Americans Were Asked To Find North Korea On A Map And We’re Not Sure If The Result Is Hilarious Or Scary
Tensions between the USA and North Korea are almost at boiling point, and after a week full of not-so-subtle threats from both sides, a CNN-sponsored poll has found that 50% of Americans would support military action against the East Asian dictatorship. The only problem is that most of those same people can’t even find the place on a map.
Americans have long been mocked by the rest of the world for their lack of geographical knowledge, so Jimmy Kimmel decided to take international diplomacy to Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. The results? It went about as well as asking a 3-year-old why the sky is blue. We’re just really glad these people aren’t in charge of firing any missiles.
Though the video, like almost everything Jimmy Kimmel does, was meant to be mostly funny, some people took it personally and defended the state of American geographical literacy (or, well, lack thereof). Watch the hilarious skit for yourself below (if you can find it), find out what people are saying about it, and add your own two cents at the end!
Jimmy Kimmel took to the streets of LA to ask random Americans a very important question
Some people just couldn’t believe what they were seeing
Others, however, decided to cut the States a break
What do you think? Tell us in the comments below!
352Kviews
Share on FacebookThe worst isn't the fact that they don't know where North Korea is, the worst is that they were pointing at places like Canada, Australia or all Europe. Seriously?? I don't blame the ones that pointed somewhere around Asia, but some were completely clueless about anything outside USA boders...
Exactly! It's hard to remember all those tiny countries but seriously, how is it possible not to know India, Australia or China?HOW can they point on Canada, its their own neighbour! I am just a kid who hasn't really learned the map on purpose, but I would have found North Korea...
Load More Replies...I am really sorry but this is true. - I was in Virginia with exchange program and working there. And there were other exchange students like me. ( from Ukraine, Poland, Turkey, China, Moldova, Romania etc.) One of our American colleague asked all of us: ' You guys all from Europe, right? We : Ummm.. kind of but no. She : Why dont you guys speak the same language? '' I couldn't even speak after that. How can i explain all the languages and the cultures and the nations. :( I was speechless.
It's unfortunate, but the only real way to fix this is more social studies. America seems only interested in teaching STEM nowadays.
Load More Replies...This is ridiculous. I guess I should let the people who pointed at Asia pass, but seriously... some others are pointing at North America. South America. Australia. However, this video was just for entertainment, and I'm interested in how many people actually knew where North Korea is.
I love the comment about the rest of the world not being able to identify where Georgia, Washington State etc are. That's like me asking an American where York, Peterborough, Glasgow etc are on a map of the UK. What's worrying though, is that they probably couldn't even point out the UK on a world map!
In my state, geography is not a normal part of a public school education. I was angry that I missed out on that and when I was in high school (during the Cold War), I thought the continent of Africa was Russia. I was really embarrassed and bought a globe and studied it myself. I now homeschool my kids and made sure they got at least one geography course and we have a world map hanging over the couch in our living room. I don't get how we have year after year of history courses (mostly limited to our own state or the U.S.), but no geography courses. Understanding world geography is important!
In France this is just History/Geography and since 1st grade to high school this is mandatory almost 2 hours for week for every kid/student.you can learn more by choice but the minimum is mandatory, and the minimum is capitals/countries/world map/beeing aware that worlds maps are differents for geographers, often not correct since this is geopolitical (the sizes of the countries are not real in the "world map as europeans and american learn...)
Load More Replies...A Dutch friend went to visit someone in the US and they hung out with people in a bar. One guy said, 'Oh I've never been to Europe!" and then they continue the conversation, and he mentions having gone to Venice. She asks, "In Italy?" and he says yes. But he's never been to Europe.
lol.This is because europe is a country which has common borders with north korea, somewhere in south america, this is really hard to find it.lol. For the defense of americans, i saw a video about americans placing the names of the countries in europe, and they were not that bad.They almost had 100% on Italy because of the boot looking^^
Load More Replies...Some guy in the comnents on the site is saying a lot of non Americans don't know where the various states in the US are. With respect, at least they know where the US is on the map. One woman was pointing to Canada, one to Australia and, irony of ironies, after decades of war in Iraq one woman pointed out the Middle East.
More shocking thing is, some of them don't even know where Canada is...
It is funny. However knowing where Canada is located might be the only thing 95% of Americans know about Canada.
Load More Replies...😂😂😂 the ppl who pointed at south America and Canada 😂😂😂. Bless their hearts.
New York made a survey asking 1,746 Americans of which only 36% were able to pinpoint North Korea. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/05/14/upshot/if-americans-can-find-north-korea-on-a-map-theyre-more-likely-to-prefer-diplomacy.html
Interesting survey and interesting results, particularly when you break it down into demographics. Thanks for sharing!
Load More Replies...Everyone on the video are like "lets nuke them" and are pointing to Canada. They are not asking them where Azerbaijan is (with all respect) but where is country of their possible war enemy. I bet those people couldn't even point to Russia on map.
That actually made me angry. They have the audacity to want to take military action but know NOTHING about the country. I bet they couldn't name the leader!
Load More Replies...Gotta agree with that, but maybe they really show us only the dumbest members of the society there.
Load More Replies...You may not be aware of every country and their names in the planet if you are not really interested in geography, but, USA might start a war with North Korea soon and they wont even guess the continent. That's lack of interest in general.
Someone once told me, syllabuses in Geography and History classes are mostly about the USA. When I look at this video, I guess that's still the case. That means school and desinterest is to blame here.
But that's the same in Europe: our history (and I guess geography) is mostly about our own countries and Europe. I guess that's the same for every part of the world. We (in Europe) never really learn about, let's say, Chinese dynasties, American civil war, etc. etc. in high school. Or at least I didn't, not much at least.
