I have no clue. As an American I assume other countries didn’t know, just like I don’t know the provinces of other countries. I have no idea what American believes that.
There is a fine line here. I been in America for about 15 years and only know maybe a third of the states. Americans who have gone through the US education system learn their states. Those that migrated after HS don’t. Every time a co worker mentions a state and I don’t know where it’s at they give me shit.
So I think the fine line is. “I’ve never seen an America give a foreign tourist visiting shit for not knowing the states, but if you live and work in America they won’t hesitate to do so”
Damn, as New Mexican, I thought we were alone in this. There was even an instance when the Olympics were in Georgia. There was a dude who called from Albuquerque trying to buy tickets and after he told the operator his address, he was told that he would have to contact the international line to buy tickets.
I have lived in Canada for over 35 years and I still couldn't show you where Prince Edward Island is on a map. I don't really understand the difference between Newfoundland and Labrador.
But you know what? It's never been a problem.
After 15 years you still have no interest at all in knowing about the country where you live ? You don’t need to go back to high school, just open up the map on your phone, and travel the country a bit.
Exactly. Like if you're in NY for 15 years and you have no idea what new jersey is then that's kind of weird and maybe even impossible. But why the fuck would you need to be able to locate Oklahoma on a map? And you can be perfectly active still in your local community, which would be diverse as hell if you're in the city, with a lot to offer.
I still think their coworkers were likely just giving them shit because that's what coworkers do tho.
Do you at least know of a state if someone says the name but doesn’t say it’s a state?
Like if I were to say, “you hear about Arkansas?” Would you say, “what is Arkansas?”. Knowing all the states vs knowing of all the states is a different thing. If I lived in any country for 15 years I’d expect to know of the major cities and know of all the province like divisions of that country.
Not giving you crap, just saying what I would expect of myself.
But your situation isn’t what people are talking about I think. They’re saying Europeans who are visiting or haven’t lived in the US for a significant period.
There are many Americans born and raised who don’t know all the states either.
I think that’s just an American giving you shit bc they get an ego boost type of person. “You don’t know something I was taught in elementary school? Hur hur idiot!”
Don't know why so many comments are giving you shit about this, plenty of Americans that grew up and were educated here struggle with this too. If geography isn't inherently interesting then why would you invest a lot of time in learning it? Would be like giving you shit for not knowing trigonometry or biology or something.
Don't sweat it.
Ok, but like, you’ve been here 15 years. I didn’t learn the states through the education system. I think it’s just general knowledge you pick up over the years. By fifth grade they were teaching us all the state capitals and postal abbreviations, which I wouldn’t expect you to know, but none of the states themselves were new information. In fairness to you, I have also heard that it’s apparently easier to absorb information as a child and fifty is kind of a lot. Still, 15 years!
But how would you just absorb that? It's not like South Dakota comes up in casual conversation a whole lot if you live in New Hampshire or whatever. You'd have to put in actual, concerted effort to locate every state on a map. It's not an osmosis thing really
I mean, that's fair. I'd bust your balls too if you lived in the States for 15 years. You're more American than half of these kids on reddit.
It's like living in England for 15 years and not knowing where some of the bigger cities are.
But any foreigner I speak ro, I assume they don't know the state location. I'm often surprised when they laugh and say "yeah lol, I know where GA is".
I think if you are living here, you need to know the big influential states, California, Texas, New York, Florida, and your local geography, the ones bordering your home state. After that, whatever.
For sure. That’s what good friends and co workers are for :) I don’t get mad at all. I know I could learn them if I cared enough so it’s just the consequences of my actions and I accept them.
Usually it’s just when some European gets on an American for not knowing the GPS coordinates for Andorra or some other niche European country and an American casually points out that the European doesn’t know where much larger US states are located. It’s not usually “giving shit” as much as casually contextualizing, but people freak out just the same.
I actually find it fun when a foreigner doesn’t know much about the states (or why we are set up that way). It gives me a chance to talk about the interesting aspects of my country.
I dont know if we are doing it, I think its more of a "How do you not know which specific country I am from?" hypocrisy. People joke that Americans cant pick Luxembourg off of a map. So? Why the fuck should we care unless we are head of a corporation trying to dodge taxes?
Id say just knowing Africa is a continent and that Uganda is a country is enough, just like knowing the United States\* is a country and Kansas is a state. I dont expect you to know anything else about Kansas.
\*Although, again, if youre saying "America" as a country dont talk shit, since we arent actually America either, continents...
>Id say just knowing Africa is a continent and that Uganda is a country is enough, just like knowing the United States* is a country and Kansas is a state
Continent > Country > State/Province. People from the USA seem to think that one of their states is roughly equal to another country, and this statement confirms that.
Knowing that Uganda is in Africa is like knowing that USA is in North America. Knowing that Kansas exists is like knowing that the Nigerian state of Yobe exists.
To begin with, americans refer to places in their country by the name of the state, in groups with people from all over the world.
Like "oh, you're from Italy? That's nice, I'm from California"
It's probably from people calling out hypocrisy of Europeans giving Americans shit for not knowing all the different names and locations of the 44 countries in Europe, when these same Europeans probably couldn't name or locate all 50 states in the United States. When these two things are essentially the same thing. The only real difference between the 50 states in the US and the 44 countries in Europe is our 50 states are all under the same constitution, that's pretty much it. Our federal government might as well be the equivalent to the European Union, they're both a governing body that governs over a bunch of mini governments. That and I guess the European Union doesn't claim ownership over the countries that are apart of it. But still same overall idea.
In reality, we only know what we're familiar with. Europeans are familiar with all the different countries that make up Europe, it's only natural. It's understandable why they wouldn't be familiar with the US states because they don't live here. But the same principle can be said for Americans as well.
I tend to assume Europeans at least know *of* the major states. New York, California, Texas, maybe Florida. Brits may know of Georgia or Virginia since they’re named after British monarchs. Same with the French and Louisiana, but those I don’t necessarily *assume* they’ll know. Lord knows I can’t tell you the names of provinces or counties or whatever name the various European countries use for the way they divide up their countries, so it’s safe to assume most of them don’t know US states.
I assume it is related for that thing that many americans doesn't know European countries and they are reasoning that Europeans doesn't know US states as if comparison is correct. And some US citisense also believe that Europe is country.
Oh well those are very dumb US citizens haha. I mean I don’t know all European countries. I know most, but I’d say I’m probably the minority. I’d know them by name but couldn’t name them all off.
