse. I mean, we had a video game, and later game show, to teach us about geography (and they didn't have the money to give out the prize very often, so you had to WORK to win it); you don't do that unless your knowledge is lacking.

But I'd ask you to to check out the other side, too: get an unlabeled map of the US and go about asking people on the street to label it; see how well they do. Oh, they'll probably get Texas, Florida and Alaska (in much the same way that Americans will get France, Spain, and the UK), but you'll plenty of "Puerto Ricos" and "South Virginias", too.

This is doubly true if you're European; people who think that Greenland, which is ten miles away from Canadian soil, is part of Europe are in NO position to criticize others about their geographical knowledge.

BeMuse · Answer

I took this quiz   and these are my results. You start with 8 minutes on the clock. I ended with 5:11 remaining and got a 100%. Is is blazing fast? No, because it's hard to click on the small countries and I have to think about eastern Europe a little longer. I'm from Florida, USA. You take the quiz and post your results as a native of Europe.

D_Bone_Steak · Answer

I think you're talking about where they ask random people on the street? and they say stupid shit.

If you are this is how it is done... They'll ask 100 people, and purposely pick out people they think look stupid as shit (trust me, you can tell just by looking), and then out of that they'll pick like 16 of them and make a video about how dumb they are.

It works for anything... want to make some wokes retarded shit... look for tink boys and the girls with the colored hair and septum rings. Want to make a dumb Trumpster video, look for Billy Bob who just chucked a beer can behind a car and interview him. Every group of people has their dipshits.

WindAtMyBack · Answer

Those videos are cherry picking. Of course you can find people like that, but you can find them everywhere. In over 60 years I've never (knowingly) met anyone as ignorant about geography as some of the people on those videos.

The videos are most likely real, but they are edited to show the stupidest people.

On the other hand, there is not really a good reason why people should know all that stuff. It's just general knowledge with little to no practical application.

spartan55 · Answer

As an American I can say that this country is filled with people who have an embarrassing level of geographic knowledge. Never heard anyone think Europe is a country though. 😁

bean2k21 · Answer

Hey genius, "America" is a continent. I live in the "United States of America", which is 50 states in America, each with their own independent laws and culture. Your lumping us together shows how ignorant you are. If we jokingly refer to "Europe" as a country then this is why -- it's called sarcasm.

Agent_Elflord · Answer

It’s often real, because if they don’t care about it then they won’t learn it or retain the information of it.

I’ve never even actually taken a Geography class except for my State’s Geography in College, but since I like learning about World History and other Cultures, I’d say I’m better with geography than some other people I know.

LickSmack · Answer

I'm sure it's legit. At the same time, I think they compile the "dweebs" so it seems more common, instead of showing the one dweeb among 10 people who got it correctly.

Then again, we Americans seem relatively uneducated sometimes. Maybe the difference between Public School and Homeschool?

Jay3344 · Answer

I think plenty of people that receive a poor education are bad at geography. There are just a lot of Americans who get media attention for this. Also as a country without many other countries on our borders we tend to focus on our region more than internationally. In general though I would think it’s statistically similar to other countries.

NostalgiaSenpi · Answer

A good portion of people are, all over the world. Nice bashing one country for no reason. If you're Japanese, for instance and have no interest in visiting the United States, would you have any reason to know what the states are? No, right?

Why should you strictly judge one group of people being over 300 million over something so arbitrary as what countries are next to Luxembourg, for instance? This is a non issue.

Astarlessnightsky · Answer

Real, however you would also find americans who are really good in geography  as well as people from other countries who are equally bad at geography.

AviatorTom · Answer

Many of my friends have not traveled outside the US, which is not that uncommon. They don't even have a passport. As a result, they are pretty bad at world geography.

ManOnFire · Answer

Yes, it's true. America's education system is one of the worst in the world. Not only are they bad with world geography but can’t even find their own state on a map.

Dargil · Answer

I think we are. Most Americans could not find Ukraine or Singapore on a map. Shools are only teaching Leftist propaganda now. Get your kids out of public school and even evaluate private and parochial schools. It's bad out there.

welcomemen · Answer

I’m not American but I think I am good at geography but I probably couldn’t name all the countries in the world if shown a map but I could probably name quite a bit correctly

Anonymous · Answer

Today they have commonly available tools called "maps" in which we store such information in the event we need it, as so that we can focus on more practical knowledge like how to do a job.

bayoubob · Answer

It's like Jay Leno's Jay Walking. If anyone comes across Jay doing this segment they want to be seen as retarded just for a 15 second ride of fame.

Anonymous · Answer

It is no secret that the United States of America (USA) ranks poorly amongst other countries when it comes to geography. In fact, the US ranks 39th in the world when it comes to geography, education, and training.

MementoMori777 · Answer

Have you seen our president? The man doesn't even know where he stands, who you think picked him? The American people lmao

Fireguy17 · Answer

Nope, it is something that I don't think is taught in schools anymore, or very little. Many people just don't seem to care about geography at all.

Still-alive · Answer

In my view its not just Americans. and this is just an American bashing topic. Cool. :)

jshm2 · Answer

Yeah, it's why they always fuck up at wars and cause global problems.

worldscolide · Answer

you can blame the shitty school system that prioritizes gender politics and sex related stuff over actually teaching the kids anything.

Anonymous · Answer

It varies. First off you have to realize how irrelevant most countries are to the avg. American. So yeah, a certain segment never bother to learn anything about the rest the world. But that's not the majority.

Anonymous · Answer

Indeed, most American geography teachers in high schools believe Sidney is an African country.

ThomasDavid1989 · Answer

I mean, I know most of the major countries, and a lot of the smaller ones, but I can't say I know EVERY single country in the world

gag36627 · Answer

When you think you are the center of the world, what else would catch your attention

Uannoyme · Answer

Stupid people exist all over the world.

Drdeeznuts1132 · Answer

Most people don't know where Zambia is so yes lol.

gorydetails · Answer

could Europeans name all 50 states?

Marked_Man · Answer

I guess maybe a lot are, but I'm not.

Anonymous · Answer

Stupidity is what Americans do best.

Alex8736 · Answer

high school and college I aced geography

Anonymous · Answer

Brits are the worst. lol

riverrat3 · Answer

You are correct about most of them

AsaKyo · Answer

Yeah

turnpost · Answer

faking

Are Americans really bad at geography?

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