Interesting stats but I would not be able to find many of those countries on a map either. I just recently finished K-12 and knowing the placement of countries or regions was never a priority in any socials or history class.Robbie wrote:Among the statistics when it comes to Americans and geography:
- 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 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.
- Seventy percent could not find Iran or Israel.
- 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.
- 63 percent of Americans aged 18 to 24 failed to correctly locate the country on a map of the Middle East.
- Remember the December 2004 tsunami and the widespread images of devastation in Indonesia? Three-quarters of respondents failed to find that country on a map. And three-quarters were unaware that a majority of Indonesia's population is Muslim, making it the largest Muslim country in the world.
And if English is not the most spoken language, then what is? Chinese?