Load More Replies...Is one comment really comparing North Korea to Pennsylvania? (meaning: "Europeans wouldn't find Pennsylvania so it's ok if Americans can't find North Korea). I mean OK, Pennsylvania is a State, but to me it sounds like "Ok you Americans wouldn't find Bavaria (German region, FYI), so it's ok if we Europeans can't find CANADA on a map". COME ON.
americans are just racist people they dont care to learn about other countries or cultures, this is not about ignorant people is just americans dont care about other countries , they are educated that way since childhood.
To be far you can't generalize all Americans like this. There are many of us who do care and are embarrassed by this. This clip is for entertainment but I believe it is also trying to be a wake up call to some out there that this should not be a reality and if we do not educate ourselves on thing that are relevant we are going to fall. This clip is a reality but not the whole truth.
Load More Replies...We europeans already know the americans are top idiots and ignorants from this planet.
Love how that Justin Chapman guy tries to compare Americans not knowing even roughly where North Korea is, with non-Americans not knowing where Pensylvania or Georgia are. His geography is so bad he things states and countries are comparable. Some of these people couldn't even place it in the right continent. Although I may not have got it exactly right on an unlabelled map, I can find Japan easily and know North Korea is nearby so would have got pretty close. And I do know the difference between Washington state and DC and where Pensylvania is - and I live in New Zealand.
Folks, I know a lot of Americans that can't even name all the US states and their capitals, let alone foreign countries. Also, since the age of Beavis and Butthead there's been an anti-intellectualism that runs strong with the Trump supporting crowd where it's somehow cool to not know stuff. That people like that voted for Trump should surprise no one.
Anti-intellectualism and distrust of "education" predates Beavis and Butthead by about 200 years. I'm pretty sure deToqueville wrote about it.
Load More Replies...If someone wants to make a comment about a world/country problem, first they should watch/read the news, or at least look at memes about it
I´m a photojournalist. Been to USA twice. LA olympics and some stories in NY. I had some conversations with locals. I was astonished about the almost total ignorance of outside world. Have schools in USA? I come from Finland..we have schools. Then I know..Huge countries do not need to know anything about outside world..it`s enough that Your military kills women and children somewhere and so start new terrorists
I can understand not knowing exactly where it is...but you're American and you point to Canada? Seriously? And I think one lady actually pointed to California...where she is at...we're in the middle of a reality show with North Korea...at least know what continent it's in and where that continent is.
You know this would have been even more fun had they used a map without the colour highlights:) without them would these people know how many continents exist?
No problem. I have been to Korea several times and have been to the military checkpoint on the south side of the 38th Parallel.
As an European I know people's thought's on Americans. However this depends on a person. Would you rather try to think about it or show your ignorance and embarrass yourself? People or even kids at school are in my country like that as well. They better would like to get out of the sticky situation with their ignorance then think about it. I personally think that education in my country is on a satisfying level, but when the person doesn't see a profit from the knowladge that it's difficult to blame. We learn a lot of as world history as national history. And the knowladge is really noticeable on some people. Even though it was made for a entertaining pupose, it's more sad that people still think like that way, especially young people.
Well... they teach you all countries in the world and their capitals in elementary school, right? You have to remember them.
I'm from Estonia (a little country in Europe). Here, the countries of Europe and their capitals are learned in elementary school, the whole world and capitals in high school. Nonetheless, at least my classmates and friends ( who haven't studied in high school yet) know the main countries in the world just because we slightly want to know what's going on in the world.
Load More Replies...That question should be asked in other countries too, just to see whether people in other countries know where it is.
I'm french i live far but i knew. this is really sad, an american told me that americans did'nt have geography courses, unless they choose it in high school? In France we learn geography since first grade to high school diploma and you have to pass a geography exam to be a teacher, to enter great university... This is really different and i don't understand why geography don't seem essential to the american system.
Load More Replies...and they are allowed to vote on the lives of others ! very scary ... VERY !!!
I'll tell you this? At least here, in this part of America, we're pretty aware of where North Korea is. It's basic education. I don't know about other places. I don't get why they don't know. But we're not all like this.
Comparing a basic understanding of where major conflicts take place, to knowing the intricacies of state by state geography is ridiculous. No, I (A Canadian) cannot point out exactly where Botswana is on a map, however were my country preparing military action against against them, I'd learn where the f**k it is before I pass judgement on the future of their nation's stability.
You guys know that they only put the stupid ones on TV right? My friends have been asked stuff walking on Hollywood blvd., answered correctly and been cut.
These tv shows only pick the worse answers. So let's say 23/50 people knew where North Korea was, well they are going to go through the other 27 people. And look through them, then pick out the funniest answers. I bet you that a lot of people knew where North Korea was it was just that they picked out the worst/ funniest answers. (them being the editors)
You folks in the US scare me... May I please ask not to nuke that piece of land North of the US border? This is Canada... where I live -.-
I'm face palming that 3 of those people don't know where Canada is. Canada.
I only had geography in fourth grade, but I had to learn which countries were where when I did international shipping for four years...
Don't worry. By the end of the week EVERYONE in the US is going to know where North Korea is. (It's where their kids are fighting.)
They either didn't pay attention or their teachers were not that good.
I always distrust things like this. First of all, television is made for sensationalism. If the answers had been sensible and intelligent, they wouldn't have made it to air. Second, the people who respond to those types of "polling" generally aren't the best and brightest we have anyway - those people are too busy to indulge in such antics. Third, many Americans like to purposefully answer incorrectly, looking as stupid as possible, just to mess with the pollster because they think it is hilarious. If they had asked random people of Los Angeles to point out Los Angeles on a map, at least three out of ten wouldn't (and that doesn't tell you anything about whether they could or not).
I react to that comment claiming others are just as bad as they don't know the capitol of Pennsylvania (as an exampel). It IS different to know the capital of a country that is important, or that at least have their own foreign policy. But it is not that important for foreigners to know each state capital of USA, Brazil, Russia or whatever. So you should be able to point out China and Beijing on a map, but you should not be expected to know that Manaus is the state capital of the Amazonas state of Brazil. So I definitely think you should be able to point out where North Korea is, but knowing where Iowa is is not that important.
