# How well do other nations' citizens know US geography? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 11, 2003, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-other-nations-citizens-know-us-geography/187672 "2003-07-11T08:00:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-other-nations-citizens-know-us-geography/187672/81 "2003-07-15T01:52:07Z")
Spoiler is correct, but don’t cheat folks, let’s have your entries. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-other-nations-citizens-know-us-geography/187672/82 "2003-07-15T02:49:56Z")
I already put mine in! And I was right! No one ever pays attention to me. ☹ 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-other-nations-citizens-know-us-geography/187672/83 "2003-07-15T03:23:20Z")
Already seen the spoiler. I thought Maine was a good answer, though I probably would’ve gone with Michigan. The snap quiz idea is a good one though. This thread is otherwise quite difficult to reply to whilst still keeping answers short, and not sounding like a know-all. I gave my earlier long reply partly in a deliberately stereotyped fashion. Like most Aussies, I know an awful lot about US geography (well more than Americans would expect), but it seems to be fractured knowledge. Some of it would be quite trivial, yet I may miss some obvious stuff. For example I gave the “Cascades” as the eastern mountain range in the knowledge I was unsure. I’d consider that to be a fairly major mistake in US geography, but then again I know smallers stuff like where and what the Everglades are, the names of all of the Great Lakes, I could probably name five to ten US rivers, and if asked to start naming cities and their states would actually be getting down to quite small places before I’d get stumped. Part of this is the very useful habit Americans have of always saying or writing the state name after the city. Even for the biggest, most well-known cities (the home states of which are are equally well-known) I often here “LosAngelesCalifornia” etc come out as one phrase. This is the only reason I’d know that, for example, Dayton is in Ohio. Otherwise, I _might_ only be able to locate somewhere the size of Cincinnati or Cleveland. Giving the state after the city is a good habit. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-other-nations-citizens-know-us-geography/187672/84 "2003-07-15T03:25:23Z")
…which is excellent work for somebody who confuses “here” and “hear”. :d ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-other-nations-citizens-know-us-geography/187672/85 "2003-07-15T04:29:33Z")
I have a pretty damn good knowledge of US geography but then I have a really good knowledge of geography in general. A couple of years ago there was a survey passed around in a geography class that I took that involved filling in different maps of the world with different prompting (from blank with borders to a list of countries to choose from). I was busy filling in places like Equatorial Guinea and Tajikistan while I’m sure other people were busy trying to figure out which one is Norway and which one is Sweden. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-other-nations-citizens-know-us-geography/187672/86 "2003-07-15T10:08:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Neurotik \* > \*\*I already put mine in! And I was right! No one ever pays attention to me. ☹ > 🙂 \*\* It wasn’t that you were not noticed; it was that I didn’t want to give away the answer, as you just did. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![YoudNeverGuess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a587f6/32.png) [@YoudNeverGuess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YoudNeverGuess)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-other-nations-citizens-know-us-geography/187672/87 "2003-07-15T10:39:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tarantula \* > \*\*From my (admitted brief) trips to America, I got the distinct feeling that _none_ of them know where Ireland was. One guy even asked my if I drove to the States !! Yeah - in my amazing underwater paddy-wagon… \*\* 😃 Yeah, I remember we were on student summer work visas and my friend’s colleague couldn’t believe he had to go down to the social security office to get a social security number for the summer. Incredulous Dumb Co-worker: ‘How come you don’t have a social security number already?’ My Friend: ‘I’m from Ireland.’ Incredulous Dumb Co-worker: ‘But _everyone_ has a social security number!’ My Friend: ‘Ireland is a different country.’ Incredulous Dumb Co-worker looks confused… Somehow I don’t think she was the cream of the crop though. Also (and this is a bit of a hi-jack) most of the Americans I came across on my travels there couldn’t get their heads round the idea that not all Irish people have thick Kerry accents. They kept asking me if I was British. I said ‘No, are you Canadian?’ \ My knowledge of US Geography is OK - above average - but not amazing either! I can name 48 states (I forgot Indiana and Wisconsin) and have an idea of where most of them are and where most of the major cities are (i.e. what state they’re in) but I’m not great with those elusive state capitals… ---
