And to put things in perspective: Europeans get to learn about Europe first, at school. Then the rest of the world - sparingly
I guess people in Africa do the same: African countries first.
So why should Americans have to know where Norway is? * [I’ll make an exception to Denmark, **WinstonSmith**. Everyone should know that :D]*
I find it amazing enough that you have to learn all 52 states and capitals by heart.
Again, stereotypes…
If it’s of no interest to you then that’s fine.
Personally I developed an interest in world geography and history very early partly from my schooling and partly from my parents very entertaining stories. I couldn’t wait to get out there, to travel and experience different cultures and see all the places I’d heard so much about. Even now I love to read and learn as much as I can. I certainly don’t feel at all superior to someone who doesn’t know basic geography, just surprised that you could have no interest.
Sweden is the spoon, right? I know Finland is the one that borders on Russia.
Starving Artist, it’s good to know geography just in case something important happens in another part of the world. On 12/7/41, a lot of people were asking “So where is Pearl Harbor?” Pre-9/11, a lot of people didn’t know what country Kabul was in. Before 1963-4, a lot of people didn’t know where Vietnam was, or thought it was still “French Indo-China”. 'Course, they found out right quick, but why have gaps in your knowledge to begin with?
(I wonder how long it will be before every country in the world has been the subject of an international news story.)
Sheesh.
“Unimportant country” = insulting. All countries are important, in their own way.
“Relatively unimportant country” = the truth. Sorry if it offends anyone, but on a global scale and from an outsider’s perspective, Norway is a RELATIVELY–meaning as compared to other nations–UNIMPORTANT country. It’s a small nation with little economic and political influence outside of Europe; no amount of cultural cringing or complaining when Americans can’t point to it on a map is going to change that.
… and fercrissakes, if you read carefully you’d notice that I’m not American. I’m from another RELATIVELY UNIMPORTANT country–and proud of it. Further, I’m quite secure in my pride: I don’t cringe when some Americans can’t name the capital of my country or difference between its states; I don’t complain when George W Bush fluffs the name of the Prime Minister of this country; and I don’t form opinions about the intelligence of Americans from stupid television shows.
My initial reading of that claim says she’s refering to size (as in area).
In any case, Wikipedia says the Twin Cities combined have roughly 6,70,000 people (Min/St.Pl : 380~K/280~k), whereas greater Oslo is 7,90,000. Areawise, the Oslo municipality is 454 sq. km, and the Twin Cities combined are ~300 sq.km.
Never mind the population numbers. I added the individual populations of the “twin cities”, whereas the actual Twin Cities is something larger, from Wikipedia again: although the metropolitan area of the Twin Cities actually includes seven counties and dozens of cities, Minneapolis and Saint Paul form the urban, cultural and economic core of the area.
Actually Norway is probably the most important Scandinavian country on account of its large oil export. …. Perhaps Bush already has it slated for a brisk invasion? Well if so, rest assured of massive support from both Sweden and Denmark. And yeah Jervoise lay off the Norway insults will you. I’ll do the Norway insults here, I’m Danish; it’s my birthright! Did you know the second most used word in Norway is “Norway”? Stupid Norwegians have got whale blubber or their brains and they can’t play football worth shit either and then they speak funny.
I bane daam glad t’ meet’cha, Missisis Pomquist.
You mean talk funny like that, then? 
If anyone here came up with any information on geography without first checking a map, then… frankly, you’re ungrateful. Mr Map was up all night inventing the map so we didn’t HAVE to remember this stuff.
As for “the one that borders on Russia”, that’s Alaska, isn’t it? You can’t trick me with your fancy book learning.
5 (?, 6 keeps sticking in my mind, too), Canberra.
Western Australia
Northern Territory
…and I have to look up the rest.
Ah, I see it’s 6 plus 2 territories, of which the Northern Territory is one of the two.
(Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia)
If I remember correctly someone a while back posted a study which indicated that the USA, while trailing the pack on geographical knowledge, was not that distant on average from many other nations or even close to the worst. I’ll see if I can dredge it from the depths.
I do think it comes down to where we place emphasis in schools, like someone else said. You’re taught to memorize the states and their capitals, then maybe the geography of Canada and Mexico (I wasn’t, to be honest). Even today I could probably place most of the states on the map except maybe some of those New England postage stamps. Everything else I picked up in a grab-bag sort of way.
