Where does the stereotype that Americans are bad at geography come from?

Question

In France, and I think in Europe in general, there are plenty of jokes about Americans being bad at geography.

bolverk · Accepted Answer

It could stem from the urban myth that only 10% of Americans have passports. But that has not been true for more than 20 years.

Nationally, 56% of American adults own a valid passport, according to consumer survey data from MRI-Simmons. But a close look at the numbers through the prism of the ACP, suggests a complicated set of issues behind which communities are more or less likely to own a passport and why.

At the highest level, the numbers show a pretty clear urban-rural divide. The three types with the highest percentage of adults with a valid passport are the Urban Suburbs at 64%, the Big Cities at 62%, and the Exurbs at 58%.

Those are the only community types above the national figure of 56%. They are all also above the national average for bachelor’s degrees (a data point that matters on travel), they tend to have lots of high-income households, and they also tend to be near major airports. In other words, it makes sense that they are all above the national average for passports.

On the other end, there are two community types where less than 40% of the adult population has a passport: the African American South at 39% and the Evangelical Hubs at 38%. The opposite tends to be true for those counties. The communities that are largely based in the rural South tend to have lower incomes and fewer bachelor’s degrees.

But there are some outliers in the numbers.

For instance, the Middle Suburbs tend to be fairly urban and located near transportation hubs, but their passport numbers are slightly below the national figure at 53%. Some of that may be due to other factors such as lower incomes and fewer college degrees.

The Military Posts may come as a surprise. At 48%, the community type is among the lower numbers here — and that’s in a community full of people who are often required to travel the world. But remember, not everyone travels in those communities. Even in military families when soldiers are sent abroad, someone often needs to stay home with the children. And when soldiers come home from a deployment, they may not be eager to head overseas again.

The Hispanic Centers have relatively high numbers of people with passports. They are three points below the national average at 53%, but the fifth highest among the 15 types and higher than one might imagine they’d be considering their lower incomes and college degrees and often their more rural nature.

But those communities also have large populations that have reason to travel — newer immigrants who have family and friends back in their home countries. While international travel is a luxury in some community types, in the Hispanic Centers it is more likely to be seen as part of life.

Most surprising here may be the relatively high number of adults with passports in the LDS Enclaves. At 56%, the number is the fourth highest in the ACP and even with the national average. The Enclaves have roughly the same median household income as the Middle Suburbs. They have a few more college graduates than the Middle Burbs, but they also tend to be far more rural and farther from major airports.

One big factor is likely the tradition within the Mormon religion for missionary work. Young LDS men are strongly encouraged to participate in missionary service and those trips may help build bonds in other countries and an affinity for foreign travel that lasts beyond their youth.

Jersey2 · Accepted Answer

Because some are bad at geography simply put. Those people then get videos and put on the internet for a good laugh. But not everyone os bad at geography though. I have been to all seven continents and have been to Europe more times than I can count but probably in the neighborhood of 70 times.

Things to consider though, the US is BIG. Far bigger than Europeans think. It is also very diverse in its sub-cultures, far more than Europeans think. One could live and only travel here and have a very varied life and a happy one.

Europeans think traveling in a train to another country is somehow more sophisticated and puts them above which it doesn’t. States are much farther part than most Europeans generally travel.

NY is very different from Texas which is very different from California which is very different from Tennessee and so on. Even Miami, Florida is very different from St Augustine, Florida. NYC is very different from upstate NY. New Mexico is very different from its neighbor Colorado which in turn is very different from its neighbor Utah. Europeans don’t get this.

Where does the stereotype that Americans are bad at geography come from?

This is a “True Size” adjusted for the curvature of the earth

So when Europeans feel superior for traveling from London to Paris, an American wouldn’t think twice from having travelled from New York City to Washington, DC which seems about near same in distance.

Traveling from Berlin to southern Italy would make a German would make a German think that’s a long way but to an American family that is just a vacation car ride from New Jersey to Orlando, Florida to see Disney World. No one in the US would say wow to that trip, they might say take a flight as its easier. The German would likely never think about driving it when it’s a 50/50 for an American.

Europeans watch too many silly videos of Americans making fun of themselves, plus Europeans think traveling a relatively short distance to another country is somehow more sophisticated when its not.

midnightmoon05 · Accepted Answer

Schools don’t teach geography. Families are NOT encouraged to travel outside of their little home.
they still have the mentality that the US is #1. It’s sad… with such ignorance.
Most home life don’t know what’s going on within there homes.
there are the top 10% who knew exactly how this world works and are in control of the other…

I too am a product of the public school system therefor I can say that…as well as a teacher… it’s not part of the history curriculum to teach geography.

my two kids started playing stack the states game while we drive to Florida and they learned themselves… as they got older… they learned stack the countries… as well as traveling a lot since they were kids…

Otherwise there is no way kids will get such education.

so it’s a fact that US don’t know much about what’s going on with the world.

purplepoppy · Accepted Answer

It's because they say things like "Glasgow? Is that in London?" In fact every town in the UK is measured according to It's proximity to London. If you look at American news reports of uk events they'll mark London on a map then put an arrow to a completely random location for any thing else.

