# Do You Know Where Iraq Is On a Map? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 11, 2009, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-where-iraq-is-on-a-map/520888 "2009-12-11T18:18:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![manila](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@manila](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manila)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-where-iraq-is-on-a-map/520888/61 "2009-12-13T15:39:25Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > I know where Iraq is, I know that Nigeria is in the north-easternish part of Africa, snip Nigeria is in the western “armpit” of Africa. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-where-iraq-is-on-a-map/520888/62 "2009-12-13T16:02:59Z")
> [@manila](#): > > Nigeria is in the western “armpit” of Africa. I know you won’t believe me, but I know more or less where it is. I meant western, not eastern. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-where-iraq-is-on-a-map/520888/63 "2009-12-13T17:34:10Z")
According to that quiz, I do indeed know where Iraq is, but I think these “unmarked map” quizzes are ridiculous. When was the last time you had to use an unmarked map to find a location in real life? As long as you can find a country on a labeled world map in under ten seconds, I think you have all the geography knowledge you need to be successful in life. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-where-iraq-is-on-a-map/520888/64 "2009-12-13T17:47:17Z")
It depends. On a totally unmarked map, with just borders drawn in, I could find Iraq and Thailand fairly easily. I have trouble with Africa because the countries generally aren’t very distinctive shapes, for the most part. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-where-iraq-is-on-a-map/520888/65 "2009-12-13T17:51:06Z")
I am geographically disabled. I never have any idea where I am, let alone where everything else is. My mental map of America, in particular, consists of a west coast, and east coast, and Kentucky and Kansas in the middle. (“You mean Chicago’s in the middle? I thought it was on the east coast!”) I get lost in Manhattan. Yes, right there in the squarest grid in America, I have gotten hopelessly lost a few blocks from where I set out. I do know where Nigeria is. During my brief time as a scambaiter, I learned quite a lot of the geography of West Africa. However, I have memorized all the countries on two of the continents. I can recite them for you here, in fact. Australia, Mexico, USA, Canada. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-where-iraq-is-on-a-map/520888/66 "2009-12-13T18:43:38Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > Well, since I was in Iraq (briefly, in 1991), yes, I can point to it on an unmarked map. My experience there made a lasting impression. > > Nigeria and Thailand? Not so much. Funny, I can say the same thing about Thailand! As for the three on the OP, Iraq and Thailand without a doubt, Nigeria would be close, my old company did business in Cameroon, which is right next door. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-where-iraq-is-on-a-map/520888/67 "2009-12-13T20:03:10Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > However, I have memorized all the countries on two of the continents. I can recite them for you here, in fact. > > Australia, Mexico, USA, Canada. 😛 I hate to break it to you, but North America does not end at Mexico. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-where-iraq-is-on-a-map/520888/68 "2009-12-13T20:07:00Z")
I thought all those little countries were \*Central \*America. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-where-iraq-is-on-a-map/520888/69 "2009-12-13T20:08:35Z")
They are. It’s a region, not a continent, though - like Scandinavia or sub-Saharan Africa. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-where-iraq-is-on-a-map/520888/70 "2009-12-13T20:41:52Z")
Right, but I thought that region wasn’t properly North or South America. Like the way mapmakers can’t decide if the Middle East is part of Africa or Asia. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-where-iraq-is-on-a-map/520888/71 "2009-12-13T20:44:38Z")
Eh? The Middle East is part of Asia. There’s no debate there. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Urban\_Spaceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@The\_Urban\_Spaceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Urban_Spaceman)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-where-iraq-is-on-a-map/520888/72 "2009-12-13T20:54:47Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > However, I have memorized all the countries on two of the continents. I can recite them for you here, in fact. > > Australia, Mexico, USA, Canada. 😛 Worse still, Australia can be considered part of [Oceania](http://www.maps-oceania.com/pictures/maps/oceania-map.jpg), which includes numerous island states. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-where-iraq-is-on-a-map/520888/73 "2009-12-13T21:35:41Z")
