How come so many American people have no idea about the world map????
462655
Beacause Americans are too lazy to learn something interesting in a classroom and are always playing video games all day long and watching too much garbage on TV!!!! I for one was born here in the U.S. know what part of the world a country is located and I'm bilingual so that makes me smarter than the one-dimensional, one language American that wants to be ignorant and dumb. Most Americans don't even know how to read a gas gauge on a car when it runs out empty on them.
1178995
Ok sweetie, first of all ignore the ignorants, they are partially right but they still don't know how to answer the question. Ok here we go.\n\n Amerigo Vespucci or Américo Vespucio in spanish (see the relationship?) was an italian explorer that in 1501 arrived in what now is Guyana (North of "South" América) he sailed through the Amazona River and ended up in Patagonia (The very south of the American Continent). \n\nAmérico was the first European that realized that this was a new CONTINENT instead of Asia (What they thought at the begining, that's why we call our natives Indians because that was the destination of Columbus). The news spreaded rapidly over Europe and in 1507 a publication of a map made by the German Martin Waldseemüller using the description given by amerigo (Américo) showed the new land name as AMERICUS (In Latin) or América (Spanish because Americo was with the Spanish explorers) in honor of Americo.\n\nThe actual concept of América is the name of what people call North Central and South America which at the end and technically AND CORRECTLY speaking is the name of the whole land that starts in Canada and ends in Argentina. Back then, and, some countries now call americans refering to all people of the new continent (Not only the USA).\n\nNow in the USA, This country was called in honor to that name and also was the first country that became independent from a European authority.\n\nBeing called United States of America means States unified in a land called America which means in some kind of selfish and honorable way that the name of USA is America.\n\nThe only thing I ask you to do is please know and spread the word because there's people that really don't know how they became what they are, and yes, you can and should refer to American or americans to all people in the new continent and the nationality of the USA citizens, but you have to explain when you mean which one. To finish my answer is that everybody that know the difference and knows how to explain it is right and everybody in this WHOLE CONTINENT is an AMERICAN, the north, central and south definitions came after.\n\nThanks for letting me finally explain this to everybody. It took me a long time to figure the why's and the how's (I was born in the USA but raised in Venezuela so it helped expand my mind and knowledge).\n\nTootles
1176044
Isn't that funny, i was asking myself the same thing. I assume that most have never travelled abroad and experienced the world beyond their own back yard. Call it ignorance. But I do agree that there are people out there who don't know that there is a whole world of opinions and ideals that are waiting to be explored. By the way, explore some of the questions in politics and you will discover that there are a considerable amount of people who are questioning their present government in the US.
171088
don't feel rude because it's a valid question. Have you ever seen Rick Mercers "Talking to Americans"? The responses are hysterical. The view of Canada seems to be that the whole dang country is above the tree line and we all commute to work on ski-doos.This has been going on for years.\nMany Americans are ignorant about their own country too.
956846
They're not less intelligent that the rest of the world, it's just that a lot of American people don't care about the rest of the world and know nothing about it, and this is why a lot of people say they're stupid. But I think they are just unaware of the world around them, and it's not a cliché, I say it because I've spoken to a lot of American people who ddidn't even know for example when Iraq is, when they've been on war with this country for more than three years.\n\nSomething else typical of American people is that most of them don't speak any foreign language and expect everybody, everywhere they go, to speak English. And although it's true that everywhere you go you'll find easily people who speak English, it's still better to speak the local language, people will find you more friendly and will be more friendly to you.\n\nBut this all doesn't make American people less intelligent than the others, I think they just need to open up.
285627
what are you saying?  I have no idea.    \n\nIf you want maps try this:\n\nMaps from the U.S. Geological Survey, the federal government’s civilian mapmaking agency, cover a wide range of areas around the world.  Included are free teacher packets: Map Adventures (k-3) and What Do Maps Show? (elementary and middle school).  For more information, call 1-800-USA-MAPS.
662597
Good question - when will Americans realize that they do need other people?  When will Americans realize that the world doesn't stop at their border?  When will Americans realize that they need to be accountable for their place in the world?  When will Americans stop being such stupid, ignorant people?  When will Americans realize that no super-power lasts forever, and they fun in the sun will end?\n\nThe answer my friend is blowing in the wind...
