A couple of days ago I decided to write down as many U.S. states as possible (and, believe me, it's difficult, because it is not taught at school over here in Austria!) and I managed 48, which is probably a much better effort than most middle-Europeans would achieve, sadly.

Then I took a map of northern America and tried to name each state's geographical position and failed quite miserably. Especially the states in the bible belt and mid-west's position I had hardly any clue about.

When it came to guessing the capital cities of each state I failed even more miserably. I guessed the largest city per state right more often than not, but many capital cities are not the largest in that state, as I have found out, so I didn't know too many.



This makes me ask:

- What about the American's geographical knowledge about Europe? Would you be able to name the Europeans countries and their capitals?

- What about the American's knowledge about the U.S.? Are there many people who still do not know where which states are? I'm sure that there are enough Europeans who do not know where Lithuania, Estonia, Andorra, Bulgaria and Albania are, for instance, or what their respective capital cities are called.

this thread is slippery because anyone can go to Wikipedia and brag...

that said, Ii'm gonna be honest...my knowledge of the USA, Africa, Asia and western Europe is quite HIGH...but I admit this...the capital of Moldavia??? (sandwitched between Ucraine and Romania)= I HAVE NO F IDEA

so it's basically eastern Europe and the Pacific which puts me to shame...

I also wanna say that, perhaps not surprisingly, I know a lot more about locating countries in a map and naming its biggest/most famous cities THAN being able to say which is the actual capital...

for example, Morocco; I know WHERE it is, I know about Fez, Marrakesh, Casablanca, etc, but right now I can't remember which is the capital...

Dave1992 said:

A couple of days ago I decided to write down as many U.S. states as possible (and, believe me, it's difficult, because it is not taught at school over here in Austria!) and I managed 48, which is probably a much better effort than most middle-Europeans would achieve, sadly.

Then I took a map of northern America and tried to name each state's geographical position and failed quite miserably. Especially the states in the bible belt and mid-west's position I had hardly any clue about.

When it came to guessing the capital cities of each state I failed even more miserably. I guessed the largest city per state right more often than not, but many capital cities are not the largest in that state, as I have found out, so I didn't know too many.



This makes me ask:

- What about the American's geographical knowledge about Europe? Would you be able to name the Europeans countries and their capitals?

- What about the American's knowledge about the U.S.? Are there many people who still do not know where which states are? I'm sure that there are enough Europeans who do not know where Lithuania, Estonia, Andorra, Bulgaria and Albania are, for instance, or what their respective capital cities are called.

many people still believe L.A. is California's capital...

There have been two very similar (and related) articles about this very same topic on buzzfeed.com the other day, one about Americans trying to name the European countries and vice versa.

I think 48 out of 50 is impressive. Personally, I don´t think that one should be expected to know all those regions and their locations if they don´t have to work with this info regularly.

I travel a lot and know both regions very well but I don´t regard knowing the names and locations as a necessity. It´s trivial, really.

[url]http://www.buzzfeed.com/r...he-us-stat

[Edited 11/28/13 5:47am]

This is the other one...from BoredPanda, not buzzfeed, my mistake. But it was kind of a response to the buzzfeed article.

http://www.boredpanda.com...es-on-map/

oh, and maybe central asia, you know, the Stans countries, I don't know shit about them, I only know they're terrible countries to live in...

as you can see folks, this thread requires three posts in a row...

ok, back to the thread

shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!!!

i can't tell you the name of the streets 'round my house, much less

the capital of states.

I DO KNOW, where ever i go, i get around without prollum

no matter where i go i get back

morningsong said:

Nope, I can't but then I've never desired to. I don't get the point of it, reciting names. It means what exactly? I don't have a photographic memory. ok

This may differ from person to person within their priorities, of course. But, for me personally, it just gives me a sense of safety and well-being, knowing where I am and where other people are on the map, which way I'd have to go to land where exactly etc. etc.


Plus, knowing the names of capital cities opens the door to potentially interesting historical facts about that place, as the question "why is Brasilia the capital of Brazil and not Sao Paolo anymore?", for instance.

But I guess this history thingy cannot be too relevant in the U.S. (I jest...)

I'm very good with geography. I say if your are a parent hang a map of the world on the wall of your house. Thats how I learned, it was always there, it stuck with me. Hey so what 2 states did you miss?????

