Are Americans bad at Geography?
By John Welford
@indexer (4852)
Leicester, England
October 11, 2015 9:15am CST
There is a general belief outside America that the average American has only a hazy idea about what the rest of the world looks like and where the various countries are. The 19th century wit Ambrose Bierce once said that "War is God's way of teaching Americans geography".
That may be an exaggeration, and maybe things have improved since Bierce's time, but the perception still exists that Americans are generally insular and take relative little notice of what goes on beyond the borders of the United States - the foreign news sections of American newspapers are remarkably low on content, except when an American person is directly involved.
What do you think? Is this stereotype true? Or are Americans better informed about the world than citizens of other countries might think?
14 people like this
15 responses
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
11 Oct 15
@MALUSE This reminds me of an instance many years ago when a work colleague was boasting that he had once misted all 50 states, which I replied was not that difficult.
I worked my way through them, thinking alphabetically at first and then by songs and historic events, but still only had 49 by the end of the day. The one I have overlooked was West Virginia, despite being a John Denver fan.
1 person likes this
@Inlemay (17713)
• South Africa
11 Oct 15
For many years I thought because SA currency was weak many couldn't travel - I was wrong - its seems we make up such a LARGE portion of travelers to all continents. South Africans are well traveled and Choreographically knowledgeable people - I am amazed at how smart we are when we find ourselves in the company of Americans, Canadians, Italians, French and even the Aussies.
3 people like this
@besweet (9859)
• Ireland
11 Oct 15
I also have the impression that Americans know a little about other countries around the world. I think I've heard it from friends who live and work in the USA but I believe that every individual is different. Some people are more interested in geography and others have less knowledge on this subject.
2 people like this
@Inlemay (17713)
• South Africa
11 Oct 15
YES - and this is where I have to elaborate because my affirmative YES does not suffice - They dont even know where South Africa is - We went on a tour 4 years ago to Europe - we had 4 Americans in the Bus - they were clue-less on geography - They believe America was here before Adam and Eve - so that means they haven't started the book at the beginning - ha ha ha
2 people like this
@garymarsh6 (23819)
• United Kingdom
11 Oct 15
I can understand that many Americans are not necessarily interested in other countries around the world which is a pity. I have met many lovely Americans some with little knowledge and some with a much broader idea of other countries. I would go as far as to say these days there are many Brits who are ignorant of other countries whereabouts on the Atlas.
By the way isn't South Africa just below London?
2 people like this
@connierebel (1557)
• United States
12 Oct 15
I'm an American, and I know where almost every country of the world is, and all the states too. I was homeschooled, which might have something to do with it. Also, I collect stamps, as many as possible from all over the world if I come to an unfamiliar country, I have a world map to look it up on. Stamp collecting s a wonderful way to learn geography and history.
@TiarasOceanView (70020)
• United States
11 Oct 15
Usually yes.
The next street over sometimes seems to be beyond knowledge
The next street over sometimes seems to be beyond knowledge2 people like this
@Lushlala (4028)
• Gaborone, Botswana
6 Nov 15
I honestly don't know. My Geography's rubbish, and I'm not American LOL
@cmoneyspinner (9218)
• Austin, Texas
12 Oct 15
If a representative sample of the American citizenry was based on my profile then … Yeah! Americans suck at geography!
@tomford (135)
• Richmond, Virginia
12 Oct 15
yes its true all you need to do is tune in to any beauty pageant or late night talk show man on the street segment to see how little we know about other countries or their leaders and how much we don't know about our own country in some cases. political candidates running for president don't even know what's going on and its their job to know. we don't even know the current leaders of Mexico and Canada right now. someone say without looking it up
@cahaya1983 (11116)
• Malaysia
12 Oct 15
I spent some time living and studying in the States and I was actually pretty surprised at the level of geographical knowledge most college students had, even with the Internet and all kinds of technology these days. Many of them didn't even know where certain countries are located on the map. Of course, no doubt some are better informed than others.
1 person likes this
@OneOfMany (12150)
• United States
12 Oct 15
People off the street typically don't know who our vice president is, let alone where different countries are. You ask them to list some of the different countries in North America and they might get the United States and Canada, but completely miss Mexico, Greenland, Cuba, the Bahamas, and so on. Heck, aside from Puerto Rica, they don't even have a clue that we have a bunch of other territories!