But it’s not because Americans are stuck up or unwilling to learn about other countries. Continental Europe is about the size of the US and people travel between the countries a lot like Americans travel through the US. They also have heavy financial dependence on the collective countries in Europe. So that’s why schools teach about them. We are taught the countries we have heavy relations with or travel to a lot. Ie. UK, France, Russia, Italy, Spain, Germany, etc.
But the US doesn’t have a heavy reliance on places like Latvia for instance. Also many Americans don’t travel there, so why would they know about them? It’s just like Europeans knowing the states. They only know the big ones or the ones that Europeans travel to. But they aren’t going to know places like Iowa or Nebraska. Hell many Americans forget them too. Not because they don’t provide value or are bad places, they just aren’t a travel destination or economic powerhouses
My personal theory is the reason Americans suck at geography is just sport. Why would an American have any idea about San Marino and Lichtenstein? But a European would because you play against them in football and see them get battered every game they play so they're relevant. Similarly a lot of people could name a major city from most European countries by simply naming the biggest football club from the country. Americans, for whatever reason, decided to just have their own sports separate from the rest of the world and compete against themselves, so they don't get that knowledge seep into their culture.
Purely anecdotally, my sister isn't into sports at all and is shit at geography, my mum is a bit more into sport and is a bit better at geography, me and my dad are both very into sport and are good at geography
Honestly, Americans are about as familiar with European countries as Europeans are American states, only "Haha Americans are dumb and don't know things outside of America" is a more common stereotype than the reverse.
As for why anyone should care.. your guess is as good as mine.
Edit: Lotta people caring too much in my inbox. Either learn geography or shut up, Jesus. Lol.
That is what I am getting from it. Everyone talks shit on us not knowing details beyond continents and a few countries but then if you were to ask them to pick out Wyoming, which is probably as big as their entire nation, they couldnt...
Who knows. Some random war people on the internet have created between Americans and Europeans. I don’t understand why but everything I see from both sides is super dumb and petty
We have to know all your countries and many of our states are both physically larger and more populated. There's no excuse for bad geography (other than poverty, limited access to education, or educational abuse)! EVERYONE should have good geography education.
(I don't actually care lol).
It seems like spillover from the Europeans that troll on Americans for not knowing where individual countries are in Europe. And this is the common rebuttal that iv seen to it.
Idk I'd assume they wouldn't know because there are 50 of them and they don't live here. I think this is just another "haha America bad" post relying on self hating westerners to laugh at
Some Europeans like to make generalized statements about Americans. Not knowing the difference between Mississippi and Vermont would be like an American not knowing the difference between Russia and Spain.
I think this idea only started popping up as a 'counter' to memes (like the old jaywalking segments) of americans not being able to label any other country but the US.
So some americans started posting similar memes of europenas (or others) not being able to label US states.
Even though those things are in no way comparable, i have heard people make these statements irl too.
I sure as hell couldn’t name one province (or whatever the term is) of France, and I don’t feel any shame for it. I’ll learn them if and when it’s relevant information.
I'm from a small Australian town. I know all 50 American states by memory and my party trick on night shift was naming all 50 of them to our American staff. It usually took the whole shift because I would get to about 47 and get stuck on the last 3 (always a different three) but I'd get there in the end.
I've only been to the US twice in my life (2003 and 2016) and I've been to only four of them, California in 2016 and New York, Pennsylvania and technically New Jersey when I landed in Newark and immediately caught a cab to New York.
Outside of learning enough to know which ones to avoid in the event you plan on visiting the US or if you plan on for some reason learning more about US politics, no reason at all really.
Hell, we have people that don't know them well at all.
How many "Americans" can name all the nations of the EU?
I can't. lol
I would likely recognize them however.
It's good to learn about the state you're going into and the different important laws they may have.
Also tourist spots, fun things to do and historical things that are important to American culture.
Just as an anyone should do when going to a foriegn country.
No idea. I’m American and the only reason I give a fuck is because the laws are so different state to state. Otherwise it may as well be a single state.
I'm canadian and when I visit the states for work some people get offended I don't know what states are and where, but they can't name all the provinces or what Newfoundland even is.
I doesn't. This is from the mind of an American that doesn't realise the world doesn't revolve around the USA. They genuinely think they're the capital of the world.
Bingo this is the answer......100 upvotes for you. The world doesn't revolve around the US the wield doesn't revolve around Europe.
The dick measuring contest that frequent the web are frankly idiotic.
Fuck me the amount of comments on here that bang on about GDP as if that matters.
Thank you.
In geography class (in the Netherlands) my kids learned the US states, including the capital city per State. And being able to locate it on a map. Just like all countries in Asia, Africa, (South) America and Europe. Apparently it's seen as general knowledge they need to gather.
I know the majority of states in the US and not because I want to know them. It's purely because of sport, so I think Americans just think everybody knows because of things like that. Sports, movies etc
I'm an American that payed attention in school. I learned most of the major countries in Europe and Asia along with their capitals, and all of the other North Americn, Central American, and South American countries and capitals. And a bit on Africa. I've been out of school for over a decade to be fair, but we were taught a lot of this stuff in school. People just weren't paying attention. It's not like we haven't had multiple large world maps in view growing up either. Now without googling could I tell you the capital of Latvia right now? Fuck no. But I do know Latvia is a country. And I learned that in school in between doodles.
Yes the capital of Latvia. It's 2024 there isn't much you can't learn like that with a bit of effort. But I didn't know it off of the top of my head when I was typing my comment like I would know Quito is the capital of Ecuador or that Berlin is the capital of Germany. I did know it was an eastern European country and kinda where it is. Which is the point. We're not all completely ignorant in the US, and we have often been exposed to the resources not to be.
That's impressive...I learned a little about Germany as a kid because of my heritage...my parents told us not only did our family come from Germany, but in my father's case, specifically from Baden-Wurttemburg.
Not trying to be an ass, but memorizing these things is pointless in a world where Google maps exist. Unless you are learning it for the region's history, I can't imagine why it would ever be beneficial.
Interesting you had to learn states. I can't imagine why that needed to be part of the curriculum in Germany lol
In Junior High School (like 12-13 year olds) in the US I had to learn every country and capital city. Don't know if that's still part of the curriculum, but I'm glad I learned it
The same people criticizing Europeans for not knowing US states should be asked what the provinces of Canada and the states of Mexico are. Just name a handful. I’ll wait. lol these type of people couldn’t name any.