Our junior high history teacher made his students learn all the nations of the world and capitals back in the day and Im still pretty good untill I get into the clusterfuck of what is now eastern europe after the fall of the USSR.

kpowers said:

I'm very good with geography. I say if your are a parent hang a map of the world on the wall of your house. Thats how I learned, it was always there, it stuck with me. Hey so what 2 states did you miss?????

I think it was Maine and Vermont. Didn't know much about that corner up North East.


.

[Edited 11/28/13 14:22pm]

SometimesIwonder said:

Been entertaining myself a bit this evening testing my knowledge!! Try this site: http://www.lizardpoint.co...a-quiz.php I loved reading maps as a child, & I still do. Think it's fascinating trying to remember the facts!! I mean how many countries have a border with Russia? It's more than u'd think! Check it on a map sometime! [Edited 11/28/13 13:48pm]

I loved reading mads too. I remember wanting a big, fat, heavy atlas for my birthday and I was so happy when I got it. I could hardly carry it back then, because it was so huge and heavy, but boy it fascinated me so much.

Dave1992 said:

SometimesIwonder said:

Been entertaining myself a bit this evening testing my knowledge!! Try this site: http://www.lizardpoint.co...a-quiz.php I loved reading maps as a child, & I still do. Think it's fascinating trying to remember the facts!! I mean how many countries have a border with Russia? It's more than u'd think! Check it on a map sometime! [Edited 11/28/13 13:48pm]

I loved reading mads too. I remember wanting a big, fat, heavy atlas for my birthday and I was so happy when I got it. I could hardly carry it back then, because it was so huge and heavy, but boy it fascinated me so much.

owning an atlas is classy

Dave1992 said:

I would think a majority of Americans couldn't name all the states and/or the capitals.

I could name most of the countries in Europe but not the real small ones except Vatican City or Monaco.

kewlschool said:

I would think a majority of Americans couldn't name all the states and/or the capitals.

I could name most of the countries in Europe but not the real small ones except Vatican City or Monaco.

My mum and I play name the United States as a drinking game, we aren't too bad. We are TERRIBLE at Africa though

Class of '77 here. Back in the day geography was actually a subject that was taught. I'm told that isn't the case anymore in many schools...

To me geography and social studies was fun...unlike math, which was invented by satan himself.

I can locate all US states on a map and name the capital of at least fourty of them off the top of my head. I can point out most countries in Africa, Europe and Asia but I can name only a few of the capital cities.

Much easier to learn and retain info if you enjoy it.

^ Thanks to my trusty old atlas from the mid-80s, I can still point out loads of countries all over the world: Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Zaire, and, of course, the USSR, to name but a few.

deebee said:

^ Thanks to my trusty old atlas from the mid-80s, I can still point out loads of countries all over the world: Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Zaire, and, of course, the USSR, to name but a few.

babynoz said:

...unlike math, which was invented by satan himself.

Dave1992 said:

Dave1992 said:

A couple of days ago I decided to write down as many U.S. states as possible (and, believe me, it's difficult, because it is not taught at school over here in Austria!) and I managed 48, which is probably a much better effort than most middle-Europeans would achieve, sadly.

Then I took a map of northern America and tried to name each state's geographical position and failed quite miserably. Especially the states in the bible belt and mid-west's position I had hardly any clue about.

When it came to guessing the capital cities of each state I failed even more miserably. I guessed the largest city per state right more often than not, but many capital cities are not the largest in that state, as I have found out, so I didn't know too many.



This makes me ask:

- What about the American's geographical knowledge about Europe? Would you be able to name the Europeans countries and their capitals?

- What about the American's knowledge about the U.S.? Are there many people who still do not know where which states are? I'm sure that there are enough Europeans who do not know where Lithuania, Estonia, Andorra, Bulgaria and Albania are, for instance, or what their respective capital cities are called.

I could probably name every country in Europe and most of their capitals.

Can name all 50 states and most of their capitals too

Vilnus, Kallin (?) Andorra City, Sofia, Tirana are my guesses for the capitals.

I think I'm close on Estonia, but spelling it wrong.

deebee said:

^ Thanks to my trusty old atlas from the mid-80s, I can still point out loads of countries all over the world: Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Zaire, and, of course, the USSR, to name but a few.

Only Zaire is still has the borders outlined in your atlas. The rest, no longer exist except in history.

JoeTyler said:

oh, and maybe central asia, you know, the Stans countries, I don't know shit about them, I only know they're terrible countries to live in...

What makes them more terrible than say South African nations, Middle Eastern nations or South Asian?