Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Study Shows Most Americans Can't Find A Map

Many polls have shown that a majority of Americans can't find important countries like Iraq or France on a world map. But a new study shows that most Americans can't find a world map at all. According to the Pew Research Center, sixty-four percent of Americans polled could not locate a map showing all the major countries in the world in their home or office.

Lawrence Jefferson from the Pew Research Center calls it an alarming trend, stating "If this trend continues, a majority of Americans won't be able to find maps of his own city or even his own street. By the next century, the average American won't be able to find his own house."

Stanley Percy of Detroit, Michigan is typical of most Americans. When asked by his nine-year old son for a world map to locate Bolivia, Percy had no idea where to find one. He said, "I thought I had an atlas on the bookshelf, but I don't. I even went to the attic to try to find my old geography textbook, but I couldn't find that either. It's really weird. A world map is one of those things you just assume you have until you need it."

Percy stated that he would be getting a world map soon and will then attempt to locate Bolivia.

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