**Author:** ![gex\_gex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@gex\_gex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gex_gex)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-other-nations-citizens-know-us-geography/187672/88 "2003-07-15T15:53:11Z")
> [@](#): > > _originally posted by me_ > but I figured that since the northern border of Washington is the 48th parallel (right?) I meant 49th. Really. ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-other-nations-citizens-know-us-geography/187672/89 "2003-07-15T17:12:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TheLoadedDog \* > \*\*This is the only reason I’d know that, for example, Dayton is in Ohio. Otherwise, I _might_ only be able to locate somewhere the size of Cincinnati or Cleveland. Giving the state after the city is a good habit. \*\* Well, in the case of L.A. it’s a bit weird, but in many cases, it’s crucial. For example, you’re right that Dayton is Ohio, but there are also Dayton’s in Kentucky, Minnesota, Tennesee, Texas, Alabama, Iowa, Indiana, Idaho, and Maryland. (Confession: I only knew about the one in Maryland, but mapquest told me the rest.) Even more confusingly, occaisionaly that’s not enough info. There are for some bizarre reason 3 Middletown, New Jerseys. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-other-nations-citizens-know-us-geography/187672/90 "2003-07-15T17:12:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TheLoadedDog \* > \*\*This is the only reason I’d know that, for example, Dayton is in Ohio. Otherwise, I _might_ only be able to locate somewhere the size of Cincinnati or Cleveland. Giving the state after the city is a good habit. \*\* Well, in the case of L.A. it’s a bit weird, but in many cases, it’s crucial. For example, you’re right that Dayton is Ohio, but there are also Daytons in Kentucky, Minnesota, Tennesee, Texas, Alabama, Iowa, Indiana, Idaho, and Maryland. (Confession: I only knew about the one in Maryland, but mapquest told me the rest.) Even more confusingly, occaisionaly that’s not enough info. There are for some bizarre reason 3 Middletown, New Jerseys. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-other-nations-citizens-know-us-geography/187672/91 "2003-07-15T17:18:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gonzoron \* > \*\* For example, you’re right that Dayton is Ohio, but there are also Daytons in Kentucky, Minnesota, Tennesee, Texas, Alabama, Iowa, Indiana, Idaho, and Maryland. (Confession: I only knew about the one in Maryland, but mapquest told me the rest.) > \*\* The one in Tennessee (two “s”, btw) is pretty famous - it was the site of the Scopes “monkey trial”. ---
**Author:** ![cowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-other-nations-citizens-know-us-geography/187672/92 "2003-07-15T17:42:23Z")
Just to note that the European difficulty with N American scales goes both ways. Living in Bristol, people commonly complained about the travel time to London (~3 hours). I was astonished that you could drive from Paris to Barcelona in a few hours. (“A few” in this context = less than six.) Hiking in the Lakes district, which feels to me kind of uninhabited, I was amazed by the signs of human habitation _everywhere_ - sheep and stone walls, mostly. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-other-nations-citizens-know-us-geography/187672/93 "2003-07-15T17:55:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cowgirl \* > \*\*I was astonished that you could drive from Paris to Barcelona in a few hours. (“A few” in this context = less than six.) > \*\* Your astonishment no doubt being caused by averaging over 110 mph for the entire journey, if you think you can do the journey in 6 hours. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-other-nations-citizens-know-us-geography/187672/94 "2003-07-16T00:22:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gex gex \* > I was surprised the first time I found out just how far it was between San Francisco and Los Angeles. I mean, I knew it was a reasonable distance, but I was expecting something like 4-5 hours drive rather than 8-9. **I** can get there in 4-5 :p. Really 8-9 is too long, unless you are really dawdling or hit truly awful traffic on both ends ( or the grapevine is both jammed and weather impaired ). - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-other-nations-citizens-know-us-geography/187672/95 "2003-07-16T01:47:54Z")
