# How many countries can non-Americans name on a blank map? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 15, 2018, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-countries-can-non-americans-name-on-a-blank-map/817933 "2018-07-15T05:35:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Eclipse\_Chaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Eclipse\_Chaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eclipse_Chaser)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-countries-can-non-americans-name-on-a-blank-map/817933/21 "2018-07-17T10:37:50Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Is there even a map with **the** boundaries of English counties? Boundaries that have all been fixed for the last one hundred years with no significant change? If so, I’d like to see it. Of course - Wikipedia has one. Administrative counties of England. I think my geographical knowledge is pretty good. I could name most if not all of the UK counties on an outline map, and probably around 90% of other European countries. Maybe 80% on Africa. I 've always liked maps! ---
**Author:** ![Eclipse\_Chaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Eclipse\_Chaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eclipse_Chaser)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-countries-can-non-americans-name-on-a-blank-map/817933/22 "2018-07-17T11:06:02Z")
> [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](#): > > I’ve seen this item a lot, and it seems a bit biased. > > Lots of those countries in Europe & Asia are tiny! Smaller than US states, yet they’re considered a ‘country’ and we’re supposed to locate them. My home state is bigger than all but the largest 12 European countries. We have a single park that is larger than the dozen smallest of them. > > Ask Europeans to identify all 50 US states on a map, and you’d probably see an equivalent level of ‘geographic illiteracy’. > Most people only know a lot about their specific vicinity, and then vague generalities about countries that are in the news a lot. And even then, maps aren’t usually a big part of the news. I’m European (UK) and I think I could identify most of the US states! ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-countries-can-non-americans-name-on-a-blank-map/817933/23 "2018-07-17T13:16:28Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > If given a blank outline map of Europe, would the average European be able to write in every European nation, or an African every nation in Africa? The average African? It’d be a toss-up: African education is still very much focused on rote learning, so an educated African might stand a good chance. This is counterbalanced by the lack of good education for most Africans. On the whole, I’d not bet on an average African being able to name _every_ state in Africa. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-countries-can-non-americans-name-on-a-blank-map/817933/24 "2018-07-17T13:21:15Z")
> [@Eclipse\_Chaser](#): > > Of course - Wikipedia has one. Administrative counties of England. My point, at least in part, is that English counties are not fixed. They have no sovereignty, so the government can change them around as it pleases. And in fact, did so less than 100 years ago. US states, on the other hand, do have sovereignty and their borders can’t be changed without their legislatures’ permission. There’s only a handful of significant changes that have been made to their shapes, and they all happened more than 100 years ago. As it is, I could identify some counties and make fairly good guesses on most of the rest. I have a pretty good idea of which part of England most of them are in. > [@Eclipse\_Chaser](#): > > I’m European (UK) and I think I could identify most of the US states! American and I could identify all the European countries, even the new ones like Transnistria. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-countries-can-non-americans-name-on-a-blank-map/817933.md?page=1)