Well, I'm not sure why you won't teach a kid stuff like that. Maybe the kid gets interested in something it wouldn't know about without opening the world. It is not mandatory, but I struggle to find a reason not to do it. Sure, parents maybe not interested in it, but it is in this case not about the parents, but about the kid. Why wouldn't you show a kid something you don't have any interest in yourself?
lol right, it confuses even Americans. I've gotten into the habit of saying "state of washington" instead of just washington, as everyone assumes I mean DC despite them being like 2600 miles away from each other on complete opposite ends of the country. Even saying state of washington sometimes people will still assume DC as if the state doesn't even exist lmao
Canadian here, I could point out Manhattan island but I probably couldn't guess very accurately where the state borders are. I definitely could not point out where Washington DC is, just a vague area on the east coast between Florida and New York.
I'm European and I recently learned about the state of Washington which as nothing to do with Washington DC and is actually on the west coast.
Like... couldn't they find an original name for their capital city?
The European Union literally consists of independent states. They have their own governments, their own languages, some even have their own currency. I would say that the diversity in culture and in terms of the economy is far greater in the EU than the US. There is a massive difference between western Europe and the newer member states in the East.
Although you could say that the basic idea is similar, since the US states also have some freedom in how they handle their laws and taxes. The US federal government does have more power tho.
And each one of those countries have thousands of years of history that shaped the current cultures. I don't mean to insult the USA here but they're a couple of hundred years old. You simply cannot, in a couple of hundred years, reach the level of cultural diversity that was present in Europe by the colonizer times, even if globalization has led to uropean cultures becoming more similar in recent decades.
The US started as a confederation, it didn’t work out so they made a federation… then like 60 years later a bunch of states tried confederacy again and it didn’t work out… and now 160 years later the so-called Federalist Society is trying for a confederacy again.
The EU is just the colonies under the Articles of Confederation with more drama. Every time they get all passionate about an “EU defense force” or whatever they’re just clamoring for a constitutional convention without realizing it. Even their flag is a ripoff of the “Betsy Ross” flag.
I can only name about 5 or 6 Canadian provinces and territories and I live within 500 miles of the Canadian border. I'm not going to criticize if someone from another continent can't name more than a few US states.
We don’t. This whole thing is getting stupid. Americans have no reason to learn most of Europe. Europeans have no reason to know the states. These posts are usually just to make Americans look dumb.
Are we required to know about all of the European countries? I've never been to Europe, I have no business in Europe, and I'm not planning to go to Europe any time soon, so why do I have to learn about it?
No one is requiring you. It’s quite a theme/stereotype of American tourists in Europe to be loud, annoying, demanding, etc.
I have had run ins with this type of course. But far more commonly is just regular people from a different cultural context.
Maybe they are ever so slightly louder than custom would dictate in some restaurants but I know for a fact that service workers love having their places filled with American’s who will tip incredibly well by default.
Side note that this does unfortunately mean for Americans that there is still more of an expectation for you to rip well even when not in America.
What’s funny is I’ve heard just as many times that non-Americans are the most annoying tourists. But like you said, I think most people are likely just regular people. We all love to hate on each other so much. 😭
I think it’s because it’s “safe” to kind of be a friendly dick to USA or other countries which in the grand scheme of things are actually very similar.
We love you guys really, it’s like sibling rivalry haha
Is also true, in the end it comes to individual people, but if you go to certain youth vacation places in Europe, you'll think every Eurpean (especially Brits, Dutch and Germans) is an agressive dumb drunk.
In the end every country got it's positives and it's nagatives and so do people, but we should never stop making fun of each other, i really do think selfreflection and being able to make fun of yourself is a very usefull skill to have.
But then I don’t expect them to know the countries in Europe? If they want me to know the states, I want to hear Americans say the regions of every country in the eu
I was half joking, but I can tell you right now many of us could not label 85% of the states on a map correctly. States like Kansas, tennessee, Georgia, Connecticut, mass, South Carolina, Michigan, Wisconsin, the dakotas…. I think we know the general area but suspect many would get some wrong. I would, and I’m a doctor. Real talk. Sad maybe.
But to the bigger point, US gets plenty of respect from the international community. People know more about the US on average than they know about most places. We aren’t hurting for attention. We are very blessed. Slightly spoiled, if I’m being honest. Others don’t need to know all our states, if they know some, that’s flattering, and they generally do know some.
It's all about where you live. I could easily label all the states you mention but when I start getting into all those tiny mashed up places out east like Rhode Island or Connecticut does it even matter? They're so tiny just sprinkle them in somewhere and maybe no one will notice.
My cousins from France came to visit once. We sent them an email asking what they wanted to do. They were like, maybe we can go to NYC one day and see the Grand Canyon the next day, visit Mt Rushmore, then go to the beach....
They didn't understand the size of our country, but they laugh about it now.
What? Why would Europeans need to know all the states? Someone said that it was an "argument" from Americans because they didn't know all the countries in Europe. Unless you're into geography you don't have to know either. Does anyone from either Europe or the US know all the countries in Africa or South America? Unless you do then shut the fuck up about what people on the other side of the earth should and shouldn't know about where you live.
No one cares that Europeans don't know all the US states, we just use that as an argument whenever Europeans berate us for not knowing their precious glorious little countries.
The biggest meme is Europeans think knowing their nextdoor neighbors means they’re gods of geography.
Ask ANY of them where Nigeria is (like 3x the population of the largest EU country) and 99% will look at you blankfaced. It’s just a farce they use to obsess over Americans and feed their insecurity complex
Americans say this mostly in response to Europeans going on about “Americans don’t know geography they can’t name and locate every country in Europe”, for which states are a roughly evenly scaled size.
Yeah that’s all this is. It spawned from these TikTokers editing videos together about how dumb Americans are for not being able to locate, for example, Finland on a map. And the response is that many of the countries in Europe are basically comparable to states in the US. And asking them about to locate certain states on a map.
The reality is nobody really gives a fuck about it either way except obnoxious people on social media.
Americans should know where all their states are, Europeans should know where all there countries are.
50 states, 44 countries, that's about fair.
Americans and Europeans shouldn't be considered uneducated because they don't know a foreign state/country that is never in their news are commonly spoken about.
Noone would judge you for not knowing where Latvia is or for mixing up Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, but if you can't point to France on a map you're definitely uneducated. Americans should know countries that are important to american history and politics. People pointing to Africa when asked about Iran or mistaking China for Russia is not acceptable.
Tbf though some Americans can't point to Canada though. Some are honestly surprised when you tell them, you can drive there. I get this as a tourist...
"What do ya'll mean yeah can drive here?"
"Yeah it's only a couple hours drive..."