That longer comment of Justin Chapman doesn't make sense. He is right when it comes to general knowledge on geographic locations. Yes, I also don't know all states in the US, especially the states I haven't been to. And everything between Washington and Illinois and Canada and Arizona is one big blur of nothing really. So, yes, I do understand that not everyone just knows on a blind map where other nations are. This far I go along with Justin. BUT. Donald and Kim really are steering things up, terms of possible nuclear wars are all over the media and if someone is supporting that (or any other kind of war) and they point at Canada? That's just plain talking bullsh*t and rambling for the sake of rambling and having 'an opinion' just to have an opinion without any interest what the situation really is about. There is a big difference in general knowledge and something so specific that the whole world (kind of) is holding its breath anxiously waiting to what might come. McD anyone?
Well... I'm from Czech republic (the middle of Europe). We are so small. 10 million people. Yet we have a great education. I was shocked to learn how that goes around the world. But I guess I would find people like the ones in the video among adults and seniors in no time... In the end it's about the people, right? Did you chose to learn that? Or you decided you don't need to know where are you heading for your vacation? Your choice, but please, if you don't know the answer (to anything), just keep your mouth shut. You don't save the situation by showing you are worse that not-knowing.
I think I could point out nearly every country in the world, because well... I got geography in like 5th/6th grade, right? We had to memorize a lot of things, and I still remember most of them. I get that most people don't know every country with every capital (memorizing capitals is the worst), and - for example - I definitely can't point out every state + capital in the US, as a European, but I - and I hope most people - have a basic idea of where all countries in the world are. And won't point to Canada when trying to find North Korea.
Still, this isn't only the thing in America. There even was this TV show in my country, where they asked questions to (not so smart) couples, and another couple had to guess whether they would anwer correctly. Questions like "where is New Zealand?" definitely came along quite often, often with these people pointing around 10,000 km from the right answer.
Load More Replies...Two things here. 1) This isn't examples of stupidity, it's ignorance. 2) To be fair to the rest of American citizens... these are most likely people of Los Angeles. FYI, California is to the rest of the U.S., like the U.S. is to the rest of the world.
Let's do it in Wyoming, Alaska, and the Great Texas just to see the improvement... I agree with you on the Ignorance part, this is the scholar system failure, not the brain of the people who was not educated.
Load More Replies...What? This is staged, right? I mean, I get that some people aren't the sharpest tool in the shed but why point at Canada?
Or they think to explore not possible or "normal" where they live. im American in NE & would expect most adults to know Korea is in Asia.
To explain (not xcuse), American social studies is very biased and American-centric. Kids parents teachers don't choose curriculum govt does
All Trump voters I bet. Uneducated idiots to ignorant to realize they're the ones ruining this country.
Americans believe that they are the only race in the world and live in the only country on the planet.
I understand not knowing where all the countries in the world is, but if you believe we should bomb a country you should know where is is. Also seeing how North Korea is taught in all of our history class and most of us know a Veteran who was there during the Korean War. Yeah all Americans should know where Korea is, see how many recently in US history died over there.
There are thousands of people who don't know this, even those who have learnt it prior. Point to me where Sri-Lanka, Cameroon or Tadjikistan are in a few moments and there will be many who won't know either.
The Americans I have met thought Australia was only as big as England.....sheesh! I grew up with geography shoved down our throats at school here in Australia, don't they teach geography in the US?
The ironic extension of that ignorance is these smirking clowns being clueless of the fact that Marxists took of the American education system years ago - an ignorant proletariat is easier to control in their planned world government. President Trump is all that stands in the way.
Don't you think that this is staged? Jimmy Kimmel is known for such "controversial" polls :)
Yes people can make effort outside school to learn more balanced view of world, but people are busy living life & most dont think to explore
One of the comments was hilarious, the one talking about US States and the rest of the world not knowing where they are, he is so ignorant because if he was asked where other Cities of the world are that aren't the Capital cities or other provinces etc he wouldn't have a clue.
the tragedie is that they make mistake and they laugh instead of blushing and try to fade....
I don't agree with the Justin Chapman guy. Trying to name a specific state in the U.S. and naming the U.S. itself is completely different. Like, my parents are from India, and I can identify where India is, but it's not like I know all the states. And the problem here isn't that they didn't know where North Korea was. It's that, they were agreeing to take military action against a country that they didn't even know the location of. If you're going to be serious about perhaps starting a war, then you should at least know what country you're starting a war with. The woman who pointed to China and his comment "You just started World War 3" cracked me up so hard lmfao
That Justin Chapman guy is wrong on every level. it is important to have a sense of geography and, even if you don't know every single state of the USA you should know the capital cities of the world and to which country they belong to, it's just basic, very basic, knowledge. Only an average american or a very dumb and ignorant person from any other place would have this much difficulty with basic geography.
When they started pointing at Australia I was like DONT YOU DARE
okay here are the facts ... ANTIFA (anti fascists) are real ... Liberalism is real ... found this post by a "reputable neutral" page HEAVYGRINDER. Propaganda staged and posed and acted with one goal ... to break down the image of the Caucasian Woman ... note the "actress" with 1930's Fascist Pigtails ... sad that she would act out this posed stage performance selling out her own race ... we at The Modern National Socialist stand up for all races ... from Eskimo to Aboriginal ... we are not faceless idiots ... we are individuals, and we would NEVER belittle one race in order to promote another.
Asian students even know where some tiny a*s European countries are located and even some of the states of US and Americans can't even find a whole country (which is not even that small tbh).
It's not about knowing geography in all. It's about the fact they said yes to go to WAR with a country and they don't even know where it is?
