--+Why+study+geography?

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 * What Young Americans Know About the World - (Taken from the National Geographic Roper Poll from 2006)**
 * Despite near-constant news coverage of conflict in the Middle East, young Americans have a **weak knowledge of the geography of this region**. Six in ten (63%) cannot find Iraq or Saudi Arabia on a map of the Middle East, while three-quarters (75%) cannot find Iran or Israel. In fact, 44% cannot find even one of these four countries.
 * Results are linked to educational attainment: Young Americans with college experience are nearly four times as likely as those with only up to a high school education to be able to find all four of these strategic countries (23% vs. 6%).
 * Other **hot spots in the news** around the world also **fail to register** with 18- to 24-year-olds.
 * Nine in ten (88%) cannot find Afghanistan on a map of Asia.
 * Sizeable percentages do not know that Sudan and Rwanda are in Africa (54%and 40% answer incorrectly, respectively). In fact, 20% place Sudan in Asia and 10% put it in Europe.
 * Seven in ten (70%) cannot find North Korea on a map, and two-thirds (63%) do not know its border with South Korea is the most heavily fortified in the world.
 * Even **natural disasters appear to have limited impact** on young Americans awareness of the world.
 * Only a third (35%) correctly choose Pakistan from four possible choices as the country hit by a catastrophic earthquake in October 2005, killing over 70,000 people;1 29% think it was in Sri Lanka . these respondents are likely confusing the earthquake with the December 2004 tsunami.
 * Two-thirds (67%) can find Louisiana on a U.S. map and half (52%) can find Mississippi leaving a third or more who cannot find these states, in spite of months of intensive media coverage of the 2005 hurricanes and their aftermath.
 * Moreover, half (50%) cannot find New York State, even though it is the third most populous state in the union, after California and Texas.
 * Seven in ten (69%) young Americans can find China on a map . it is one of the few recognized countries outside North America. Yet even with a country as economically and politically dominant as China, young Americans have **a number of misconceptions about China**.

Source: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/roper2006/pdf/FINALReport2006GeogLitsurvey.pdf

Take the 2002 National Geographic test and see how you compare:[]



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 * What can you do with geography?**

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 * Importance of Maps**