A recent survey by National Geographic revealed that young adult Americans are sorely lacking in knowledge of world geography. More specifically:
-Only 37 percent could correctly identify Iraq on a map
-20 percent think Sudan is in Asia (It's in Africa, by the way)
-48 percent think that the majority population in India is Muslim (It's Hindu)
And, most shockingly, half of young Americans cannot find New York state on a map. (What's worse, this is actually better than years past. Only 45 percent could correctly identify it in 1988.)
The blame for this glaring lack of knowledge lies in many places: schools, the media, America's location and, most importantly, Americans themselves.
Only half of the survey participants had taken a class exclusively devoted to geography at some point during middle or high school. Not surprisingly, those who had taken a class did better on the survey than those who hadn't.
The media could also be to blame for some of the problem, too. Major national newspapers such as The Washington Post and USA Today routinely mislabel maps (including recent debacles with the incorrect labeling of Darfur and a map showing North Korea somewhere in the Russian peninsula). To a certain degree, Americans can't be expected to correctly identify countries if they are presented with incorrect information.
Americans are also hampered by the country's location as compared to other nations. Western Europeans travel from country to country more often than most Americans travel between states. This forces Western Europeans to speak at least one, if not more, foreign languages.
Ultimately, though, geographical knowledge is a personal responsibility. It's vitally important to at least have a working knowledge of world geography (like, say, where Iraq is and that Sudan is not in Asia). Although AU students are probably more knowledgeable about world events and geography than the average 18- to 24-year-old, they should still take initiative and be informed. It only takes a few seconds to hop online and check out a map.