100570
My answer is not going to be liked but.......Americans are self absorbed and greedy. They are a fast food, drive through pharmacy, no time to breath culture that has no respect for anything that does not prersonally effect them. They refuse to see the rest of the worlds struggles. Yes I am American but wow, how this country has gotten this way I don't know. When the bombing happend in England, I heard people say..."that was no 9-11 though" Absolutely ridiculous, death is death and struggle is struggle. There have been terroristic holy wars for decades that people refuse to see unless it is in their back yards. My opinion, agree or not.
335969
it's not ignorance, it's arrogance. and it isn't all the americans, but it is deffinately a large group who thinks the whole world evolves around the USA, and they need no knowledge of the rest of that world. i've met americans who think Afhanistan is the capital of Iraq.\n\nThe arrogance is even proven in some of the answers above. they attack you on ur english. maybe ur native language isn't even english, but they would never even concider that fact, bcs the world ends for them at the borders of the USA.\n\n(they will probably attack my english too now, but hey, who cares? english is only my fifth language, far behind dutch, german, french and romanian)\n\nsometimes i wish Columbus had taken another turn in 1492.\n\nof course there are also a lot (and i mean A LOT) of normal, friendly open-minded americans. met them, seen them and respect them highly. but most of those people i met, agree mostly with my points made here.
629820
Its actually 7%, and people say it as a negative because it demonstrates that many Americans have no first hand knowledge of other cultures, countries and regions.\n\nWhen you combine this with the perception that U.S foreign policy is clumsy and insensitive to other nations and peoples you can see the theme.\n\nThere was one survey I read of people in one of the southern states who didn't know where England was, and indeed some of the questions I'm seeing on this site over the last few weeks make you wonder about the levels of world awareness.\n\nAha...I see your little joke now. Its not a pun though, its irony.
627351
This question is impossible to answer,and in fact I reckon you're trying to make a point rather than get real answers.It's a valid enough point if you must make it,and many Americans are the first to admit that their knowledge of world geography isn't great,but what I'd like to know is what rioedgebravo is talking about.I'm guessing that he's accusing you of using English that isn't up to par,while at the same time reading your question and misunderstanding it,thinking that 'other' means 'their own.'So perhaps it isn't your English that's so bad.
814959
Because the American public has no understanding of reality.  They are led by emotion.
85816
I think mostly because geography is not a mandatory subject to take.\n\nSecondly, America is like "the center of the world". People around the world are so fascinated with our country, want to learn more about it, follow our fashion sense, listen to our music and watch our movie.Thus, what's the point to learn about other countries if everybody looks up to us.\nIgnorant?Definetely but can't really blame the  Americenter phenomenon.\n\nI was born in Asia. Everytime i mentioned the country,nobody rarely knows where it is.\nAt first, I was a lil' upset but now, I'm so use to it.\n\nPeople always pay attention to something that stands out (e.g:America)and rarely pay attention to something unimportant (e.g: smaller countries)
1106785
Americans from the USA tend to think that they are to be served by everyone else in the world. They have been taught from birth they are the best and only country in the world that is worth living in. Most of them, not all, talk down to others from other countries. They are very ignorant when it comes to knowledge of other countries because they do not want to learn about them.\n\nHow do I know this? I am an American and have lived in and visited in and have seen first hand what most of them do. I currently live in Canada, a great country and in many ways better than the USA especially when it comes to being friendly.\n\nDoes the answer above give you a clue? That shows you how ignorant many of them are...the answers below show you the same...I am sorry that Americans think they are the only ones who do anything for others around the world they aren't and those from other countries soon learn that Americans are giving up their freedoms more and more every day...I am sorry all of you but it is the truth...travel outside of the USA sometimes and observe!
354983
If you were educated in Mexico then you're taught that America is a continent, named after Americo Vespucci the Italian mapper.  Also Vespucci didn't discover the U.S.A.  It didn't even exist when he was around, and he never even set foot on present day U.S. territory which is all taken from its indigenous people in any event.  \n  Both Mexico and the U.S. are in North America. People of the United States are norteamericanos or estadounidenses, i.e., northamericans and unitedstatsians.  \n  However if you're educated in Gringolandia, and under people like George W. Bush, then America means exclusively the United States because of the 18th century doctrine of Manifest Destiny. Remember that? "It's the White Anglo Saxon's Destiny to spread his superior civilization over people not industrious or intelligent enough to make it prosper." There were a lot of quotes like that in 18th century newspapers.
398057
because most americans are stupid and cant see past the end of there noses..
605647
I agree that a lot of people are ignorant (as you can easily tell by some of the responses here), but some people are scared to ask in fear of offending someone. That doesn't excuse them for stereotyping, though.  And honestly most Americans couldn't any more place Colombia on a map than Lebanon.