NamerOfStars · Answer

The country's relative isolation, the consequent lack of seeing a need to learn about other parts of the world (especially in comparison to Europe, where if you go 100 miles, you're usually in a different country), and the fact that "Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?" has long since gone off the air.

If you gave 100 American high school seniors a blank map of Europe and asked them to label it, you'd probably see them get France, England, Italy, and Ireland correct, and everything else mostly wrong ("You have Ireland labeled 'Ireland', Iceland labeled 'Ireland', and Svalbard labeled 'Ireland'; have they begun a campaign of conquest?"); but I doubt 100 European equivalently-aged people would do much better with an unlabeled map of the US. Okay, you have California, Alaska, Hawaii, and Florida right, but everything else mostly wrong ("I was surprised to see South Virginia where Arkansas used to be, especially since that's not actually a State").

BCA6010 · Answer

Mostly the fact that it's true. When I took a geography class in college with ~30 other students, we were given a test on day one: fill out a blank map (with national borders) with as many countries as you can name. Most (not even all) correctly labeled Mexico and Canada, and a very small number of students got up to 5. One other guy got around twenty, and the professor had to call time because I was the only one still going into the fifties. It's a subject that gets almost no attention in grade schools, and whatever semesters do cover it tend to be restricted to within US borders.

RavVid · Answer

Well having to remember 50 states possibly does not leave much band width for much more geography. Australia is the same size but only has six states. That is only one geography lesson and it is done. More detail increases difficulty if you get my point.

Possibly a lot of people would top out at listing 50 countries.

I don't like the stereo types but I did watch a YT channel which asks college students very basic questions on arithmetic, geography and telling the time from an analogue clock face.

Let me sum up the quality of the answers this way. A lot of African Americans couldn't recognize Africa which you kinda think they should out of idle curiosity.

I do hope the channel is stooged and the 99% correct answers were edited out because it is highly worrying if it isn't. I am hoping for a lot of Americans to tell us it is all bullshit.

andreasderjuengere · Answer

WELL: they invaded France back in D-day, and thought they were fighting Germany :D

Once there, they thought that they might as well continue to Bavaria - heh heh.

Last year I was punished to visit the US (Connect-and-cut) and some average guy knowing that I live in Thailand... mentioned that he cannot read ''our'' THAIWANESE (!) letters.

Arrr harr harr harr.

And this shit is NOT an exception.

Some 'stereotypes' are based on reality.

Let's see what Mr. ''Ironman'' can say about this.

(And again: Arr harr harr :D )

But then: ''geography" is changing with each little land slide. It's not easy to keep track when you're simply not interested.

KostasKouvalis · Answer

It's not a stereotype unfortunately

DextroShade · Answer

One thing I have learned from watching Fresh and Fit Afterhours is that most American women cannot even name three countries. On the last episode, one woman gave Africa, Europe, and Alaska as her answers when asked. Another woman on a previous episode refused to answer at at, stating that she wasn't "good at geometry". 🤦‍♂️

JCIrons · Answer

Not just Americans. A young Canadian friend of mine once said " I wouldn't want to visit Japan, I'd rather visit Tokyo instead." True story.

Simslover92 · Answer

Many Americans don't even know the seven continents. So that's telling in and of itself.  North America South America  Europe Australia  Asia Africa Antarctica  How easy is that?

4ngelic · Answer

i mean i was asked once by an American person if italy and france were in mexico... also deadass had someone not know where china was on a map...

genericname85 · Answer

it comes from social media and the legacy media where they conducted street interviews and only showed the ones with people who knew nothing.

stereotypes that stem from the media are mostly entirely wrong and unrealistic.

DryGermanGuy · Answer

Americans landing in Austria, demanding to see kangaroos and beaches. 🙄

Sonorous · Answer

It's true though. Like with anything, if there's no need to remember it, the brain doesn't waste space trying to remember it.

sheikalana · Answer

I don't know where it comes from but every time I interacted with Americans and we started talking about travelling I came to the conclusion they're a bit lost when it comes to geography.

TommyMountainFigure · Answer

England is part of Europe, but It's not one I'd heard of before.

CrabCakes11 · Answer

It’s because they don’t really teach geography in school

Nifrayu · Answer

I don't know. I've never been good at it. But geographical information has never been something that I needed to know on the fly.

RyanEC · Answer

I hate to say but most of my fellow countrymen are not geographically or culturally inclined.

Mettbltt · Answer

They are definitely bad at geography and history

Valencia23 · Answer

Stereotype? It's 100% true in 99% of cases :)

abc3643 · Answer

Because, for the most part, it's true.

Where does the stereotype that Americans are bad at geography come from?

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