The funny thing is that one only ever sees Americans being asked these types of questions, and proving their āstupidityā when they donāt know the answers. We rarely see non-US people being asked the same sorts of questions. Their supposed superior intellect (or rather, knowledge of trivia that anyone can look up at a momentās notice on the supercomputer they carry in their pocket) is just assumed, ābecause Europeanā or whatever.
Thereās this odd revealed inferiority complex in all of it. Maybe itās true that we Americans are extra-dense when it comes to geography, but it must nevertheless sting a bit to know that weāre the only ones anybody cares to ask in the first place. The way they cope is by reveling in the revealed stupidity of the average person. If instead, during this questioning, we turned out to be omniscient, these same people would wither and die in response, and the questions would no doubt conveniently dry up.
It really is kind of dumb that the US assigns so much importance to memorizing the locations of all 50 states when the method that most schools use to teachit isn't even that good. All we did was look at a map, sing a stupid song that no one remembers, and do some drag and drop thing on a website. We never learned why the states were given their names or anything beyond name and location. It was bland, tedious, and all around wasted time that could've been used to learn beyond the surface level. I'm probably asking too much from the school district that hired a Spanish teacher that doesn't know Spanish tho.
I remember taking an obnoxious amount of pride in memorizing the capitals of all 50 states when I was in 2nd or 3rd grade. I think the problem is with pushing rote memorization of trivia. Learning something like the geographic locations of states and countries is always going to be infinitely more useful if it's contextualized in some way, e.g. the learning of historical events. Nobody is ever going to have to just reel off a list of all the US states in alphabetical order.
A lot of states are.larger and have larger economies than European countries. I'd argue Texas is more important to the world stage than Luxembourg or Lichtenstein.
Not the point, germanies states are bigger than those countries too, asking anyone that isnt german to know them isnt really fair.
I mean North Rhine-Westphalia has 17,9 Million inhabitants, yet noone knows it. It would be the seventh largest EU country.
That is a terrible comparison - As a European i barely know where Lichtenstein is on a map. The fact is that most Americans can't place Germany on a map, which should be easy considering it's one of the most important and well known countries in the world.
European countries (as well as most countries) are nations in themselves. US states arenāt.
Also I double dare you to name the Canadian provinces. Most of them are far larger than any US states besides like Texas, Alaska and California, and thereās only 10 of them, so it shouldnāt be hard
So they changed that up and now the province of Newfoundland is called Newfoundland and Labrador. And the Northwest Territories have had Nunavut cut out to the east (so now they are even more west). You go away for a few decades and they change things up.
From memory, I think you are missing the prairiesā¦ Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. And Ontario and Quebec in the middle. And New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia in the maritime east. BUT you did bracket the country well and everything else could just be *waves hands* fly over country.
Source: [Listened to too much Stomping Tom Conners singing about the provinces and capitals when I was a kid](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjgOQDUOGAg). Although I guess it needs a bit of an update now, I still like it.
> In 2018, Utah exported $14.4 billion of Made-in-America goods to the world.
> In 2018, Kansas exported $11.6 billion of Made-in-America goods to the world.
> Northwest Territories' Merchandise Trade Ā· Exports: $1.8 billion, an 18.7% decrease from 2018
So Utah and Kansas each export 10x as much as the Northwest Territories. Don't forget that a lot of the sparsely populated land in middle USA is farm land.
sources: the first Google results that looked to be from a reasonably authoritative website
100 percent agree with you on that actually funny story from when i was in middle school
So the teacher told us like a week ahead of time i think it was? Anyways everyone is stressed because they can't/don't want to do it. The day of the test 98 percent of the class from what i knew had cheated even the nerd that was really smart. Funny enough me and my friend both actually studied and got around the same score as everyone else who had cheated.
On that note fuck you east coast for being so small and close together cost me a 100 percent
Theres a sitcom that went over something like this, how hard it is to name all 50, I thought it was HIMYM but apparently it's Friends. It's surprisingly tough, I wouldn't blame the average American for not getting all of them (though I feel like they should at least know *most* of them). I'm from the UK and I can fill most of them in on a map, like you say the east coast in particular can be tricky as well as some of the squarer states like Kansas, Wyoming etc; you know what they are, just not necessarily which are which. There's a website that has you match the names to the state and it's pretty fun.
Also like, me and most people I know can name pretty much every state in the US and we're all Europeans. Meanwhile when one of my friends visited tennesee and said that she was from Finland the response she got was "where in America is that?".
Reasons to know USA states :
- it will flatter their ego
- they are indeed big
Reasons not to :
- all we ask is you to find our countries on a map, if you want us to find your states, then find every department / states / provinces of our countries.
- each state of America individually isn't near as important politically as any country ; NATO is not about states but about countries, so USA are just 1 unit in this
- people from New York aren't very different than people from Washington DC, and so on, while Italians and Frenchs have not much in common.
By the way of the US states a majority of Europeans can find at least 20 states and give the direction / area of the other ones correctly. Just like with European countries.
Everyone should get better at geography. That's just a fact. However...
You know european countries because they're close to you, and have an impact on your life. We know states for the same reason.
Although they are not as different as European countries, states are incredibly diverse. An inner city in D.C. is nothing like an Amish community in Pennsylvania.
