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50 Times People Failed At Geography With Such Confidence, They Got Shamed For It Online
There’s a certain baseline for geographical facts that we expect from the people we meet. Like knowing that New Zealand has millions of inhabitants and is not an uninhabited island. Understanding that Spain, Italy, and Greece are a part of Europe. And realizing that Africa and Hong Kong are not in South America. It sounds ridiculous when you say it out loud that someone would believe the opposite. Right..?
Well, hang on to your thinking caps and cling tight to your sanity, dear Pandas—we’re about to dive deep into our sad reality where public education has failed so many people. Bored Panda has collected some of the most egregious geography mistakes that folks have shared over on the r/facepalm subreddit, a giant online community of over 6 million.
If you know even the basics of geography, then odds are that you might find this list very painful, dear Pandas. Scroll down for some truly awful geographical mixups, and remember to upvote the pics that made your inner critic cringe the most. Got your adventuring gear ready? Good, it’s time to head into the lush jungles of This Hurts To Read.
Bored Panda got in touch with Patrick McGranaghan, the founder of another massive subreddit that unites nearly 2 million map lovers around the world. He was kind enough to share his thoughts about ignorance about geography and why it's important to make the subject exciting and not teach it in isolation.
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#1
Someone Failed Geography
DDmaybeandor 4 years ago
This is sarcasm. Yes, there are Americans who don’t know those countries are in Europe, but they are the same people who don’t know Greece is a country.
RELATED:
#2
And I Thought Americans Only Knew American Geography
#3
It's Basic Geography *sigh
#4
Geography Is Important, Kids
#5
Looks Like Someone Failed Geography
#7
Bye!! America See You... Never!
Chinmayee Kalghatgi 4 years ago
What kind of world does this person live in? Is education that bad in some schools in the US?
#9
Geography Wasn't Their Strongest Suit
#10
Statistics Are Hard. So Is Geography
Firefoxy3121 4 years ago
Dogs are not inherently vicious. They respond to treatment by their owners. Pitbulls are pretty nice dogs depending on the owners, same with most breeds
#11
How Many People Failed Element School Geography
#12
Spotted On Twitter
#13
Geography...
Marco Conti 4 years ago
You don't really want to say "German patriots" too loud. The last bunch sort of left a mess.
#14
Geography Is African Hard Subject
#15
Geography Fail
#16
3 Different Geography Fails Along With Some Ebola Panic
#18
They Didn't Get An A In Geography! One Facebook Poster's Point About People Mourning The Death Of Cecil The Lion Who Was Killed By A Hunter In Zimbabwe Was Somewhat Lost
Luther von Wolfen 4 years ago
Geographical knowledge has nothing to do with being upset about a lion getting killed.
#19
European Airline Failed Geography
#21
Geography Is Tough
Chinmayee Kalghatgi 4 years ago (edited)
These people seem to be homeschooled by uneducated parents. Any 7 year old would know that it is Africa
#22
Geography Probably Isn't Their Strongest Subject
#23
Someone's Failed Geography Class
#24
Someone Needs To Go Back To Geography Class...
#26
East Virginia
Fishy Squid 4 years ago
Why is south Virginia above Virginia? I’m Australian am I correct that that south Virginia doesn’t even exist?
#27
Geography
#28
Geography Class Aint Gonna Go Well
Commander OwO 4 years ago
Most Maldivians can’t point to where Maldives is in a map, mostly because it’s not even there in a lot of maps!
#29
So... Came Across This Excellent Lesson In Geography On My Insta Feed Today
#30
So I Guess She's Never Learned Geography Either
#31
Some American Level Geography Skills From My Friend (Who Isn’t American)
#32
I Think They Didn't Pass Geography Class
#33
Throwing Darts At The Map Would Be More Accurate
#34
California. Ladies And Gents
#35
Someone Skipped Geography Class...
Unni Panda 4 years ago
Maybe they're predicting the future, the way things are going in the US...
#36
I Love The State Of Canada
#37
I Too Am A Student Of Geography
#38
Ah Yes, Geography
#39
Geography 100
#40
Geography Is Hard
#41
“College Geography”
#42
Try Taking A Geography Course
#43
This Guy Doesn't Know Anything About Geography
#44
Travel Blog Really Knows Their Geography
#45
R.i.p. Geography!
#46
Geography Is Not Their Strong Suit
#47
Geography Is Hard
#48
I Can't Tell Whether This Is Satire Or Not But They Should Have Looked Up The Geography Of The UK Before Claiming Racism
#49
Up Is Down, North Is South, Chaos Ensues
Susie Elle 4 years ago
I didn't even see north and south were swapped as I was looking at the map trying to figure out what was wrong and I questioned my own existence there for a second
#50
When You Don’t Understand Geography
Laura Mende (Human) 4 years ago
But question though: What is about Yugoslawia in the 90s? Wasn't that a war too? Or am I stupid?! Ukraine is the first war in Europe since '45? That can't be right...
#51
Are Americans Really That Bad At Geography?
#52
Geography Really Isn’t That Hard
#53
Geography Is Hard
Lady Goldberry 4 years ago
'But they the same colour, how can they not all be from the same place???' Smh.
#54
Geography Is Not My Sister’s Strong Point
#55
America Really Needs To Teach People Geography...
#56
Geography Is Hard
Caroline Nagel 4 years ago
So sad that there are citizens of the United States that don't know the difference between an country and a continent. In Europe we are taught that in primary school, when we are about 8 or 9 yo.
#57
I’ll Take Geography For $400, Alex
Laura Mende (Human) 4 years ago
I'm a bit confused. In Europe we learn there are 3 Americas: North, Middle and South. Is this really a thing? Where would Honduras or Nicaragua be? It's middle America, right?