> [@Plan\_B](#): > > The other problem is: Who cares? I doubt that most creative scientists and artists ever spent a lot of time memorizing geography facts. Because if you don’t know where Iraq is, you don’t know about the Fertile Crescent, which means you don’t know how agriculture, cities, writing, taxes and Gilgamesh got started, which means you know jack shit about how Western Civilisation began the long road which led to you. And that’s not just bloody pig-ignorant, it’s ungrateful to boot. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-where-iraq-is-on-a-map/520888/74 "2009-12-13T21:59:18Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Eh? The Middle East is part of Asia. There’s no debate there. What, is Egypt not part of the Middle East now? Most of it is in Africa. **Plan B** , I admit that my statement was largely based on _impression_ rather than fact. I will attempt to find a cite. If I cannot, I will happily withdraw my assertion. I will agree that Europeans, at least, tend to _think_ they have a much better understanding of how the US works than they actually do. I have heard Dutch and German people, specifically, make wildly incorrect assertions about the US. Americans are more willing to admit that they are ignorant, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-where-iraq-is-on-a-map/520888/75 "2009-12-13T22:17:54Z")
[Here’s a poll from 2006](http://www.nationalgeographic.com/roper2006/findings.html) with discouraging findings about young Americans’ knowledge of world geography (besides being able to find things on a map, it also asks basic questions about other countries). Although this particularly study does not appear to be comparative, a 2002 version of the study was, and Americans did worse than every country polled except Mexico. If this is not sufficient, I will do some more research, but not right now. I really need to stop procrastinating on these papers. I’ll check back with this thread later. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-where-iraq-is-on-a-map/520888/76 "2009-12-13T22:20:04Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > What, is Egypt not part of the Middle East now? Most of it is in Africa. No. Egypt is part of North Africa. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-where-iraq-is-on-a-map/520888/77 "2009-12-13T22:40:01Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > No. Egypt is part of North Africa. Well, I am aware of that. It’s also part of the Middle East. **eta:** It took me about 30 seconds of googling to realize that this is debatable. I don’t feel like having this argument right now, so whatever. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-where-iraq-is-on-a-map/520888/78 "2009-12-13T23:10:56Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Iraq: Yes. > > Thailand: Yes. > > Nigeria: I’d be close. I’d point in the general region of the east-central portion of Africa, and hope I was right. Yeah, this is how it would be for me too. ---
**Author:** ![trupa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@trupa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trupa)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-where-iraq-is-on-a-map/520888/79 "2009-12-13T23:33:53Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > [Here’s a poll from 2006](http://www.nationalgeographic.com/roper2006/findings.html) with discouraging findings about young Americans’ knowledge of world geography (besides being able to find things on a map, it also asks basic questions about other countries). Although this particularly study does not appear to be comparative, a 2002 version of the study was, and Americans did worse than every country polled except Mexico. > > If this is not sufficient, I will do some more research, but not right now. I really need to stop procrastinating on these papers. I’ll check back with this thread later. Which illustrates, as does the level of prose present, that the members of this board are not quite representative of a cross section of the North-American population. This is further compounded by the self-selection bias in asking people to voluntarily answer this question. I suspect that most dopers who aren’t sure won’t bother posting in this thread. Oh, and yes, I could place all three, and name capitals too. [slight Canadian hijack - please excuse me,I’ll be really brief, I’m really sorry, I mean it…] **Nava** , you have made a whole bunch of Canadian dopers very proud by merely mentioning our country, let alone knowing so many of our provinces, let alone again by properly spelling Saskatchewan. As a nation, we are thrilled anyone who is not Canadian even acknowledges the existence of our country. It’s because inferiority complexes and insecurity are part of our national character, that’s also why we apologize so much. Why don’t you come and visit us sometime, you already know people here. 🙂 [/slight Canadian hijack - please excuse me,I’ll be really brief, I’m really sorry, I mean it…] ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-where-iraq-is-on-a-map/520888/80 "2009-12-14T00:59:19Z")
Oh, and I know Manitoba is in mid-Canada. And the major city (re: only place where people outnumber wolves) is Winnipeg. And it’s two hours of remote dirt roads from Winnipeg to Narcisse. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-where-iraq-is-on-a-map/520888.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-where-iraq-is-on-a-map/520888.md?page=5)