The blame falls squarely on the education system. Geography was dropped as a required subject many years ago, the belief being that people were not going to travel that much and/or knowledge about our world and its fascinating places beyond North American borders might lure our citizens away from the great factory jobs that lay waiting for them once they were out of high school. Read John Taylor Gatto's books to get a compete picture. If anyone had told me I would have visited 30+ countries in my life when I was in school, it would have been hard to believe. I'm hoping to make it 40+ by the time I'm finished.
Ok, that guy was really comparing the borders INSIDE the US with the borders inside CONTINENTS? Does he think Asia or Africa are countries? that comparison would only be fair if he were talking about divisions inside other countries... and if americans can't find North Korea in a Map, i find impossible they would be able to point any State and/or province inside any other country... By the way: I'm pretty sure fewer of them could make it in a foreign language, as many people - me included - are doing here...
Yes, Americans should know where North Korea is...and Iran and Russia and Israel and China, etc. What is more worrisome is how so many of them can't tell you what the Bill of Rights is, who their congressmen are, what the Electoral College is, and what the Constitution says about the right to bear arms, the establishment of religion, what the national debt and deficits are, etc. Ask the average American what was the last book or newspaper he read, the last real newscast she watched, the last discussion he had about a serious issue that didn't devolve into bumper slogans and stereotypes, if she could pass a fifth-grade spelling test or write a coherent note without Auto-Correct to catch the grammar and punctuation errors, or if he could tell you what the Civil War was about. I have to wonder if many Americans could even tell you when the War of 1812 was fought or who's buried in Grant's Tomb. Too many Americans are becoming more ignorant because they are more comfortable with it.
Another in a series of videos to show how stupid U.S. college kids are. I've seen the responses to "who won the civil war" ( no one got it right - but they all knew who some character from Jersey Shore was). Then it occurred t me that they probably edit out people that get the questions right because where is the entertainment value in that? But....I am certainly not defending the stupidity of our college kids
To the comment by Ellen Kemp: you do know a lot of geography but manners? Not so much. There are nicer ways of saying "you are stupid", don't you think?
Well I do know where North Korea is, and Washington State v Washington DC etc etc. I was educated in another country and I'm an immigrant. In fairness, countries come and go; although it's pretty alarming if Americans don't know where Canada is... What alarms me more, is people on the whole (here and elsewhere) have so little knowledge of or interest in, the earth generally, little idea of how it functions, what causes natural phenomena like tides, eclipses, storms etc. It's not like we have anywhere else we can go... Earth is our one and only life support system. Species also come and go too, and I do sometimes wonder if we will last as long as the dinosaurs did. True story: at my immigration interview the officer asked me what I was qualified in and I told him I'm a geologist. He asked me if I could fix their office air conditioning system...
Although I do wish he'd found as many geographically challenged males as females.. the clip is a little unbalanced gender-wise.
Load More Replies...Comments make me laugh, every real human being ive ever spoken to could atleast give you the rough geography of the planet. There really is no excuse not to. Dont blame americans though, they're parodixcally insular by dint of their geography despite being a softpowerempire. Its like most americans ive ever spoken to online are also accent deaf. Im from Manchester, noone has ever thought I am, usually ask me if im australian or Scottish xD
Yeah there should really be more emphasis on world geography in US schools! We're a product of our environment!
The people pointing to the Artic or Canada or South America had me face palming!
Pathetic and embarrassing. (If it's true) I believe some people deliberately act dumb for TV b/c they have a better chance of getting on air
Those guys who are saying we should know certain specific states in the US are absurd like really.....we know where the US is and it's a Country but can you point out cities in other countries??? This was a question of countries not cities... At least know that it's somewhere in Asia ......most Americans don't even know if Africa is a country or a continent
Since Trump has the codes, let's hope he isn't aiming The bombs. I actually like most of the world.
To the dude that said people wouldn't find Georgia, I say how stupid are you! It's fair to say people outside of US might not know where Georgia is because it is one of 50 states. North Korea is a COUNTRY! Not to mention, that Nort Zkorea is on the news ever day now due to the threat against America. I doubt Georgia is in the news because of their peaches!
I learned where both Koreas are in my grade school. The grade schoo, by the way, was in Poland
To be fair, it's not only Americans. We had a show here where an interviewer went to popular holiday spots and asked the folks to point on a map where they are. The results weren't much better. I mean even a Dutch person that points to Spain while he was actually in Germany... (In reference that would be similar to a person from Indiana visiting Chicago, Illinois and pointing to Florida)
"Ask people in most any country where Pennsylvania or George is and they won't be able to tell you." Hate to break it to you buddy, but the US isn't comprised of a bunch of smaller countries, whereas Europe is. A state, province, city or county do not equate with a country.
Justin Chapman comment was epic to me 😂 comparing knowing a country to a state in US..yup its the same level right 😎
Look at all of you hearing people who are well - educated and don't know where North Korea is??? OMG!! I am sure many low - educated deaf people know where it is than all of you do!!! No wonder all of you hearing people have POOR school attendance than we deaf people do because we love go to school to be in the community. You all are cheaters to get many opportunity getting jobs while we are treated like 2nd or 3rd class civilians!! I know Iran's language is Farsi and Cambodia's language is Khmer!!! I am deaf!!! What if all of you got lost out of nowhere??? Think about it, dumbo!!!! Unbelievable!! WoW!!!
I'd like to point out that the video showed maybe four people answering the question. Usually there are more people. That suggests to me they asked a lot of people who did know the answer.
Well, I don't know where Korea is exactly, but I know the general whereabouts, I mean geography knowledge can go easily as far as knowing the bloody continents... I am not a very geographically adept person but I could possibly tell you the shape and location of most European countries, and major countries around the world, just don't ask me to tell you where's Iraq and Iran or what's the different names of African nations, or where Korea is, it might take me time. My point is, I get how people don't know, but everyone knows where blooming Canada and Alaska is even if you're not an American...
