WASHINGTON (CNN) -- After more than three years of combat and nearly 2,400 U.S. military deaths in Iraq, nearly two-thirds of Americans aged 18 to 24 still cannot find Iraq on a map, a study released Tuesday showed.
The study found that less than six months after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, 33 percent could not point out Louisiana on a U.S. map.
Two-thirds of Americans 18-24 couldn't find Iraq on a map? I'm speechless. These kids are prime cannon-fodder for the Pentagon to ship out, fighting a war in a country they can't even find on a map. And you can bet that if these kids can't even find Iraq on a map, they certainly wouldn't be able to understand complex historical, social, economic and political issues surrounding the U.S. involvement in Iraq. And it is not just Iraq here--One third of these Americans couldn't even find where Louisiana is on a U.S. map.
How much do you want to bet they couldn't find New Orleans on a map--even with all the Katrina stories being published?
Now I'll admit that I'm not completely up on geography myself. I know I couldn't identify where all the "stan" countries are located--Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan as examples. I'd probably have some trouble pointing out the obscure African nations on the map. But I know enough geography to it down to the general area within the world, and locate a certain country on a map. These kids couldn't even identify where the most prominent nations are located that dominate the news media each night. What are we teaching these kids? Continuing on:
The National Geographic-Roper Public Affairs 2006 Geographic Literacy Study paints a dismal picture of the geographic knowledge of the most recent graduates of the U.S. education system.
"Taken together, these results suggest that young people in the United States ... are unprepared for an increasingly global future," said the study's final report.
"Far too many lack even the most basic skills for navigating the international economy or understanding the relationships among people and places that provide critical context for world events."
The study, which surveyed 510 young Americans from December 17 to January 20, showed that 88 percent of those questioned could not find Afghanistan on a map of Asia despite widespread coverage of the U.S.-led overthrow of the Taliban in 2001 and the political rebirth of the country.
In the Middle East, 63 percent could not find Iraq or Saudi Arabia on a map, and 75 percent could not point out Iran or Israel. Forty-four percent couldn't find any one of those four countries.
Inside the United States, "half or fewer of young men and women 18-24 can identify the states of New York or Ohio on a map [50 percent and 43 percent, respectively]," the study said.
On the positive side, the study noted, seven in 10 young Americans correctly located China on a map, even though they had a number of misconceptions about that country. Forty-five percent said China's population is only twice that of the United States. It's actually four times larger than the U.S. population.
When the poll was conducted in 2002, "Americans scored second to last on overall geographic knowledge, trailing Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan and Sweden," the report said.
I really don't know what to say. It is incredible.
To test your own knowledge of geography, CNN provided this fun little geography quiz. I got a score of 6 out of 6 questions.
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