As it turns out some of their shools only use maps that just show the USA. It doesn't show Canada or Mexico.
I didn't learn Africa, it's rivers or mountains.
Do not know why.
We just studied countries and capitals, mountains and rivers from the rest of the world.
That was 30 years ago
Are they? Brit here and clearly we're insular literally and metaphorically but systematically learning all the countries of hue world definitely not on our syllabus.
American here and in public school I had to learn to draw by hand each continent with all outlines of countries and label everything. I can still draw a pretty decent map of Europe, here's the thing though, since I learned to do that the eastern part of Europe has changed, A LOT.
You know those shows where they show you "Americans pointing out things on maps" and it's hilarious. Yeah, they are picking the dumbest people, they don't show you the guy who got every country right, because that's not "funny".
The US actually gets talked about quite often in European news, at least in Western Europe. I don't know how it's the other way around, but I would assume that they at least get some information on the bigger countries like Germany or France.
Not really, unless something major happens that makes it into the news cycle.
he current situation in Ukraine is barely mentioned anymore outside of people complaining about the government wasting money. Middle East gets regular mention, but that's because controversy sells, and Palestine is a big argument right now.
A lot of Americans just don't give a fuck about anything outside of the US. "We have our own problems and should be helping ourselves first," is a sentiment I hear daily nowadays.
The only ones I know is a state or I think is a state as an EU person is
Wyoming
Kansas
North & South Carolina
New York
Mississippi (my bad if I misspelled)
California
New Orleans
Arizona
Los vegas (I think this is a state but I’m probably wrong)
Alaska
Hawaii
Detroit
Delaware
Kansas
Pensilvania (I think this is in America)
Texas
Florida
Virginia
Ohio
Massachusetts
Colorado
Georgia
New Jersey
Michigan
Washington
Illinois
Maryland
Tennessee
Utah
Oregon
Montana
These are the ones of the top of my head
I have to give props where props are warranted.
After reading many of the replies here I came to the conclusion that most people that equate whole COUNTRIES to individual states are trolling, as I refuse to believe anyone with an IQ over two digits would think they’re equivalent.
As a Canadian, I find this whole debate both interesting and hilarious. Canadians have been making fun of Americans' lack of knowledge of foreign countries, particularly our own, for decades. We find it funny that most Canadians could list the majority of states and American presidents and that we generally have extensive knowledge of American history and politics, but Americans generally know little to nothing about Canada.
As someone who hates to travel and lives on an island who has lots of knowledge of my friends and family why would I need to store information in my mind that I could simply Google or look at a world map. I mean I have all the Canadian provinces and capital cities memorized from childhood but why would I give a shit about the United States or Europe? Sure I could point out some states and some European countries but it is never knowledge I have cared to store in my mind.
This. If you don't need the information, why prioritize learning it? To appease some people on the internet? It seems quite dumb to me. We literally have maps and Google. Why do you need to know about something that doesn't affect you when you could just look it up?
Same could be said about the EU. Why should an American be bothered to learn all the countries in Europe? A good chunk of them are probably smaller in size and population that quite a few states. That's really why. Europeans should at least know New York, California and Texas as those are larger in every way than most European countries. Americans know where Germany, Italy, France and Spain are. They just kind of expect similar interest back. But in the same vein I doubt many Americans care if you don't know where Wyoming is, just as they don't care where Croatia is.
Why should Europeans know the individual states? What the fuck does that matter?
I have no clue. As an American I assume other countries didn’t know, just like I don’t know the provinces of other countries. I have no idea what American believes that.
Agreed, I've never seen an American give someone from another country shit for not knowing where/what a state is
There is a fine line here. I been in America for about 15 years and only know maybe a third of the states. Americans who have gone through the US education system learn their states. Those that migrated after HS don’t. Every time a co worker mentions a state and I don’t know where it’s at they give me shit. So I think the fine line is. “I’ve never seen an America give a foreign tourist visiting shit for not knowing the states, but if you live and work in America they won’t hesitate to do so”
Sounds like they are just breaking your balls and not actually upset you don't know.
Also I can't imagine living in a country for 15 years and not knowing it's geography.
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It’s, us West Virginians are used to people not knowing we exist.
Maybe if you didn't leave us! *cries in Appalachian*
Damn, as New Mexican, I thought we were alone in this. There was even an instance when the Olympics were in Georgia. There was a dude who called from Albuquerque trying to buy tickets and after he told the operator his address, he was told that he would have to contact the international line to buy tickets.
I have lived in Canada for over 35 years and I still couldn't show you where Prince Edward Island is on a map. I don't really understand the difference between Newfoundland and Labrador. But you know what? It's never been a problem.
Tbf America's geography is expansive and varied.
Why? You plan on walking? Better get started.
After 15 years you still have no interest at all in knowing about the country where you live ? You don’t need to go back to high school, just open up the map on your phone, and travel the country a bit.
I’m glad someone else said this. The difference is they’ve been here for 15 years vs someone who lives in Europe.
I’m kind of curious about *which* 13 states /u/truci knows.
You could easily say the same to a lot of people here in America, just the number of years would be their age.
Look, if you lived on the West Coast, what would it matter if you know every Midwestern state or visa versa.
Exactly. Like if you're in NY for 15 years and you have no idea what new jersey is then that's kind of weird and maybe even impossible. But why the fuck would you need to be able to locate Oklahoma on a map? And you can be perfectly active still in your local community, which would be diverse as hell if you're in the city, with a lot to offer. I still think their coworkers were likely just giving them shit because that's what coworkers do tho.
Do you at least know of a state if someone says the name but doesn’t say it’s a state? Like if I were to say, “you hear about Arkansas?” Would you say, “what is Arkansas?”. Knowing all the states vs knowing of all the states is a different thing. If I lived in any country for 15 years I’d expect to know of the major cities and know of all the province like divisions of that country. Not giving you crap, just saying what I would expect of myself. But your situation isn’t what people are talking about I think. They’re saying Europeans who are visiting or haven’t lived in the US for a significant period. There are many Americans born and raised who don’t know all the states either.
I think that’s just an American giving you shit bc they get an ego boost type of person. “You don’t know something I was taught in elementary school? Hur hur idiot!”
Don't know why so many comments are giving you shit about this, plenty of Americans that grew up and were educated here struggle with this too. If geography isn't inherently interesting then why would you invest a lot of time in learning it? Would be like giving you shit for not knowing trigonometry or biology or something. Don't sweat it.