Couple of years ago a dutch tv show asked dutch people who were on vacation in Spain to point at Spain on a map of Europe....several had no idea where it was ;-)
It's important that few of them who matter know where it is and know what to do with it.
It's a persons right to stay uneducated. This doesn't make them less or more. They are just human, and yes, Americans are humans too.
It makes them LESS. In the information age, ignorance is a choice.
Load More Replies...this is one of the laziest and most used gotcha attempts of all time.
some people know,some don't , it's everywhere and It is up to individual.
Some people know, some don't and it is everywhere and is up to an individual.
Yes. There are. Plenty of them, in fact. But N. Korea is definitely not one of them.
Load More Replies...The worst isn't the fact that they don't know where North Korea is, the worst is that they were pointing at places like Canada, Australia or all Europe. Seriously?? I don't blame the ones that pointed somewhere around Asia, but some were completely clueless about anything outside USA boders...
Exactly! It's hard to remember all those tiny countries but seriously, how is it possible not to know India, Australia or China?HOW can they point on Canada, its their own neighbour! I am just a kid who hasn't really learned the map on purpose, but I would have found North Korea...
Load More Replies...I am really sorry but this is true. - I was in Virginia with exchange program and working there. And there were other exchange students like me. ( from Ukraine, Poland, Turkey, China, Moldova, Romania etc.) One of our American colleague asked all of us: ' You guys all from Europe, right? We : Ummm.. kind of but no. She : Why dont you guys speak the same language? '' I couldn't even speak after that. How can i explain all the languages and the cultures and the nations. :( I was speechless.
It's unfortunate, but the only real way to fix this is more social studies. America seems only interested in teaching STEM nowadays.
Load More Replies...This is ridiculous. I guess I should let the people who pointed at Asia pass, but seriously... some others are pointing at North America. South America. Australia. However, this video was just for entertainment, and I'm interested in how many people actually knew where North Korea is.
I love the comment about the rest of the world not being able to identify where Georgia, Washington State etc are. That's like me asking an American where York, Peterborough, Glasgow etc are on a map of the UK. What's worrying though, is that they probably couldn't even point out the UK on a world map!
In my state, geography is not a normal part of a public school education. I was angry that I missed out on that and when I was in high school (during the Cold War), I thought the continent of Africa was Russia. I was really embarrassed and bought a globe and studied it myself. I now homeschool my kids and made sure they got at least one geography course and we have a world map hanging over the couch in our living room. I don't get how we have year after year of history courses (mostly limited to our own state or the U.S.), but no geography courses. Understanding world geography is important!
In France this is just History/Geography and since 1st grade to high school this is mandatory almost 2 hours for week for every kid/student.you can learn more by choice but the minimum is mandatory, and the minimum is capitals/countries/world map/beeing aware that worlds maps are differents for geographers, often not correct since this is geopolitical (the sizes of the countries are not real in the "world map as europeans and american learn...)
Load More Replies...A Dutch friend went to visit someone in the US and they hung out with people in a bar. One guy said, 'Oh I've never been to Europe!" and then they continue the conversation, and he mentions having gone to Venice. She asks, "In Italy?" and he says yes. But he's never been to Europe.
lol.This is because europe is a country which has common borders with north korea, somewhere in south america, this is really hard to find it.lol. For the defense of americans, i saw a video about americans placing the names of the countries in europe, and they were not that bad.They almost had 100% on Italy because of the boot looking^^
Load More Replies...Some guy in the comnents on the site is saying a lot of non Americans don't know where the various states in the US are. With respect, at least they know where the US is on the map. One woman was pointing to Canada, one to Australia and, irony of ironies, after decades of war in Iraq one woman pointed out the Middle East.
More shocking thing is, some of them don't even know where Canada is...
It is funny. However knowing where Canada is located might be the only thing 95% of Americans know about Canada.
Load More Replies...😂😂😂 the ppl who pointed at south America and Canada 😂😂😂. Bless their hearts.
New York made a survey asking 1,746 Americans of which only 36% were able to pinpoint North Korea. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/05/14/upshot/if-americans-can-find-north-korea-on-a-map-theyre-more-likely-to-prefer-diplomacy.html
Interesting survey and interesting results, particularly when you break it down into demographics. Thanks for sharing!
Load More Replies...Everyone on the video are like "lets nuke them" and are pointing to Canada. They are not asking them where Azerbaijan is (with all respect) but where is country of their possible war enemy. I bet those people couldn't even point to Russia on map.
That actually made me angry. They have the audacity to want to take military action but know NOTHING about the country. I bet they couldn't name the leader!
Load More Replies...Gotta agree with that, but maybe they really show us only the dumbest members of the society there.
Load More Replies...You may not be aware of every country and their names in the planet if you are not really interested in geography, but, USA might start a war with North Korea soon and they wont even guess the continent. That's lack of interest in general.
Someone once told me, syllabuses in Geography and History classes are mostly about the USA. When I look at this video, I guess that's still the case. That means school and desinterest is to blame here.
But that's the same in Europe: our history (and I guess geography) is mostly about our own countries and Europe. I guess that's the same for every part of the world. We (in Europe) never really learn about, let's say, Chinese dynasties, American civil war, etc. etc. in high school. Or at least I didn't, not much at least.
Load More Replies...Is one comment really comparing North Korea to Pennsylvania? (meaning: "Europeans wouldn't find Pennsylvania so it's ok if Americans can't find North Korea). I mean OK, Pennsylvania is a State, but to me it sounds like "Ok you Americans wouldn't find Bavaria (German region, FYI), so it's ok if we Europeans can't find CANADA on a map". COME ON.
americans are just racist people they dont care to learn about other countries or cultures, this is not about ignorant people is just americans dont care about other countries , they are educated that way since childhood.
To be far you can't generalize all Americans like this. There are many of us who do care and are embarrassed by this. This clip is for entertainment but I believe it is also trying to be a wake up call to some out there that this should not be a reality and if we do not educate ourselves on thing that are relevant we are going to fall. This clip is a reality but not the whole truth.
