OK, we all know that Americans have no idea of world geography. Or is that just a disgraceful unwarranted stereotype just like "bad English teeth".

So here is a post off a friend's Facebook page. She was watching Sound of Music and posted this little gem.

"BTW, did you know that Austria does NOT border Switzerland? Hollywood took some liberties on European geography..."

And this is an educated lady with a high flying job and a masters degree. She even worked in Switzerland for three years.

Oh dear !!!!

The best one that I ever came across was a young lady (in college) that told me I spoke English very well and by the way what language do you speak in England?! If it hadn't been said to me personally, I would never in a million years have believed it. Incredible!

I've tested Co-workers before with a map, and they were no better at locating random countries I asked for. Most could not point out all the provinces in Canada.

This is in Canada.

Geography isn't every ones things, some are better then others, regardless of where you are.

I have been asked that a million times.
I love it when everyone says England is "Down there " I never knew England was such a geographical oddity

No, it isnt a stereotype. The average person over here has very little grasp of geography compared to the average European. Last year my gf and I went on holiday to Tunisia, and her friend who is in the midst of her phd at a rather large college over here said 'whats Tunisia?'. I'm sick of everyone saying 'well it just depends on the person' and 'you get people like that everywhere'..ok, well it must be a conincidence then that only in the past year (since I moved to the US) have I met people with such breathtaking ignorance of the world outside!

Does anybody know which beach is closest to the ocean??

What can you expect with the rubbish education system - no child left behind - what a bloody joke that is, and the appalling media?

But what about those bad teeth?

I'd bet you'd have just as many Brits that wouldn't be able to name and locate all 50 states here in the US! Now hopefully my fellow Americans would be able to do that (but I won't hold my breath too long).

We all know why Americans don't do geography. It's because the vast majority will never need to know since they won't leave the border.

Now, to prove that USCs have the worst grasp of geography, we would need to do lots of random sampling of folks from many different countries, and compare the results. I'm not entirely convinced that we are the only people who wouldn't be able to name countries on a map.

Are you absolutely sure that the average American on the street.....taken at random......has ever been told at any time that there actually IS an "outside world"? I read in a British newspaper that 27% of Americans have never travelled any further than their immediate neighbourhood, and an even larger %age have never been outside of their own home state and that the USA has the smallest %age of citizens holding a passport than any other western country. My brain tells me from reading all this that the Americans must be the most parochial as well - certainly when compared with us Europeans.

My mate works as a tourist guide up at Edinburgh castle and he confirms that the Americans ask the most stupid and idiotic questions of any other nationality and say the dumbest things - like one American lady standing at the ramparts of the Castle wondering why she couldn't see the Eiffel Tower from up there. Maybe she had some mental confusion condition but it just reflects what I say by and large. She was overheard by a German guy who then laughingly told my mate that when he was in Bavaria on a vist to the ancient huge turreted and towered castle of the Mad King Ludwig of Bavaria he had overheard an American guy ask a guide there if it had been modelled on the castle at Disneyworld or Disneyland or whatever that place in Florida is called.

I know a guy who lives in a small town in Wisconsin, exactly 2 hours north of Chicago. He's 26 and has never been to Chicago.

I am a Brit and I can get lost in a supermarket! But I can name the 50 States and US Capitals... Ask me where North is and I couldn't tell ya!

There was a kid at my school who had never left our county !
The nurse wouldn't ell me who it was but she said he/She was really exited for this field trip because that person had never left Erie County

I've had a passport for US 29 years so I CAN say from experience that until June of this year you didn't need a passport to go to Canada, to go to Mexico or to go to the Caribbean. Now granted that's not a large section of the world overall, but it IS traveling outside US borders.......... Considering that it takes as long and more to fly to Hawaii then to Europe or Alaska. It's a BIG country, for crying out loud. How many folks in Oz have gone to all of the states in Oz? I've stood in a place, Drei Punt ( I believe it's called) where I could touch, Belguim, the Netherlands and Germany at the same time. Don't get me wrong, I believe travel is broadening, educational and all that good stuff, it's my job for crying out loud, but I'll be damned if I'm going to take this one lying down.


As for the stupid comments, indeed, my first trip to the UK 25 years ago, our tour guide said that he had a person in a previous tour group ask why the Queen had built Windsor Castle so close to the flightpath at LHR. He said "I won't tell you the nationality of this lady, but..........and he winked."

and Hmmph you don't know what THAT place in Fl is called! You're letting down the home team.......

"Americans are far from alone in the world, but from the perspective of many young Americans, we might as well be. Most young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 demonstrate a limited understanding of the world beyond their country’s borders, and they place insufficient importance
on the basic geographic skills that might enhance their knowledge."

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ro...gLitsurvey.pdf