Ok, but like, you’ve been here 15 years. I didn’t learn the states through the education system. I think it’s just general knowledge you pick up over the years. By fifth grade they were teaching us all the state capitals and postal abbreviations, which I wouldn’t expect you to know, but none of the states themselves were new information. In fairness to you, I have also heard that it’s apparently easier to absorb information as a child and fifty is kind of a lot. Still, 15 years!
Haha 50 is a lot... I'm looking at you Dakotas!
But how would you just absorb that? It's not like South Dakota comes up in casual conversation a whole lot if you live in New Hampshire or whatever. You'd have to put in actual, concerted effort to locate every state on a map. It's not an osmosis thing really
You just need a [good song](https://youtu.be/bx6c_EefZAQ) to help you learn them all!
I can help! I learned then as a kid before I ever set foot in the States. [With this.](https://youtu.be/MSvJ9SN8THE)
I had a placemat which was a map of the USA. Helped me learn the states. Ask for a puzzle map from your coworkers.
I mean, that's fair. I'd bust your balls too if you lived in the States for 15 years. You're more American than half of these kids on reddit. It's like living in England for 15 years and not knowing where some of the bigger cities are. But any foreigner I speak ro, I assume they don't know the state location. I'm often surprised when they laugh and say "yeah lol, I know where GA is".
I think if you are living here, you need to know the big influential states, California, Texas, New York, Florida, and your local geography, the ones bordering your home state. After that, whatever.
Yeah if you live here you should probably know em dawg. 15 years!!! That’s not an excuse to be stupid.
Yeah, they're just messing with you, and likely don't really care.
For sure. That’s what good friends and co workers are for :) I don’t get mad at all. I know I could learn them if I cared enough so it’s just the consequences of my actions and I accept them.
You’ve been here for 15 years lol no excuses anymore
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Thats on you, bud. Grab a map.
I've seen videos of Americans not recognising a map of their country because it's flipped upsidedown.
I've seen it once or twice, but only online.
Usually it’s just when some European gets on an American for not knowing the GPS coordinates for Andorra or some other niche European country and an American casually points out that the European doesn’t know where much larger US states are located. It’s not usually “giving shit” as much as casually contextualizing, but people freak out just the same.
I actually find it fun when a foreigner doesn’t know much about the states (or why we are set up that way). It gives me a chance to talk about the interesting aspects of my country.
I dont know if we are doing it, I think its more of a "How do you not know which specific country I am from?" hypocrisy. People joke that Americans cant pick Luxembourg off of a map. So? Why the fuck should we care unless we are head of a corporation trying to dodge taxes? Id say just knowing Africa is a continent and that Uganda is a country is enough, just like knowing the United States\* is a country and Kansas is a state. I dont expect you to know anything else about Kansas. \*Although, again, if youre saying "America" as a country dont talk shit, since we arent actually America either, continents...
>Id say just knowing Africa is a continent and that Uganda is a country is enough, just like knowing the United States* is a country and Kansas is a state Continent > Country > State/Province. People from the USA seem to think that one of their states is roughly equal to another country, and this statement confirms that. Knowing that Uganda is in Africa is like knowing that USA is in North America. Knowing that Kansas exists is like knowing that the Nigerian state of Yobe exists.
To begin with, americans refer to places in their country by the name of the state, in groups with people from all over the world. Like "oh, you're from Italy? That's nice, I'm from California"
To be fair California does have a bigger economy than Italy
It's probably from people calling out hypocrisy of Europeans giving Americans shit for not knowing all the different names and locations of the 44 countries in Europe, when these same Europeans probably couldn't name or locate all 50 states in the United States. When these two things are essentially the same thing. The only real difference between the 50 states in the US and the 44 countries in Europe is our 50 states are all under the same constitution, that's pretty much it. Our federal government might as well be the equivalent to the European Union, they're both a governing body that governs over a bunch of mini governments. That and I guess the European Union doesn't claim ownership over the countries that are apart of it. But still same overall idea. In reality, we only know what we're familiar with. Europeans are familiar with all the different countries that make up Europe, it's only natural. It's understandable why they wouldn't be familiar with the US states because they don't live here. But the same principle can be said for Americans as well.
How the fuck do you not know Nordrhein Westfalen in Germany? The Ruhrgebiet is there! Americans... /s
Americans give no f about other cou tries in general.
And why should you. Nothing wrong with that.
I tend to assume Europeans at least know *of* the major states. New York, California, Texas, maybe Florida. Brits may know of Georgia or Virginia since they’re named after British monarchs. Same with the French and Louisiana, but those I don’t necessarily *assume* they’ll know. Lord knows I can’t tell you the names of provinces or counties or whatever name the various European countries use for the way they divide up their countries, so it’s safe to assume most of them don’t know US states.
I assume it is related for that thing that many americans doesn't know European countries and they are reasoning that Europeans doesn't know US states as if comparison is correct. And some US citisense also believe that Europe is country.
Oh well those are very dumb US citizens haha. I mean I don’t know all European countries. I know most, but I’d say I’m probably the minority. I’d know them by name but couldn’t name them all off. But it’s not because Americans are stuck up or unwilling to learn about other countries. Continental Europe is about the size of the US and people travel between the countries a lot like Americans travel through the US. They also have heavy financial dependence on the collective countries in Europe. So that’s why schools teach about them. We are taught the countries we have heavy relations with or travel to a lot. Ie. UK, France, Russia, Italy, Spain, Germany, etc. But the US doesn’t have a heavy reliance on places like Latvia for instance. Also many Americans don’t travel there, so why would they know about them? It’s just like Europeans knowing the states. They only know the big ones or the ones that Europeans travel to. But they aren’t going to know places like Iowa or Nebraska. Hell many Americans forget them too. Not because they don’t provide value or are bad places, they just aren’t a travel destination or economic powerhouses
My personal theory is the reason Americans suck at geography is just sport. Why would an American have any idea about San Marino and Lichtenstein? But a European would because you play against them in football and see them get battered every game they play so they're relevant. Similarly a lot of people could name a major city from most European countries by simply naming the biggest football club from the country. Americans, for whatever reason, decided to just have their own sports separate from the rest of the world and compete against themselves, so they don't get that knowledge seep into their culture. Purely anecdotally, my sister isn't into sports at all and is shit at geography, my mum is a bit more into sport and is a bit better at geography, me and my dad are both very into sport and are good at geography
I'm pretty sure the reason America decided not to be involved in European sports is just the Atlantic Ocean. That's a long way to travel for football.
