Adrift on an Ocean of Geographic Ignorance

Three in 10 young people cannot find the Pacific ocean. Hint: it covers one third of the planet on a world map.

Despite the coverage of September 11, a survey found that 83% of young American adults could not locate Afghanistan on a blank world map. Less than half could point to Israel on a map of the Middle East, and fewer than two in three could find China.

The National Geographic-Roper Global Literacy Survey questioned more than 3,000 18-24-year-olds, in Canada, France, Germany, Britain, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Sweden and the US, in June and July. The survey showed that, when it comes to geography, nobody deserves to be top of the class.

British and Canadian interviewees did almost as badly as those in the US on population, nuclear weapons, and locating nations or oceans. Fewer than 25% of young adults in France, Canada, Italy, Britain or the US could name four countries which officially acknowledge possession of nuclear weapons. The Swedes aside - Swedish young people consistently scored better - only two in five could identify China and India as the two countries with populations of a billion or more.

Of young Americans 30% thought the US - population 288 million - had a billion or more people. And young Americans were the least likely to link the Taliban and al-Qaida terrorists with Afghanistan. Fewer than half could identify France, the UK or Japan.

People in Sweden, Germany and Italy, with traditions of global travel and multilingualism, on the whole performed best in a geography quiz.

"If young people can't find places on a map and lack awareness of current events, how can they understand the world's cultural, economic and natural resource issues that confront us?" said John Fahey, president of the National Geographic Society. "This is a cultural crisis. It will take all our efforts to reverse the alarming trend of geographic apathy."