Are Americans really that bad at geography?
I've got cousin who has been living in San Diego for few years and when we discuss about America he oftenly notes that most of Americans have no sense for geography. He says that they do not even know names of all states! So I want to know is this just a stereotype or people in US do not have adequate geography education
I challenge you to without shearching on internet give answers to theese few questions (In my country this is part of standard education). I just want to know how much average American knows about geography ;)
1.Highest peak of Europe, name and country
2.Two biggest rivers in Iraq
3. Countries that border Caspian lake
4. All counties whoose names end with -stan
5. At least four Japanese islands
6. At least four ethnic groups in Spain
7.Biggest river in India
8. Countries of La Plata
9. Biggest city on river Laba
10. Finnaly: at least 4 Balkan countries
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1.Highest peak of Europe, name and country: Mt. Elbrus in Russia
2.Two biggest rivers in Iraq: Euphrates and Tigris
3. Countries that border Caspian lake: Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan.
4. All counties whose names end with -Stan: Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, I feel I'm forgetting one...
5. At least four Japanese islands: Okinawa, Iwo Jima, Yakashima, Hokkaido
6. At least four ethnic groups in Spain: Basque, Castilian Catalian
7.Biggest river in India: Yamuna
8. Countries of La Plata: Argentina, Paraguy, Bolivia
9. Biggest city on river Laba. No clue.. I think that is in Europe or Caucuses area.
10. Finnaly: at least 4 Balkan countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia, (could name them all) PS. I am NOT American; I am Canadian ;) 1
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Well sadly it's a true stereotype. Most americans don't know all their states, or a lot of other geography. I can only guess it's because we don't have to cover it often. and it's something that you can't use a formula to get, it has to be remembered. Like this: Math is always the same 1+1 will always equal 2. We remember the numbers and we always know how to add one more, and the other forms of arithmetic so we always can do it. With geography you can learn it, and you can remember it but it involves some kind of forethought to do so. Yet in the case with math, we need that often so we remember the terms, but we don't need geography as often so we neglect those ones. That's not to say all of us know no geography, or to say that we don't know any geography at all. Instead of remembering the states most of just have to deal with remembering streets and cities, roads, and boulevards. So an answer to the overall question I think would be not exactly. We are not bad at geography, we have the knowledge displaced. 1
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I agree, America is too big country and its people often have hard time remembering just basic geography about US. It is easy for me to say because I live in country that has population of only 4 milion people, so i can learn geography of my own country very fast and then add information about the world. Basicaly amount of knowledge is same, but I just live in smaller county than US Sorry for my English ;) 2
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1. Kazakhstan Khan Tangiri Shyngy (Pik Khan-Tengri) 7010m (22999 ft) 2. Tigris and Euphrates 3. To the northwest by Russia, to the west by Azerbaijan, to the south by Iran, to the southeast by Turkmenistan, and to the northeast by Kazakhstan. 4. Afghanistan Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Pakistan Hindustan (historical/local name of India) Tajikistan Turkmenistan Uzbekistan Hayastan (native name of Armenia) 5. Hokkaidō Honshū Shikoku Kyūshū 6. Arabs, Jews, Berbers, Romani and Mozarabs. 7. Ganges 8. Argentina, Uruguay and maybe Paraguay. 9. Not sure. 10. Territories whose borders lie entirely within the Balkan peninsula (excluding islands): Albania Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Greece Kosovo (partially recognised state) [a] Macedonia Montenegro Territories that are mostly located inside the Balkan peninsula: Croatia Serbia Territories that are mostly located outside the Balkan peninsula: Italy (Part in the peninsula: Province of Trieste and partially Province of Gorizia), Romania (Part in the peninsula: Northern Dobrogea) Slovenia (Part in the peninsula: Primorska region, Notranjska, part of Dolenjska) Turkey (Part in the peninsula: East Thrace) |