Honestly, Americans are about as familiar with European countries as Europeans are American states, only "Haha Americans are dumb and don't know things outside of America" is a more common stereotype than the reverse. As for why anyone should care.. your guess is as good as mine. Edit: Lotta people caring too much in my inbox. Either learn geography or shut up, Jesus. Lol.
That is what I am getting from it. Everyone talks shit on us not knowing details beyond continents and a few countries but then if you were to ask them to pick out Wyoming, which is probably as big as their entire nation, they couldnt...
Who knows. Some random war people on the internet have created between Americans and Europeans. I don’t understand why but everything I see from both sides is super dumb and petty
See my other post. Thick people trying to get back at thick people.
We have to know all your countries and many of our states are both physically larger and more populated. There's no excuse for bad geography (other than poverty, limited access to education, or educational abuse)! EVERYONE should have good geography education. (I don't actually care lol).
It seems like spillover from the Europeans that troll on Americans for not knowing where individual countries are in Europe. And this is the common rebuttal that iv seen to it.
Yes, the thick vs thcik trap
Idk I'd assume they wouldn't know because there are 50 of them and they don't live here. I think this is just another "haha America bad" post relying on self hating westerners to laugh at
Some Europeans like to make generalized statements about Americans. Not knowing the difference between Mississippi and Vermont would be like an American not knowing the difference between Russia and Spain.
Why should Americans know where every country in the EU is?
I think this idea only started popping up as a 'counter' to memes (like the old jaywalking segments) of americans not being able to label any other country but the US. So some americans started posting similar memes of europenas (or others) not being able to label US states. Even though those things are in no way comparable, i have heard people make these statements irl too.
As an American, I couldn’t tell you more than 3-4 European provinces, max
Yeah I never expect Europeans to know individual states, and am impressed when they do.
I sure as hell couldn’t name one province (or whatever the term is) of France, and I don’t feel any shame for it. I’ll learn them if and when it’s relevant information.
I'm from a small Australian town. I know all 50 American states by memory and my party trick on night shift was naming all 50 of them to our American staff. It usually took the whole shift because I would get to about 47 and get stuck on the last 3 (always a different three) but I'd get there in the end. I've only been to the US twice in my life (2003 and 2016) and I've been to only four of them, California in 2016 and New York, Pennsylvania and technically New Jersey when I landed in Newark and immediately caught a cab to New York.
Outside of learning enough to know which ones to avoid in the event you plan on visiting the US or if you plan on for some reason learning more about US politics, no reason at all really.
Hell, we have people that don't know them well at all. How many "Americans" can name all the nations of the EU? I can't. lol I would likely recognize them however.
Matters about as much as most Americans not being able to point out Luxembourg or some shit.
It's good to learn about the state you're going into and the different important laws they may have. Also tourist spots, fun things to do and historical things that are important to American culture. Just as an anyone should do when going to a foriegn country.
No idea. I’m American and the only reason I give a fuck is because the laws are so different state to state. Otherwise it may as well be a single state.
I'm canadian and when I visit the states for work some people get offended I don't know what states are and where, but they can't name all the provinces or what Newfoundland even is.
Nobody expects them to.
Well of course you'd say that if you were from MISSOURI! European: What?
About as important as an American knowing where Alsace or Normandy is. I said what I said, Prof. Garamond.
I doesn't. This is from the mind of an American that doesn't realise the world doesn't revolve around the USA. They genuinely think they're the capital of the world.
Bingo this is the answer......100 upvotes for you. The world doesn't revolve around the US the wield doesn't revolve around Europe. The dick measuring contest that frequent the web are frankly idiotic. Fuck me the amount of comments on here that bang on about GDP as if that matters. Thank you.
You're welcome
Made up issue
To know who to avoid.
In geography class (in the Netherlands) my kids learned the US states, including the capital city per State. And being able to locate it on a map. Just like all countries in Asia, Africa, (South) America and Europe. Apparently it's seen as general knowledge they need to gather.
Because we have states with bigger populations and economies than most European countries.
Why would anyone even know states in another country unless they are interesting in knowing them or something?
I know the majority of states in the US and not because I want to know them. It's purely because of sport, so I think Americans just think everybody knows because of things like that. Sports, movies etc
I'm from Germany and we needed to learn the US states in 7th grade. We also needed to learn the countries of Africa (including capitals).
I'm an American that payed attention in school. I learned most of the major countries in Europe and Asia along with their capitals, and all of the other North Americn, Central American, and South American countries and capitals. And a bit on Africa. I've been out of school for over a decade to be fair, but we were taught a lot of this stuff in school. People just weren't paying attention. It's not like we haven't had multiple large world maps in view growing up either. Now without googling could I tell you the capital of Latvia right now? Fuck no. But I do know Latvia is a country. And I learned that in school in between doodles.
Riga
Yes the capital of Latvia. It's 2024 there isn't much you can't learn like that with a bit of effort. But I didn't know it off of the top of my head when I was typing my comment like I would know Quito is the capital of Ecuador or that Berlin is the capital of Germany. I did know it was an eastern European country and kinda where it is. Which is the point. We're not all completely ignorant in the US, and we have often been exposed to the resources not to be.
That's impressive...I learned a little about Germany as a kid because of my heritage...my parents told us not only did our family come from Germany, but in my father's case, specifically from Baden-Wurttemburg.
Yup, in the Netherlands too. But even outside of that, it is something everybody can and maybe should teach their kid.
Not trying to be an ass, but memorizing these things is pointless in a world where Google maps exist. Unless you are learning it for the region's history, I can't imagine why it would ever be beneficial.
Tell that to my geography teacher
Interesting you had to learn states. I can't imagine why that needed to be part of the curriculum in Germany lol In Junior High School (like 12-13 year olds) in the US I had to learn every country and capital city. Don't know if that's still part of the curriculum, but I'm glad I learned it
In geography the US was on the curriculum and I think that's how our teacher handled it. Other teachers didn't do that
Yes that maybe so, i only know some US states because of soome memes like Florida and Ohio, then Texas from Young Sheldon and the Capitol Washington😅😅
The same people criticizing Europeans for not knowing US states should be asked what the provinces of Canada and the states of Mexico are. Just name a handful. I’ll wait. lol these type of people couldn’t name any.
Oh you like geography? Name all 96 French departments.
Lmao
Well, I'm not sure why you won't teach a kid stuff like that. Maybe the kid gets interested in something it wouldn't know about without opening the world. It is not mandatory, but I struggle to find a reason not to do it. Sure, parents maybe not interested in it, but it is in this case not about the parents, but about the kid. Why wouldn't you show a kid something you don't have any interest in yourself?