Load More Replies...We europeans already know the americans are top idiots and ignorants from this planet.
Love how that Justin Chapman guy tries to compare Americans not knowing even roughly where North Korea is, with non-Americans not knowing where Pensylvania or Georgia are. His geography is so bad he things states and countries are comparable. Some of these people couldn't even place it in the right continent. Although I may not have got it exactly right on an unlabelled map, I can find Japan easily and know North Korea is nearby so would have got pretty close. And I do know the difference between Washington state and DC and where Pensylvania is - and I live in New Zealand.
Folks, I know a lot of Americans that can't even name all the US states and their capitals, let alone foreign countries. Also, since the age of Beavis and Butthead there's been an anti-intellectualism that runs strong with the Trump supporting crowd where it's somehow cool to not know stuff. That people like that voted for Trump should surprise no one.
Anti-intellectualism and distrust of "education" predates Beavis and Butthead by about 200 years. I'm pretty sure deToqueville wrote about it.
Load More Replies...If someone wants to make a comment about a world/country problem, first they should watch/read the news, or at least look at memes about it
I´m a photojournalist. Been to USA twice. LA olympics and some stories in NY. I had some conversations with locals. I was astonished about the almost total ignorance of outside world. Have schools in USA? I come from Finland..we have schools. Then I know..Huge countries do not need to know anything about outside world..it`s enough that Your military kills women and children somewhere and so start new terrorists
I can understand not knowing exactly where it is...but you're American and you point to Canada? Seriously? And I think one lady actually pointed to California...where she is at...we're in the middle of a reality show with North Korea...at least know what continent it's in and where that continent is.
You know this would have been even more fun had they used a map without the colour highlights:) without them would these people know how many continents exist?
No problem. I have been to Korea several times and have been to the military checkpoint on the south side of the 38th Parallel.
As an European I know people's thought's on Americans. However this depends on a person. Would you rather try to think about it or show your ignorance and embarrass yourself? People or even kids at school are in my country like that as well. They better would like to get out of the sticky situation with their ignorance then think about it. I personally think that education in my country is on a satisfying level, but when the person doesn't see a profit from the knowladge that it's difficult to blame. We learn a lot of as world history as national history. And the knowladge is really noticeable on some people. Even though it was made for a entertaining pupose, it's more sad that people still think like that way, especially young people.
Well... they teach you all countries in the world and their capitals in elementary school, right? You have to remember them.
I'm from Estonia (a little country in Europe). Here, the countries of Europe and their capitals are learned in elementary school, the whole world and capitals in high school. Nonetheless, at least my classmates and friends ( who haven't studied in high school yet) know the main countries in the world just because we slightly want to know what's going on in the world.
Load More Replies...That question should be asked in other countries too, just to see whether people in other countries know where it is.
I'm french i live far but i knew. this is really sad, an american told me that americans did'nt have geography courses, unless they choose it in high school? In France we learn geography since first grade to high school diploma and you have to pass a geography exam to be a teacher, to enter great university... This is really different and i don't understand why geography don't seem essential to the american system.
Load More Replies...and they are allowed to vote on the lives of others ! very scary ... VERY !!!
I'll tell you this? At least here, in this part of America, we're pretty aware of where North Korea is. It's basic education. I don't know about other places. I don't get why they don't know. But we're not all like this.
Comparing a basic understanding of where major conflicts take place, to knowing the intricacies of state by state geography is ridiculous. No, I (A Canadian) cannot point out exactly where Botswana is on a map, however were my country preparing military action against against them, I'd learn where the f**k it is before I pass judgement on the future of their nation's stability.
You guys know that they only put the stupid ones on TV right? My friends have been asked stuff walking on Hollywood blvd., answered correctly and been cut.
These tv shows only pick the worse answers. So let's say 23/50 people knew where North Korea was, well they are going to go through the other 27 people. And look through them, then pick out the funniest answers. I bet you that a lot of people knew where North Korea was it was just that they picked out the worst/ funniest answers. (them being the editors)
You folks in the US scare me... May I please ask not to nuke that piece of land North of the US border? This is Canada... where I live -.-
I'm face palming that 3 of those people don't know where Canada is. Canada.
I only had geography in fourth grade, but I had to learn which countries were where when I did international shipping for four years...
Don't worry. By the end of the week EVERYONE in the US is going to know where North Korea is. (It's where their kids are fighting.)
They either didn't pay attention or their teachers were not that good.
I always distrust things like this. First of all, television is made for sensationalism. If the answers had been sensible and intelligent, they wouldn't have made it to air. Second, the people who respond to those types of "polling" generally aren't the best and brightest we have anyway - those people are too busy to indulge in such antics. Third, many Americans like to purposefully answer incorrectly, looking as stupid as possible, just to mess with the pollster because they think it is hilarious. If they had asked random people of Los Angeles to point out Los Angeles on a map, at least three out of ten wouldn't (and that doesn't tell you anything about whether they could or not).
I react to that comment claiming others are just as bad as they don't know the capitol of Pennsylvania (as an exampel). It IS different to know the capital of a country that is important, or that at least have their own foreign policy. But it is not that important for foreigners to know each state capital of USA, Brazil, Russia or whatever. So you should be able to point out China and Beijing on a map, but you should not be expected to know that Manaus is the state capital of the Amazonas state of Brazil. So I definitely think you should be able to point out where North Korea is, but knowing where Iowa is is not that important.
That longer comment of Justin Chapman doesn't make sense. He is right when it comes to general knowledge on geographic locations. Yes, I also don't know all states in the US, especially the states I haven't been to. And everything between Washington and Illinois and Canada and Arizona is one big blur of nothing really. So, yes, I do understand that not everyone just knows on a blind map where other nations are. This far I go along with Justin. BUT. Donald and Kim really are steering things up, terms of possible nuclear wars are all over the media and if someone is supporting that (or any other kind of war) and they point at Canada? That's just plain talking bullsh*t and rambling for the sake of rambling and having 'an opinion' just to have an opinion without any interest what the situation really is about. There is a big difference in general knowledge and something so specific that the whole world (kind of) is holding its breath anxiously waiting to what might come. McD anyone?
