americans are bad at geography - experiment

[2minkey]

the whole sarah palin not being able to name the countries in NAFTA sorta got me thinking.

how bad are we with basic awareness of geography of the rest of the world?

for the brave: make a list of all the countries in the world you can think of off the top of your head. no cheating, though you may verify guesses at the end of the list. post your count. i will post my list/count later.

 

[catocom]

Re: americans are bad at - experiment

I'm more of a math and science guy, but I have learned a few new
countries in the last several years, just from banning ip ranges.

I might participate later though.

 

[ResearchMonkey]

United States.

/thread

 

[Luis G]

Can I? Can I?

Highlight the text...

Americas:
Canada, United States, Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Panama, Peru, Venezuela, French Guyana, Guyana, Brazil, Colombia, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, Argentina.

Europe:
United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland), Republic of Ireland, Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Swiss, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Italy, Greece, Yugoslavia (it still exists? prolly not)

In both Europe and Asia:
Turkey and Russia

Asia:
Japan, North Korea, South Korea, China, Mongolia, India, Vietnam, bunch of *astan (Kazajastan and Afghanistan comes to mind but I know there are wayyyyyy more), Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Syria and a former Soviet Republic which I can't remember its name right now but I know Chernobyl is in it.

Africa:
Morocco, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Republic of Congo, Cameroon, South Africa, Madagascar (is it a country or just a big island?), Mozambique?

Oceania:
Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Philippines

Uncertain if Asia or Oceania:
Indonesia, Taiwan, Malaysia

 

[2minkey]

United States.

/thread

yep. that figures. wuss.

 

[2minkey]

Can I? Can I?

Highlight the text...

a respectable showing of ~70. you hit a few i carelessly forgot. let's see what the american genius pool can produce, without cut and paste.

 

[2minkey]

interesting how the only person that has stepped up isn't american.

 

[catocom]

well that kinda seems like a bigoted statement.
just sayin'

 

[MrBishop]

interesting how the only person that has stepped up isn't american.

Wasn't about to interfere with your experiment.

 

[2minkey]

nah, you should, unless you're also looking for an excuse to avoid the effort...

 

[catocom]

effort?

we're capitalists man...
you probably would get a better turn out if you were offering
"Fabulous Cash, and Prizes"

on the earlier stament...
1 out of 3 here are non-USA, so, not really so surprising.

 

[Gonz]

Do you want them alphabetically or by continent? I'd do poorly on the `stans, eastern Europe in general & SE Asia. (travel is my business)

 

[2minkey]

i did my list by continent... just seemed like the best way to jog the memory. but whatever...

 

[2minkey]

hmmm. peel came by but just shot his usual anti-obama wad. really thought he might belly up to the bar here.

 

[jimpeel]

hmmm. peel came by but just shot his usual anti-obama wad. really thought he might belly up to the bar here.

I wasn't interested. It's that simple.

Many studies have been done on geographic knowledge and United States citizens fail with frightening regularity. Ever watch the "Jaywalking" segment on Leno?

Study: Geography Greek to young Americans

Geographical Ignorance Limits America’s Opportunities

Test your Geography Knowledge

 

[jimpeel]

Here's a fun site for you.

http://www.kids.gov/6_8/6_8_social_studies_maps.shtml

 

[ResearchMonkey]

yep. that figures. wuss.

I thought about giving it shot ....then it occurred to me: I don't need my spelling to get lambasted.

OK here we go.

1. Czecko..
2. Yugo...
3. Austro-Hung...
4. Prussia
5. Catolo...
6. Zanzibar
7. Rhodesia
8. Burma
9. Siam

9, is that good?

 

[Mirlyn]

k


canada, united states, mexico

panama, costa rica, honduras, cuba, dominican republic, haiti, nicaragua, puerto rico

columbia, venezuala, brazil, chile, peru, argentina, bolivia

australia, new zealand

phillipienes, indonesia, thailand, india, pakistan, afghanistan, uzebeckistan, turkmenistan, kazakhstan, nepal, mongolia, japan, china, south korea, north korea, russia

iran, turkey, iraq, israel, palestine, greece, italy, spain, france, switzerland, austria, germany, albaina, bosnia, poland, ukraine, kosovo, hungary, romania, denmark, norway, sweeden, finland, UK, ireland, iceland, greenland

morocco, algeria, libya, egypt, ethiopia, kenya, saudi arabia, quatar, UAE, niger, congo, chad, botswana, sudan, zimbabwe, somalia, madagascar, mozambique, south africa
90ish? not entirely sure some of those are right though (cities vs countries)...

 

[2minkey]

I thought about giving it shot ....then it occurred to me: I don't need my spelling to get lambasted.

again, wuss.

 

[2minkey]

I wasn't interested [in revealing that i'm not omniscient]. It's that simple.

fixed it for you.