Also, knowing roughly where a nation exists in the world and being able to place it rapidly on a map doesn’t mean you’re gonna be able to tell someone who yanked you off the street, shoved you in front of cameras, and then stressed you out with questions the correct answer. I know my mind goes blank in those situations and Lord knows I’ve seen enough smart people descend into gibbering idiocy when playing game shows on TV. It’s called panicking.
Just to clarify things:
The Scandinavian peninsula: Norway and Sweden
The Scandindinavian countries: Norway, Sweden and Denmark
The Nordic Countries: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland
Oo! Oo! I know why! I know why!
In another thread, someone mentioned the misconception that New Zealand is “oh, about ten miles off the coast of Oz” or that it is otherwise ridiculously close. Well, the other day I was at a World Timezone website, trying to figure out what time it was in Melbourne.
Looking at the time zone map and with that thread fresh in my mind, I realized, “ohhhhh, they’re thinking Tasmania is New Zealand.”
You know “big island near Australia…” <smackie here>
I think a lot of folks in North America have only a vague idea about Tasmania and most of it is based on a cartoon character. If they only vaguely recall the image of Oz as “big land mass with neighbouring little land mass”, some will inevitably think “oh, the little one must be NZ!”
Of course it’s important to know about Denmark - it’s so tiny that if you don’t know where it is, you might step on it and crush it by mistake! 
I agree with Jervoise, Norway is relatively unimportant. Face it, Willander, our beloved fedreland is a sparsely populated pile of rock with all the global significance of a fart in a jacuzzi. It’s no surprise that foreigners have difficulties keeping the Scandinavian countries apart. A handy rule of thumb is: Danes are degenerate continentals, Swedes are stupid and serious, Finns are drunk, Norwegians are country bumpkins, and Icelanders are just weird. There are also a few rocks strewn around in the ocean here which are so small that only the people who live there remember that they exist.
I remember learning most of the countries of the world in school - those that were big enough to fit on a medium size globe, anyway - and forgetting 'em all a few weeks after the test. I couldn’t place more than a handful of US states on a map, at most. I know the capital is Graceland, though, where king Elvis is buried. The current king is Bill or George or something, right?
On preview: Floater, that’s correct in Norwegian (and probably in other Nordic countries), but not neccessarily in English (example).
Here’s the thing: if you were to film a “news report” in Sweden, or Denmark, or Norway, or anywhere else, and you asked people where such-and-such city or state was located, some of them (no matter how educated the population) are going to get the answer wrong. Obviously, those are the ones that will be shown on the news report, because they don’t want to show that people are informed, just that they are uninformed.
I don’t buy (and never have) any of these reports that 80% of this and 50% of that can’t find France or New Mexico on a map. Statistics can mislead and flat-out lie.
It’s not as hard as you make it sound, because there are actually only 50 states.
All this talk about Norway has got me pining for the fjords!
P.S. I’m the American who bought the Sondre Lerche album- you’re welcome Norway!
(pretty good CD, but not enough songs about fjords)
The results of the NGS/Roper poll concerning geographic literacy:
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geosurvey/download/RoperSurvey.pdf
Most discouraging, that Americans between 18-24 were most ignorant concerning the geography of the Middle East.
I’m Canadian, lived here all my life. I have met dozen and dozens of Canadians who do not know how many provinces there are in Canada. Bear in mind, there’s only ten, and it’s been ten since 1949 so it’s not as if the number changes a lot. A nice, small, round number, very easy to remember, but I’ve met college grads, Canadians born and raised, who cite different numbers.
A few years back I was playing NTN trivia with a bunch of guys who thought the capital of Alberta was Calgary. That wouldn’t be so bad, except the guys were from Alberta. They were post-grad students. I swear to God I am not making that up.
And frankly, I haven’t noticed that many of my fellow Canadians know much about U.S. geography. I would say a small minority of Canadians know how many states there are in the Union, which again is a nice round number and I don’t know how you’d forget it. When I tell people I’m flying to various American locales - I travel a lot in my business - the level of geographic ignorance is astounding. My own wife, who is a smart lady, thought South Dakota was in the deep South and didn’t know where Atlanta was. If I tell someone I’m travelling to Houston they’re as likely as not to ask me if I’ll be getting up into the mountains or something silly like that.
So how come Norway got all the coastline? Doesn’t that cheese off Sweden and Finland?