#58
Geography Is Hard
#59
I'm No Geography Expert But Reykjavik Is Definitely Not Greenland
#60
What Is The Point Of Knowing Geography?
Chinmayee Kalghatgi 4 years ago
To avoid facepalming so hard that your hand cracks your head apart when you see these people
#61
Ukraine (Not Moldova Or Romania)
#62
Smh! Someone Please Tell Kanye
#63
Anti-China Protests In India Might Need Some Geography Lessons
Chinmayee Kalghatgi 4 years ago (edited)
Do these people grow up in cults or what? Why don’t people know geography? Students in sixth grade already can recognise multiple countries but grown adults apparently never went to school
#64
Geography
King Joffrey 4 years ago
But the fact remains that Europeans will drink Americans under the table.
#65
Geography Fail
#66
When The Major Airline Company In Your Country Doesn't Know Geography
#67
A Lesson In Geography
Qibli of the SandWings 4 years ago (edited)
This is pointing to locations NEAR the us so I think that’s what this means
#69
Welcome To Advanced World Geography
#70
Red Knows His Geography. Clearly Everyone Else Is Wrong
Kimi Tomminello 4 years ago
As someone that's lived in North America my entire life and have lived in both Canada and the US I'm so embarrassed for these people and there are so many of them.
#71
Do Some People Learn Geography?
#72
Geography Is Hard
Qibli of the SandWings 4 years ago (edited)
At least she wasn’t arrogant and saying she is right
#73
Geography Skills : Over 4000
#74
I Think They Might Need To Retake Geography
#75
How Can Someone Be Smart Enough To Learn A Language, Yet A Full R****d To Forget 2nd Grade Geography And Not Realize That He's Hearing A Totally Different Language...
#76
Someone Failed Geography
Carol Emory 4 years ago
It could be the country of origin was unknown..but they still knew it was shipped from Asia. This happens all the time in shipping.
#77
His Heart Was In The Right Place, But His Geography Knowledge Was Spotty
#78
New Hampshire (Not Vermont)
#79
Speaking Of Those Who Failed Geography...
#80
«i Probably Know More Geography Than You»
#81
Looks Like Someone Didn’t Pass Geography Class
Lakota Wolf 4 years ago
No, see, the ad is showing an American dude ripping out his American bearing aids to replace them with superior German ones! That’s why the American flag is back there! XD
#82
Thinking Nbc Needs A Geography Lesson
#84
Cbs Needs A Geography Lesson
#85
What You Get When Your Graphic Designer And/Or Social Media Rep Failed Us Geography In School. Maps Are Hard
#86
Geography 101
Lakota Wolf 4 years ago
Isn’t that circle actually pretty much where Maine is, though? Same with North Korea and its circle? I’m confused. I even checked Google Maps. But I AM browsing BP at 2:30 am, so I may be wrong XD
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What do you think ?
Austin Hicks 4 years ago
This reminds me of an old Jay Leno joke where he went around and asked people basic questions about our solar system, space, etc. He asked a couple of high school kids what the name of our galaxy is and they said "Mars."
Benita Valdez 4 years ago
Ok fun but sad game I played with younger coworkers when I was a waitress and yes, we are from the U.S. They were between 18 and 23 (me late 20's almost 30) and I first asked them to name the continents; noone could name all 7 and I even received China as a continent as well as "the North Pole where Santa lives". Then I tried asking them to name like 2 countries in South America and well 1 kid surprised me by rattling off like 5 but noone else could name 1. I did this after I said my family was from South America to which someone replied "so you're African!?!" with much surprise. I'm quite pale and many people don't realize white people live in African countries and are actually African, hell some dont believe white people are Spanish (they're all tan), so this is what prompted my geography questions since they appeared puzzled a white person could be African even though I said South America.
Sunny Day 4 years ago
A coworker was excited to be sent on a work trip to Atlanta because she'd always wanted to see Atlantic City.
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ej wey 4 years ago
I can't believe all of these are real anymore BP is starting to feel like Dailymail.com
Brivid 4 years ago
Also we have to remember that we have no idea the age or nationality of the person saying the "stupid" stuff. I am not gonna judge a 13yo the same as an adult. And I'm not going to judge someone from Peru, Poland, etc, that doesn't know everything about the US.
Load More Replies...
Austin Hicks 4 years ago
This reminds me of an old Jay Leno joke where he went around and asked people basic questions about our solar system, space, etc. He asked a couple of high school kids what the name of our galaxy is and they said "Mars."
Benita Valdez 4 years ago
Ok fun but sad game I played with younger coworkers when I was a waitress and yes, we are from the U.S. They were between 18 and 23 (me late 20's almost 30) and I first asked them to name the continents; noone could name all 7 and I even received China as a continent as well as "the North Pole where Santa lives". Then I tried asking them to name like 2 countries in South America and well 1 kid surprised me by rattling off like 5 but noone else could name 1. I did this after I said my family was from South America to which someone replied "so you're African!?!" with much surprise. I'm quite pale and many people don't realize white people live in African countries and are actually African, hell some dont believe white people are Spanish (they're all tan), so this is what prompted my geography questions since they appeared puzzled a white person could be African even though I said South America.
Sunny Day 4 years ago
A coworker was excited to be sent on a work trip to Atlanta because she'd always wanted to see Atlantic City.
Load More Replies... ej wey 4 years ago
I can't believe all of these are real anymore BP is starting to feel like Dailymail.com
Brivid 4 years ago
Also we have to remember that we have no idea the age or nationality of the person saying the "stupid" stuff. I am not gonna judge a 13yo the same as an adult. And I'm not going to judge someone from Peru, Poland, etc, that doesn't know everything about the US.
Load More Replies...
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