MSNBC.com has an article titled "Young Americans shaky on geographic smarts: Study finds that many fare poorly at finding Louisiana and Iraq on a map". It cited a study that indicated, in part, the following for Americans between the ages of 18 and 24:
- One-third of respondents couldn’t pinpoint Louisiana on a map and 48 percent were unable to locate Mississippi.
- Fewer than three in 10 think it important to know the locations of countries in the news and just 14 percent believe speaking another language is a necessary skill.
- Two-thirds didn’t know that the earthquake that killed 70,000 people in October 2005 occurred in Pakistan.
- Six in 10 could not find Iraq on a map of the Middle East.
- While the outsourcing of jobs to India has been a major U.S. business story, 47 percent could not find the Indian subcontinent on a map of Asia.
- While Israeli-Palestinian strife has been in the news for the entire lives of the respondents, 75 percent were unable to locate Israel on a map of the Middle East.
- Nearly three-quarters incorrectly named English as the most widely spoken native language.
- Six in 10 did not know the border between North and South Korea is the most heavily fortified in the world. Thirty percent thought the most heavily fortified border was between the United States and Mexico.
There was a link to a geography quiz; I missed two. I’m hoping that only makes me “kinda dumb”.
I found a blank map of the Middle East and was able to locate Iraq, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Israel and Iran but admittedly didn’t know all of the surrounding countries. Here is a quick quiz for all of my readers.
Identify the 10 Middle East countries below. They are: Syria, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Turkey and Israel.
5 comments:
1 Egypt
2 Suadi Arabia
3 Iraq
4
5 Turkey
6
7 Iran
8 Isreal
9 Lebenon
By default that makes 4 and 6 Syria and Jordan and I'm guessing Jordan is next to Isreal so
4 Syria
6 Jordan
As for the quiz - Woman, I only got 5 right. I stink at Geography, I always did. But in my defense I can tellyou all about the Politics in Dufar and I know were Louisiana is. I know about Pakistan and India and I can draw the contenents on a globe for you. I can't tell you what the mst spoken language is for sure but my guess would be chinese? I also didn't know the most fortified border - I would've guessed India and Pakistan or perhaps somplace in the middle east.
Also - I am always astonished at how small the Gaza strip is - it's like 12 blocks long... we have gang territories bigger than that in my home town.
PS My husband is astonished by my ignorance all the time when I ask him things like "Who was in the Eighty Years War?" I just know he'd kick booty on this test.
I spelled Lebanon wrong... and it was right in front of me.
Quite alright. Most common language in the world is Mandarin Chinese (you're right!). Most fortified border is the one between North and South Korea.
I can only tell you the politics in Dufar because George Clooney has been in the new talking about it lately. Before that I was ignorant to the whole devastating situation there.
I knew if you husband looked at this, he would be able to rattle all of it off immediately. It's a good thing I'm friends with him (and you)...I hoping I will become smarter by osmosis.
AND, you did better on the map than I did. I did not know Kuwait, Lebanon, Jordan or Syria.
I didn't even see #10 so I missed Kuwait alltogether.
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