this post was submitted on 25 Mar 2026
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72
Are Europeans more well versed with world geography than Americans? (lemmy.zip)
submitted 1 week ago by LtDan@lemmy.zip to c/europe@feddit.org
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I've seen multiple videos equivalent of Americans pointing where (country) is on the map, and there was an instance where the host asked the woman where the continent Africa is located (points to Asia) like WTF? That's not even close at all.

I know there's bias towards those types of videos since there are accusations of the host "handpicking" select strangers framing them as if they are representative of the US. But the truth is that their education system isn't good as it lacks funding.

When you put it into perspective: how many Europeans can correctly locate & name countries adjacent to them within their own continent and globally? Is the education system within the EU that good or effective at teaching kids that subject?

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[โ€“] NGram@piefed.ca 9 points 1 week ago (1 children)

There's an old series of videos by Rick Mercer of Canada that does some similar cherry-picking of US residents responding to questions. They're all done as a joke (Rick Mercer is a comedian) but they're a surprising amount of accuracy to them. Mercer even interviews some US politicians in it and gets them to say some ridiculous things about Canada that show their lack of knowledge on foreign matters.

The US education is well-documented as an ineffective system but it's not homogeneous across the country so I don't think anyone would be correct to make any broadly-sweeping claims about how knowledgeable US residents are. Just know that some of them aren't very bright and some of them are politicians.

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[โ€“] TheV2@programming.dev 7 points 1 week ago

People who only ever think within their country and, related to that, don't know any geography beyond their borders exist everywhere. Hell, that's the majority of the world. You just don't see their gaps in world knowledge in the English-speaking world, because, well, they don't speak English. And in my opinion, as long as you don't have any responsibility towards the world, it shouldn't be reprehensible to be ignorant towards the world.

However, I can imagine that the average European has a higher minimum knowledge about world geography than the the average American. And I think the biggest reason for that is the worldwide reach of US mainstream media. In European countries you passively get more exposure to the rest of the world - especially US music, movies, etc., but not only that. E.g. football fans will at least hear about countries and cities all around the world. The US media on the other hand, although it is definitely widening, is still much more egocentric, again, especially because they are the mainstream.

[โ€“] rumschlumpel@feddit.org 6 points 1 week ago

Well, I can point out all the continents and most countries on a map (approximately), even subdivisions (states etc.) in many western countries. But anecdotal evidence doesn't really help that much for this question, IMO. Just go look up some statistics.

[โ€“] WhiteRabbit@lemmy.today 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I think it has to do with the size of the USA. People care and learn about their immediate neighbors. European countries have many neighbors while the USA has two. Moreover, depending where you are in the US, your nearest neighbor might be 1,000 miles away. So as Americans it makes more sense for us to learn about our neighboring states (where we will more likely be traveling).

[โ€“] angrystego@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

Europeans learn about countries all around the world, though, not just European ones. States, their capitals, physical geography, natural resources, production and export, a bit of etnography, culture and anything noteworthy. Not everything sticks with everyone, of course, but people here do get quite a good basic overview.

Is this not taught in the US?

[โ€“] guy@piefed.social 2 points 1 week ago

I could probably place a majority correctly and give a 'about here' for the rest. Sub Saharan Africa, Central America and the Pacific islands (especially) are a weak point.

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