Well... I'm from Czech republic (the middle of Europe). We are so small. 10 million people. Yet we have a great education. I was shocked to learn how that goes around the world. But I guess I would find people like the ones in the video among adults and seniors in no time... In the end it's about the people, right? Did you chose to learn that? Or you decided you don't need to know where are you heading for your vacation? Your choice, but please, if you don't know the answer (to anything), just keep your mouth shut. You don't save the situation by showing you are worse that not-knowing.
I think I could point out nearly every country in the world, because well... I got geography in like 5th/6th grade, right? We had to memorize a lot of things, and I still remember most of them. I get that most people don't know every country with every capital (memorizing capitals is the worst), and - for example - I definitely can't point out every state + capital in the US, as a European, but I - and I hope most people - have a basic idea of where all countries in the world are. And won't point to Canada when trying to find North Korea.
Still, this isn't only the thing in America. There even was this TV show in my country, where they asked questions to (not so smart) couples, and another couple had to guess whether they would anwer correctly. Questions like "where is New Zealand?" definitely came along quite often, often with these people pointing around 10,000 km from the right answer.
Load More Replies...Two things here. 1) This isn't examples of stupidity, it's ignorance. 2) To be fair to the rest of American citizens... these are most likely people of Los Angeles. FYI, California is to the rest of the U.S., like the U.S. is to the rest of the world.
Let's do it in Wyoming, Alaska, and the Great Texas just to see the improvement... I agree with you on the Ignorance part, this is the scholar system failure, not the brain of the people who was not educated.
Load More Replies...What? This is staged, right? I mean, I get that some people aren't the sharpest tool in the shed but why point at Canada?
Or they think to explore not possible or "normal" where they live. im American in NE & would expect most adults to know Korea is in Asia.
To explain (not xcuse), American social studies is very biased and American-centric. Kids parents teachers don't choose curriculum govt does
All Trump voters I bet. Uneducated idiots to ignorant to realize they're the ones ruining this country.
Americans believe that they are the only race in the world and live in the only country on the planet.
I understand not knowing where all the countries in the world is, but if you believe we should bomb a country you should know where is is. Also seeing how North Korea is taught in all of our history class and most of us know a Veteran who was there during the Korean War. Yeah all Americans should know where Korea is, see how many recently in US history died over there.
There are thousands of people who don't know this, even those who have learnt it prior. Point to me where Sri-Lanka, Cameroon or Tadjikistan are in a few moments and there will be many who won't know either.
The Americans I have met thought Australia was only as big as England.....sheesh! I grew up with geography shoved down our throats at school here in Australia, don't they teach geography in the US?
The ironic extension of that ignorance is these smirking clowns being clueless of the fact that Marxists took of the American education system years ago - an ignorant proletariat is easier to control in their planned world government. President Trump is all that stands in the way.
Don't you think that this is staged? Jimmy Kimmel is known for such "controversial" polls :)
Yes people can make effort outside school to learn more balanced view of world, but people are busy living life & most dont think to explore
One of the comments was hilarious, the one talking about US States and the rest of the world not knowing where they are, he is so ignorant because if he was asked where other Cities of the world are that aren't the Capital cities or other provinces etc he wouldn't have a clue.
the tragedie is that they make mistake and they laugh instead of blushing and try to fade....
I don't agree with the Justin Chapman guy. Trying to name a specific state in the U.S. and naming the U.S. itself is completely different. Like, my parents are from India, and I can identify where India is, but it's not like I know all the states. And the problem here isn't that they didn't know where North Korea was. It's that, they were agreeing to take military action against a country that they didn't even know the location of. If you're going to be serious about perhaps starting a war, then you should at least know what country you're starting a war with. The woman who pointed to China and his comment "You just started World War 3" cracked me up so hard lmfao
That Justin Chapman guy is wrong on every level. it is important to have a sense of geography and, even if you don't know every single state of the USA you should know the capital cities of the world and to which country they belong to, it's just basic, very basic, knowledge. Only an average american or a very dumb and ignorant person from any other place would have this much difficulty with basic geography.
When they started pointing at Australia I was like DONT YOU DARE
okay here are the facts ... ANTIFA (anti fascists) are real ... Liberalism is real ... found this post by a "reputable neutral" page HEAVYGRINDER. Propaganda staged and posed and acted with one goal ... to break down the image of the Caucasian Woman ... note the "actress" with 1930's Fascist Pigtails ... sad that she would act out this posed stage performance selling out her own race ... we at The Modern National Socialist stand up for all races ... from Eskimo to Aboriginal ... we are not faceless idiots ... we are individuals, and we would NEVER belittle one race in order to promote another.
Asian students even know where some tiny a*s European countries are located and even some of the states of US and Americans can't even find a whole country (which is not even that small tbh).
It's not about knowing geography in all. It's about the fact they said yes to go to WAR with a country and they don't even know where it is?
The blame falls squarely on the education system. Geography was dropped as a required subject many years ago, the belief being that people were not going to travel that much and/or knowledge about our world and its fascinating places beyond North American borders might lure our citizens away from the great factory jobs that lay waiting for them once they were out of high school. Read John Taylor Gatto's books to get a compete picture. If anyone had told me I would have visited 30+ countries in my life when I was in school, it would have been hard to believe. I'm hoping to make it 40+ by the time I'm finished.
Ok, that guy was really comparing the borders INSIDE the US with the borders inside CONTINENTS? Does he think Asia or Africa are countries? that comparison would only be fair if he were talking about divisions inside other countries... and if americans can't find North Korea in a Map, i find impossible they would be able to point any State and/or province inside any other country... By the way: I'm pretty sure fewer of them could make it in a foreign language, as many people - me included - are doing here...