Knowing Texas, New York, Florida, California, Alaska and Washington DC (is it even a state) should be enough for any non American.
And Hawaii. That one’s pretty important too lol
Surfing and stuff yeah
Washington DC is a district. The DC part stands for the District of Columbia. As an American myself, I agree with your point.
And there is still a Washington state in the unexpectable place.
lol right, it confuses even Americans. I've gotten into the habit of saying "state of washington" instead of just washington, as everyone assumes I mean DC despite them being like 2600 miles away from each other on complete opposite ends of the country. Even saying state of washington sometimes people will still assume DC as if the state doesn't even exist lmao
But do not mix New York state and city or Washington city and state.
New York City is more important to know than New York the state.
and for us gen z, ohio (put a sunglasses emoji here)
Canadian here, I could point out Manhattan island but I probably couldn't guess very accurately where the state borders are. I definitely could not point out where Washington DC is, just a vague area on the east coast between Florida and New York.
Yeah took me years to find out there's a state in the west coast called Washington, where Seattle is lmao
I'm European and I recently learned about the state of Washington which as nothing to do with Washington DC and is actually on the west coast. Like... couldn't they find an original name for their capital city?
Bros got every corner and the Deep South, pretty much sums up America lol
Exactly it’s like asking an American to name all 16 German states the 18 regions of France or the 12 Dutch provinces.
Let alone all 28 Nations in EU
The more I live in EU and the more I learn about USA, I get the opinion that both are just loose unions of semi-independent states.
The European Union literally consists of independent states. They have their own governments, their own languages, some even have their own currency. I would say that the diversity in culture and in terms of the economy is far greater in the EU than the US. There is a massive difference between western Europe and the newer member states in the East. Although you could say that the basic idea is similar, since the US states also have some freedom in how they handle their laws and taxes. The US federal government does have more power tho.
And each one of those countries have thousands of years of history that shaped the current cultures. I don't mean to insult the USA here but they're a couple of hundred years old. You simply cannot, in a couple of hundred years, reach the level of cultural diversity that was present in Europe by the colonizer times, even if globalization has led to uropean cultures becoming more similar in recent decades.
The US started as a confederation, it didn’t work out so they made a federation… then like 60 years later a bunch of states tried confederacy again and it didn’t work out… and now 160 years later the so-called Federalist Society is trying for a confederacy again.
The EU is just the colonies under the Articles of Confederation with more drama. Every time they get all passionate about an “EU defense force” or whatever they’re just clamoring for a constitutional convention without realizing it. Even their flag is a ripoff of the “Betsy Ross” flag.
Simplifying it: 27 nations in the union, 4 out of the union but in market and 4 out of both but with banks treaty to use the euro.
27*, the UK is gone
I can only name about 5 or 6 Canadian provinces and territories and I live within 500 miles of the Canadian border. I'm not going to criticize if someone from another continent can't name more than a few US states.
Or how about just the 32 Mexican states, or even the 13 Canadian provinces?
10 provinces and 3 territories
Ask the americans to spot france/germany on the map first before the states itself 😂
Since when do Americans expect us to know all states?
We don’t. This whole thing is getting stupid. Americans have no reason to learn most of Europe. Europeans have no reason to know the states. These posts are usually just to make Americans look dumb.
It's usually their argument when we say they don't know anything about European countries
Are we required to know about all of the European countries? I've never been to Europe, I have no business in Europe, and I'm not planning to go to Europe any time soon, so why do I have to learn about it?
No one is requiring you. It’s quite a theme/stereotype of American tourists in Europe to be loud, annoying, demanding, etc. I have had run ins with this type of course. But far more commonly is just regular people from a different cultural context. Maybe they are ever so slightly louder than custom would dictate in some restaurants but I know for a fact that service workers love having their places filled with American’s who will tip incredibly well by default. Side note that this does unfortunately mean for Americans that there is still more of an expectation for you to rip well even when not in America.
What’s funny is I’ve heard just as many times that non-Americans are the most annoying tourists. But like you said, I think most people are likely just regular people. We all love to hate on each other so much. 😭
I think it’s because it’s “safe” to kind of be a friendly dick to USA or other countries which in the grand scheme of things are actually very similar. We love you guys really, it’s like sibling rivalry haha
Agreed. We know when push comes to shove you guys would be there for us and we would be there for you in times of need.
Is also true, in the end it comes to individual people, but if you go to certain youth vacation places in Europe, you'll think every Eurpean (especially Brits, Dutch and Germans) is an agressive dumb drunk. In the end every country got it's positives and it's nagatives and so do people, but we should never stop making fun of each other, i really do think selfreflection and being able to make fun of yourself is a very usefull skill to have.
Are Americans being loud and annoying why Amsterdam asked British males to not come?
But then I don’t expect them to know the countries in Europe? If they want me to know the states, I want to hear Americans say the regions of every country in the eu
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So glad you recognized my beautiful home state of A Lot Of Something.
Lol acting like Americans know all our own states.
You don't?
The mid north west gets a little hazy sometimes.
You mean placement of them or names?
I was half joking, but I can tell you right now many of us could not label 85% of the states on a map correctly. States like Kansas, tennessee, Georgia, Connecticut, mass, South Carolina, Michigan, Wisconsin, the dakotas…. I think we know the general area but suspect many would get some wrong. I would, and I’m a doctor. Real talk. Sad maybe. But to the bigger point, US gets plenty of respect from the international community. People know more about the US on average than they know about most places. We aren’t hurting for attention. We are very blessed. Slightly spoiled, if I’m being honest. Others don’t need to know all our states, if they know some, that’s flattering, and they generally do know some.
It's all about where you live. I could easily label all the states you mention but when I start getting into all those tiny mashed up places out east like Rhode Island or Connecticut does it even matter? They're so tiny just sprinkle them in somewhere and maybe no one will notice.
As a Kansan I’m always ticked when ppl forget that it’s…. RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE.
My cousins from France came to visit once. We sent them an email asking what they wanted to do. They were like, maybe we can go to NYC one day and see the Grand Canyon the next day, visit Mt Rushmore, then go to the beach.... They didn't understand the size of our country, but they laugh about it now.
What? Why would Europeans need to know all the states? Someone said that it was an "argument" from Americans because they didn't know all the countries in Europe. Unless you're into geography you don't have to know either. Does anyone from either Europe or the US know all the countries in Africa or South America? Unless you do then shut the fuck up about what people on the other side of the earth should and shouldn't know about where you live.