This American from Jersey was confused about New York until I moved there for college. I thought everything north of NYC was Upstate New York and I had no concept of Long Island. Then I moved to Syracuse and read the Great Gatsby and started hearing about things like “Central New York” and “Southern Tier.” Its’ a darn diverse state. Now if only I could take busloads of New Yorkers though New Jersey so they can come to the same conclusion about my state. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-other-nations-citizens-know-us-geography/187672/96 "2003-07-16T02:33:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wolfian \* > **Now if only I could take busloads of New Yorkers though New Jersey** As opposed to one trunk load at a time. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-other-nations-citizens-know-us-geography/187672/97 "2003-07-16T02:43:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wolfian \* > **This American from Jersey was confused about New York until I moved there for college. I thought everything north of NYC was Upstate New York and I had no concept of Long Island.** All the NYCers I’ve talked to consider everything north of NYC to be upstate, except for Nassau, Westchester and Rockland. Everything else was upstate. And not worth going to, ITHO. ---
**Author:** ![Shemem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de053/32.png) [@Shemem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shemem)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-other-nations-citizens-know-us-geography/187672/98 "2003-07-16T08:24:40Z")
As a Texan, I was much surprised to discover how far it is from Spokane, Washington, to Portland, Oregon. (And from _there_ I still had to ride the Greyhound clear to Medford. _grumble_) On the map, Washington and Oregon both looked so small compared to Texas … I’ve often wondered about the OP’s question myself. If I’m in chat, and someone from another country asks where I’m from, saying “USA” is always met with “where in the USA?” Do I seem presumptuous if I only say “Texas,” or am I insulting their intelligence if I say, “Texas, in the USA”? Of course, Texas is pretty famous, for all the wrong reasons. But I’m never claiming Louisiana. I don’t care how long I’m stuck here. ---
**Author:** ![Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bren_Cameron_1)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-other-nations-citizens-know-us-geography/187672/99 "2003-07-16T14:45:55Z")
My anecdotal experience with foreigners and US geography: I visited England for a few weeks. The first day, the guy who owned the place I was staying at asked me the question that everyone I was to meet would ask me–“Where in the US are you from?” “St. Louis,” I say. “Where’s that?” “It’s in Missouri. In the midwest.” Blank look. I start searching for Big Landmarks to identify it. “It’s on the Mississipi river,” I tell him. “Ah,” he says. “The deep south.” I realized I was going to have to figure out a better way to describe it. Mostly I just got blank looks, no matter what I tried. One person said to me, “Is that anywhere near San Francisco or Connecticut?” I met one person who knew where St. Louis was. I’d taken the ferry over to Ireland, and the standard question was asked, and I answered. “Oh,” he says, “that’s in the midwest. It’s on the Mississippi river, isn’t it?” I told him he was the first person I’d met who had any idea. I find that my knowledge is dependent on whether I’ve read a lot about a country, or if I know someone there, or if I’ve visited. I assume most other people are the same. Some places I know lots about, and some I’m completely at sea–but I keep an atlas on my shelf to look places up in. ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-other-nations-citizens-know-us-geography/187672/100 "2003-07-16T17:56:06Z")
**Bren\_Cameron** , I find myself making hand puppets to describe where I 'm from, rather than using landmarks. It’s amazing how versatile the human hand can be. Left hand, thumb pointing up, palm towards viewer is the Upper Peninsula. Right hand, palm towards viewer, becomes the Lower Peninsula. I haven’t yet had to mimic the US with my hands, but I feel the day may come at any time. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-other-nations-citizens-know-us-geography/187672.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-other-nations-citizens-know-us-geography/187672.md?page=6)