1. World problems
  2. Geographical illiteracy

Geographical illiteracy

  • Ignorance of world geography

Nature

Significant numbers of students entering university are unable to locate major land masses on a map, do not know the major countries of the world, and cannot name the capitals of most nations.

Incidence

In the USA, a survey of the University of Miami, 30% of the students could not locate the Pacific Ocean on a world map. A recent survey of 5,000 high school students in eight major cities in the USA revealed 25% of the students in Dallas could not name the country that borders the USA on the south, 50% of the students of Hartford, Connecticut were unable to name three countries in Africa, and 45% of those in Baltimore could not shade in the area representing the USA on a map.

Broader

Illiteracy
Excellent

Narrower

Aggravates

Related

Strategy

Value

Illiteracy
Yet to rate
Ignorance
Yet to rate

Metadata

Database
World problems
Type
(D) Detailed problems
Subject
Content quality
Presentable
 Presentable
Language
English
Last update
Oct 4, 2020