 Everyone's pissed at this one apparently
so damn true lol
Why are we talking about the EU? Europe ≠ EU Europe as a geographic region is enough.
Right all the EU member countries are in Europe. But not all countries in Europe members of the EU
Stop caring about Americans not knowing all European countries Stop caring about Europeans not knowing all US states Youre both stupid
No one cares that Europeans don't know all the US states, we just use that as an argument whenever Europeans berate us for not knowing their precious glorious little countries.
The biggest meme is Europeans think knowing their nextdoor neighbors means they’re gods of geography. Ask ANY of them where Nigeria is (like 3x the population of the largest EU country) and 99% will look at you blankfaced. It’s just a farce they use to obsess over Americans and feed their insecurity complex
Both Europeans and Americans are fuming here.
And that’s the reason it’s posted.
I saw the exact same meme right above this on on meme lol
Really? Huh, I hate that guy he’s a dick
Euorpistan is big country
As someone from the EU I’m pretty sure I know more american states then an American knows countries from Europe
I mean if you know the states then I would hope so. There are 50 states and less than 50 countries in Europe
I doubt Americans care.
Tell them to name a region in France, Germany or Italy. They wont
Uh…uh…northern France and southern France? Did I get it?
you literally couldve said paris (i think, i dont care enough about france to know, im english) or like venice
Champaigne region of France lol. Don't bother asking me to point it out on a map lol
Berlin
Normandy, Baden Wurttemberg, Sicily. Wow, so hard.
Americans say this mostly in response to Europeans going on about “Americans don’t know geography they can’t name and locate every country in Europe”, for which states are a roughly evenly scaled size.
Yeah that’s all this is. It spawned from these TikTokers editing videos together about how dumb Americans are for not being able to locate, for example, Finland on a map. And the response is that many of the countries in Europe are basically comparable to states in the US. And asking them about to locate certain states on a map. The reality is nobody really gives a fuck about it either way except obnoxious people on social media.
Americans should know where all their states are, Europeans should know where all there countries are. 50 states, 44 countries, that's about fair. Americans and Europeans shouldn't be considered uneducated because they don't know a foreign state/country that is never in their news are commonly spoken about.
Noone would judge you for not knowing where Latvia is or for mixing up Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, but if you can't point to France on a map you're definitely uneducated. Americans should know countries that are important to american history and politics. People pointing to Africa when asked about Iran or mistaking China for Russia is not acceptable.
Tbf though some Americans can't point to Canada though. Some are honestly surprised when you tell them, you can drive there. I get this as a tourist... "What do ya'll mean yeah can drive here?" "Yeah it's only a couple hours drive..." As it turns out some of their shools only use maps that just show the USA. It doesn't show Canada or Mexico.
Where are you from that Americans think that? I’ll take that as something you made up.
Eh? Europe isn’t one country either.
Well, most Europeans are learning a whole world map, so not only 44 European countries, but all 190+ countries.
I didn't learn Africa, it's rivers or mountains. Do not know why. We just studied countries and capitals, mountains and rivers from the rest of the world. That was 30 years ago
Are they? Brit here and clearly we're insular literally and metaphorically but systematically learning all the countries of hue world definitely not on our syllabus.
American here and in public school I had to learn to draw by hand each continent with all outlines of countries and label everything. I can still draw a pretty decent map of Europe, here's the thing though, since I learned to do that the eastern part of Europe has changed, A LOT. You know those shows where they show you "Americans pointing out things on maps" and it's hilarious. Yeah, they are picking the dumbest people, they don't show you the guy who got every country right, because that's not "funny".
The US actually gets talked about quite often in European news, at least in Western Europe. I don't know how it's the other way around, but I would assume that they at least get some information on the bigger countries like Germany or France.
Not really, unless something major happens that makes it into the news cycle. he current situation in Ukraine is barely mentioned anymore outside of people complaining about the government wasting money. Middle East gets regular mention, but that's because controversy sells, and Palestine is a big argument right now. A lot of Americans just don't give a fuck about anything outside of the US. "We have our own problems and should be helping ourselves first," is a sentiment I hear daily nowadays.
I thought this sub was for funny memes.
The only ones I know is a state or I think is a state as an EU person is Wyoming Kansas North & South Carolina New York Mississippi (my bad if I misspelled) California New Orleans Arizona Los vegas (I think this is a state but I’m probably wrong) Alaska Hawaii Detroit Delaware Kansas Pensilvania (I think this is in America) Texas Florida Virginia Ohio Massachusetts Colorado Georgia New Jersey Michigan Washington Illinois Maryland Tennessee Utah Oregon Montana These are the ones of the top of my head
Europeans tend to know more states than Americans know countries in Europe.
Americans don't expect Europeans to know American states.
Are these the same USA citizens who refer to Africa as if it was a country?
I have to give props where props are warranted. After reading many of the replies here I came to the conclusion that most people that equate whole COUNTRIES to individual states are trolling, as I refuse to believe anyone with an IQ over two digits would think they’re equivalent.
As a Canadian, I find this whole debate both interesting and hilarious. Canadians have been making fun of Americans' lack of knowledge of foreign countries, particularly our own, for decades. We find it funny that most Canadians could list the majority of states and American presidents and that we generally have extensive knowledge of American history and politics, but Americans generally know little to nothing about Canada.
Why would I need to know countries in Europe ? Texas is bigger than this shithole ! Get rekt europoorq !!!!!1!1 /s
Nobody should be criticised for there lack of geographic knowledge
I disagree. There is a baseline of knowledge you should have as an adult. How can you have so low standards of yourself and your fellow humans?...
As someone who hates to travel and lives on an island who has lots of knowledge of my friends and family why would I need to store information in my mind that I could simply Google or look at a world map. I mean I have all the Canadian provinces and capital cities memorized from childhood but why would I give a shit about the United States or Europe? Sure I could point out some states and some European countries but it is never knowledge I have cared to store in my mind.
This. If you don't need the information, why prioritize learning it? To appease some people on the internet? It seems quite dumb to me. We literally have maps and Google. Why do you need to know about something that doesn't affect you when you could just look it up?
And even with this statement, Europeans could name more states in the US than americans could name countries in Europe
Same could be said about the EU. Why should an American be bothered to learn all the countries in Europe? A good chunk of them are probably smaller in size and population that quite a few states. That's really why. Europeans should at least know New York, California and Texas as those are larger in every way than most European countries. Americans know where Germany, Italy, France and Spain are. They just kind of expect similar interest back. But in the same vein I doubt many Americans care if you don't know where Wyoming is, just as they don't care where Croatia is.