Have you noticed, nobody has a clue about geography any more?

Question

Whenever there's a reference to a geographical fact in the media, they're wrong at least 50% of the time. Tonight there's a story on Yahoo! News "Mountain water resources under threat - experts" which claims the Danube flows through 18 countries. In fact it flows THROUGH five countries (Germany, Austria, Hungary, Serbia and Romania) and forms the boundary of four more (Slovakia, Croatia, Bulgaria and Moldova).

This is par for the course, even in publications like the Times and Guardian. But nobody would want to employ me as a geographical proof reader.

Why the ignorance - do you think it doesn't matter?

Sangmo - in which country was this outrage against your daughter perpetrated?

2XUS - I wrote the list from memory. If I was a geographical proof reader I would have checked and included Ukraine. Actually Ukraine just borders the extreme northern distributary of the delta, I think. Still working from memory.

I'm glad to see there are some people who still care about this subject. Another example - in one of the highbrow British broadsheets not so long ago, I think it was The Independent, in an article about the Chinese position regarding Islamic "extremism", they said Xinjiang (Sinkiang) was in north-east China (it's actually the huge north-western chunk.) These mistakes are so regular, they may as well stop attempting to say where anywhere is at all!

Answer 1

In a school geography test last year my daughter put down Canberra as the capital of Australia, and Berlin as the capital of Germany, she was marked wrong, and told that they were Sydney and Munich respectively. That's much worse, in my opinion, than errors in the media, we don't really trust the media anyway, but those who are teaching young children have a big responsibility to know their stuff.

Answer 2

It's just another depressing fact. I think the worst offenders are Americans - sorry guys but there's far more of you who expect to never travel outside your own country than we do in Europe. If you stay within the boundaries of your own country why should you be interested in what's over the ocean? But the Brits are getting worse too - who can forget Jade's gaffes on BB4? I don't lay claim to know everything, and countries do change so it can be hard to keep up to date - f'r instance I still get confused about which countries now exist out of the former Yugoslavia...but at least I know there was a Yugoslavia that split following conflict! When I was at school we studied social geography - linking in the geographical location with social study. I think there needs to be more of that now to help people understand one another better and to really start promoting global awareness.

HOWEVER...back to this particular issue and I think you need to take a look at the Wikipedia link below. I agree with it's sums - ten and ten: that's ten countries that it flows through or forms part of the border of, and ten more for the basin. - sorry mate. Although, in your defence, where rivers start is an issue that is constantly being debated and argued upon. One country will say the river starts there, and the next country back will always lay claim to the source and on it goes.

Answer 3

Yahoo ! News is not completely wrong .....

The Danube has been an important international waterway for centuries, as it remains today.

Known to history as one of the long-standing frontiers of the Roman Empire, the river flows through—or forms a part of the borders of—ten countries: Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, and Ukraine; n addition, the drainage basin includes parts of ten more countries: Poland, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, and Albania.

Answer 4

It is not that people do not have a clue about Geography any more, rather they do not complete their research thoroughly enough any more.
Take your example....the river Danube actually flows through or forms a boundary of TEN countries. You missed the Ukraine from your lists, thus if I were employing a "Geographical proof reader", your past performance would seriously let you down.
I believe that modern culture with all its time restraints and deadlines is the main cause.

Answer 5

Geography is no longer required to be taught in schools thanks to the No Child Left Behind/ State Standards. I can't speak for outside of CA, but here there is no required 9th grade social studies course. Sometimes a geography class is taught, other times electives, EL or other filler is instituted. I think geography is very important. I always included it when I taught 7th grade social studies, and I always put a map portion on the Unit Test.
Personally, I worry about the future of America. I think a lot of people are growing up to be lazy, ignorant, semi-literate, schizophrenic, drug addled excuses for human beings. I also think that this generation of parents (who had kids after 1990) are the most worthless scum on the planet. But that's life nowadays.

The joys of the American public school...

Answer 6

If you look in a world atlas you will find a LOT of countries that have changed names... if you look in an OLD atlas... it is much worse...

How often do YOU buy a new atlas? I bought one about 10 years ago and have found no real need to update it because I do not deal with foreign countries on a daily basis...

there are probably a LOT of countries in the world that I have NO CLUE where they are located... and I have travelled around the world!!!... but some of them did not even exist when I was in that part of the world... and many have changed names...

I think some of the countries around the middle east have changed names 3 or 4 times since I bought an atlas...

so you are right... i have no clue about geography NAMES.

Answer 7

I agree that there is a lot of geographical ignorance. The problem would seem to be that the researchers used by news media are not geography specialists. They seem to accept as the truth the first thing they see in written form.

Answer 8

I'm a graduate student in geography right now, so I feel your pain.
Geography has long been abandoned in the American education system. Most universities abolished their geography departments decades ago.

However, geography is more than just memorizing names on a map. Geography is about the spatial distribution of people and features on the earth's surface, and the connections between them. Geography is very relavent to all sort of problems and issues today. It's a shame more people don't realize this.

Answer 9

It's all part of 'dumbing down', If we're going to become the 51st State of the USA, then we have to be as ignorant as they are. During the war in the ex-Yugoslavia, I was seriously worried about Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, after CNN showed a map pinpointing that area as the Balkans. For anybody who isn't in the know , these countries are the Baltic states.

Answer 10

I think that in the old school all kids were taught Geography.. but now if its not on the tests the kids have in the schools ... Its not taught . Most adults who have learned geography have forgotten certian things ... But the european landscape does change if your not keeping up on the government... Yeah it does matter ... people should know where all the states are and know their country ... But most people dont make it out of their country ... so if they have never been there ... its hard to make a reference.... But yeah I think that it does matter that people are ignorant.