Yes, Americans should know where North Korea is...and Iran and Russia and Israel and China, etc. What is more worrisome is how so many of them can't tell you what the Bill of Rights is, who their congressmen are, what the Electoral College is, and what the Constitution says about the right to bear arms, the establishment of religion, what the national debt and deficits are, etc. Ask the average American what was the last book or newspaper he read, the last real newscast she watched, the last discussion he had about a serious issue that didn't devolve into bumper slogans and stereotypes, if she could pass a fifth-grade spelling test or write a coherent note without Auto-Correct to catch the grammar and punctuation errors, or if he could tell you what the Civil War was about. I have to wonder if many Americans could even tell you when the War of 1812 was fought or who's buried in Grant's Tomb. Too many Americans are becoming more ignorant because they are more comfortable with it.
Another in a series of videos to show how stupid U.S. college kids are. I've seen the responses to "who won the civil war" ( no one got it right - but they all knew who some character from Jersey Shore was). Then it occurred t me that they probably edit out people that get the questions right because where is the entertainment value in that? But....I am certainly not defending the stupidity of our college kids
To the comment by Ellen Kemp: you do know a lot of geography but manners? Not so much. There are nicer ways of saying "you are stupid", don't you think?
Well I do know where North Korea is, and Washington State v Washington DC etc etc. I was educated in another country and I'm an immigrant. In fairness, countries come and go; although it's pretty alarming if Americans don't know where Canada is... What alarms me more, is people on the whole (here and elsewhere) have so little knowledge of or interest in, the earth generally, little idea of how it functions, what causes natural phenomena like tides, eclipses, storms etc. It's not like we have anywhere else we can go... Earth is our one and only life support system. Species also come and go too, and I do sometimes wonder if we will last as long as the dinosaurs did. True story: at my immigration interview the officer asked me what I was qualified in and I told him I'm a geologist. He asked me if I could fix their office air conditioning system...
Although I do wish he'd found as many geographically challenged males as females.. the clip is a little unbalanced gender-wise.
Load More Replies...Comments make me laugh, every real human being ive ever spoken to could atleast give you the rough geography of the planet. There really is no excuse not to. Dont blame americans though, they're parodixcally insular by dint of their geography despite being a softpowerempire. Its like most americans ive ever spoken to online are also accent deaf. Im from Manchester, noone has ever thought I am, usually ask me if im australian or Scottish xD
Yeah there should really be more emphasis on world geography in US schools! We're a product of our environment!
The people pointing to the Artic or Canada or South America had me face palming!
Pathetic and embarrassing. (If it's true) I believe some people deliberately act dumb for TV b/c they have a better chance of getting on air
Those guys who are saying we should know certain specific states in the US are absurd like really.....we know where the US is and it's a Country but can you point out cities in other countries??? This was a question of countries not cities... At least know that it's somewhere in Asia ......most Americans don't even know if Africa is a country or a continent
Since Trump has the codes, let's hope he isn't aiming The bombs. I actually like most of the world.
To the dude that said people wouldn't find Georgia, I say how stupid are you! It's fair to say people outside of US might not know where Georgia is because it is one of 50 states. North Korea is a COUNTRY! Not to mention, that Nort Zkorea is on the news ever day now due to the threat against America. I doubt Georgia is in the news because of their peaches!
I learned where both Koreas are in my grade school. The grade schoo, by the way, was in Poland
To be fair, it's not only Americans. We had a show here where an interviewer went to popular holiday spots and asked the folks to point on a map where they are. The results weren't much better. I mean even a Dutch person that points to Spain while he was actually in Germany... (In reference that would be similar to a person from Indiana visiting Chicago, Illinois and pointing to Florida)
"Ask people in most any country where Pennsylvania or George is and they won't be able to tell you." Hate to break it to you buddy, but the US isn't comprised of a bunch of smaller countries, whereas Europe is. A state, province, city or county do not equate with a country.
Justin Chapman comment was epic to me 😂 comparing knowing a country to a state in US..yup its the same level right 😎
Look at all of you hearing people who are well - educated and don't know where North Korea is??? OMG!! I am sure many low - educated deaf people know where it is than all of you do!!! No wonder all of you hearing people have POOR school attendance than we deaf people do because we love go to school to be in the community. You all are cheaters to get many opportunity getting jobs while we are treated like 2nd or 3rd class civilians!! I know Iran's language is Farsi and Cambodia's language is Khmer!!! I am deaf!!! What if all of you got lost out of nowhere??? Think about it, dumbo!!!! Unbelievable!! WoW!!!
I'd like to point out that the video showed maybe four people answering the question. Usually there are more people. That suggests to me they asked a lot of people who did know the answer.
Well, I don't know where Korea is exactly, but I know the general whereabouts, I mean geography knowledge can go easily as far as knowing the bloody continents... I am not a very geographically adept person but I could possibly tell you the shape and location of most European countries, and major countries around the world, just don't ask me to tell you where's Iraq and Iran or what's the different names of African nations, or where Korea is, it might take me time. My point is, I get how people don't know, but everyone knows where blooming Canada and Alaska is even if you're not an American...
Couple of years ago a dutch tv show asked dutch people who were on vacation in Spain to point at Spain on a map of Europe....several had no idea where it was ;-)
It's important that few of them who matter know where it is and know what to do with it.
It's a persons right to stay uneducated. This doesn't make them less or more. They are just human, and yes, Americans are humans too.
It makes them LESS. In the information age, ignorance is a choice.
Load More Replies...this is one of the laziest and most used gotcha attempts of all time.
some people know,some don't , it's everywhere and It is up to individual.
Some people know, some don't and it is everywhere and is up to an individual.
Yes. There are. Plenty of them, in fact. But N. Korea is definitely not one of them.
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