Are Americans really this bad at basic geography (a TEST)?

[AviatorTom]

A question was posted...

Are Americans really this bad at basic geography, or is TV misleading us?

with a majority of comments and votes indicating Americans are not good at geography.

Let's conduct a test to see how accurate the answers to that question are.

The image shows a map of the United States with numbered locations of cities in the US.

One of those numbered places is the country's capital city.

Do you know which one?

Please vote in the poll.

BONUS: Can you identify each of the 7 cities?

ONE (1)

TWO (2)

THREE (3)

FOUR (4)

FIVE (5)

SIX (6)

SEVEN (7)

[Twalli]

I can't tell about number 6, and the others are just guesses, because I am not 100% sure about where all cities are in Texas.
1) Sacramento
2) Omaha
3) El Paso, Austin or Houston
4) Chicago
5) Washington D. C.
6) It could be Boston; I can't tell since the circle isn't that good with the map's size
7) Honolulu

[Levin]

Why don't you give them a map of non-US geography?

You might as well give them a map of Martian territory.

by the way, I'm fairly sure I know where DC is but my knowledge is more along the lines of, I can roughly tell you where a state is located but not always exactly.

Cities no, but I could give some reasonable guesses.

[Anonymous]

I did this without using Google. Did I get any right? I’m not American but I think number 1 may be Texas and 7 is Puerto Rico. 5 may be Washington. 3 may be California. I have no clue about the others.

[Opinion Owner]

I’m guessing I got most or maybe all wrong.

[Jersey2]

To be fair, it does look like San Juan Puerto Rico given the placement of the islands which I believe are actually Hawaii but Americans often just throw them in the Caribbean to make it fit the map of the USA since they would be too far West for an easy to read map. It is just understood here that that is what is done.

[_Jenny_]

@AviatorTom He said cities not states

[strateguy632]

Aww you switched 1 and 3 swapped. But you did get capital correct.

[strateguy632]

Cities each dot covers 20 cities! But t. b. h. i can't recall all 50 state names. If i hear a name i can find it. They are not all state capitals so too many possibility. I can *ges 6 major citys.

[Jersey2]

Let’s see here:

1) LA

2) Omaha

3) Dallas

4) Chicago

5) Washington DC

6) New York City

7) Honolulu

I am not 100% sure on these but whatever.

[Massageman]

sounds about right to me

[strateguy632]

Better than me in geography!

[exitseven]

1) SAcramento California

2) Lincoln. Nebraska

3) Austin, Texas

4) Springfield, Illinois

5) Richmond, Virginia

6) Trenton, New Jersey

7) Honolulu, Hawaii

[NathanDavis]

I definitely don't know all cities in the USA

[_Jenny_]

1. Los Angeles

2. Minneapolis
3. Dallas

4. Chicago

5. Havana

[strateguy632]

Nice. 5 is south of florida so good answer but shape is hawaii.

[Cidknee]

Its Austin.

New York City
Los Angeles
Chicago
Washington DC

Honolulu
Lincoln

[Cidknee]

Dc is the capitol of the country.

[SaoirseS]

Boo. Hiss. A couple of the dots obscure too much

[noohair]

1. LA, CA
2. NE
3. D-FW, TX
4. ORD, IL
5. D. C.
6. NYC, NY
7. Honolulu, HI

[msc545]

I can identify all seven without any trouble.

[DeeDeeDeVour]

5 = Washington D. C.

[DeeDeeDeVour]

1 = CA's capital is Sacramento which is away from the coast unlike the position of the number on the image.

2 = NE's capital is Lincoln.

3 = TX's capital is Austin.

4 = IL's capital is Springfield which is in the middle of the state unlike the position of the number on the image.

5 = The nation's capital, Washington DC, is in MD whose capital is Annapolis.

6 = NY's capital is Albany.

7 = HI's capital is Honolulu.