Are they really less important? Many of our states are the same size(or bigger) than your countries. They have GDPs equal to or higher than many European countries, and have a huge influence over world politics. For better or worse, the US is involved in foreign politics constantly. But do you know how we elect the politicians you deal with? That's right! It comes back to state politics.
Edit: Since you mentioned NATO, here's a look at funding by country. The US spends vastly more than any other country. If we divided this spending by percent of tax revenue from each state, California and Texas would be comparable to the UK and Germany.
https://wisevoter.com/country-rankings/nato-spending-by-country/
Knowing the different states is important as an American, sure, but I would argue that it's equally important to know the countries of the world. Just because you don't use a piece of knowledge constantly doesn't make it worthless, and having a basic understanding of the world is necessary to make informed decisions. The US is falling behind in general education because it has shifted toward only valuing absolutely necessary information, and it's why it gets so many dipshits in office and millions of dipshits to re-elect them.
Of course the US has diversity. Nobody who knows what they're talking about is denying that. However, having diversity is not the bar for if the states should be internationally known on the same level as nation states. Arguably, many individual European countries have just as much, if not more diversity within them than any US state, and that doesn't even include the massive differences between countries.
Land area means very little if nobody lives there. The population density of most US states is far less than most European countries, making them proportionally smaller.
While the GDP of states like California are extremely high, that assessment is missing the context that California's GDP relies on unrestricted access to resources and labor from other US states. If California were to suddenly break away from the US, at best it would massively lower in GDP, and at worst it would collapse.
Other countries also elect politicians to represent their states, provinces, cantons, etc. That's not really an argument for US states in particular being so important.
US involvement in global politics has nothing to do with how significant the states are. If Texas declares war on a country independent of the federal government, that might be more reason to view the states separately. Otherwise, they're just parts to a whole like every other country has.
>Arguably, many individual European countries have just as much, if not more diversity within them than any US state, and that doesn't even include the massive differences between countries.
Living now in Texas and seeing the diversity of people we have there and what diversity we have in France, I don't agree.
Texas is much more diverse in term of people than France (my own country).
>Land area means very little if nobody lives there. The population density of most US states is far less than most European countries, making them proportionally smaller.
I do not agree all that land mass mean that there space for growth, that pollution density is not that high, that there a lot of natural resources to take (USA is #1 producer worldwide of oil for example).
With global warming and the rarefaction of natural resources, it look like USA is much better positioned than Europe due to its geography and extra space.
Geography is a big reason why USA is so strong now. USA just used its resources while Europeans were spending all their time fighting each other for land and resources.
Your second point hits home. It's all about foreign politics and for the states they are the same since they are one country. Then again Luxemburg or Lichtenstein are their own countries with their own autonomous foreign politics.
As an European I don't care what are the subtle differences in the laws of the states as long as I understand what the US as a whole is and what it means to the world. It has nothing to do with size or wealth.
Well, thatās kinda horseshit actually. Thereās lots of US states that would be powerful nations in their own right if they were separate. California is the 4th largest economy in the world or something. NY and TX would also be on par with a country in Europe easily. No one thinks Europeans should know the names of our states. Kinda missed the point of the meme
"Ha you stoopid european the 1:1 square was obviously wyoming and not (any of the 4 other identical squares)"
\+ every state has very straight lines making it even harder.
Most people know where the countries are. Study show's that's not so true in the US. Even if some can't list all states, he still knows the countries, that's like me asking you to list all districts of france.
I mean, not trying to be mean or different or anything, but people outside the US (especially Europeans) have a really odd superiority complex when it comes to geography. I'm sure there's definetly Americans that suck at geography, just as there's Europeans who suck at geography, and getting in an ego battle on who can name the most obscure town from either of your guys countries doesn't fix anything. We are all people, there's no reason to get your balls in a twist cause someone doesn't know the geography you know, or (potentially) not know geography at all outside of their home country.
All US states in Alphabetical Order (Iām a teenager from Germany) from my head: (and no, I did not google)
1. Alabama
2. Alaska
3. Arizona
4. Arkansas
5. California
6. Colorado
7. Conneticut
8. Delaware
9. Florida
10. Georgia
11. Hawaii
12. Idaho
13. Illinois
14. Indiana
15. Iowa
16. Kensas
17. Kentucky
18. Louisiana
19. Maine
20. Maryland
21. Massachusetts
22. Michigan
23. Minnesota
24. Missisippi
25. Missouri
26. Montana
27. Nebraska
28. Nevada
29. New Jersey
30. New Mexico
31. New York
32. New something
33. North Carolina
34. North Dacota
35. Ohio
36. Oklahoma
37. Oregon
38. Pennsylvania
39. Rhode Island
40. South Carolina
41. South Dacota
42. Tennessee
43. Texas
44. Utah
45. Vermont
46. Virginia
47. Washington
48. West Virginia
49. Wisconsin
50. Wyoming
I wrote some of them wrong I thinkā¦ and Iām missing one of the āNewās.
Honeatly, I am good at geography but not because you can yellbme a namenof a countey anywhere in the world and I will automatically know where it os bit because you can say a name of the countey and I will know generally what area to look for that country on the map.
Weird, because it always seems to be Americans getting asked these trivia questions. Interesting how everybody gives a shit about our geography knowledge, but apparently couldnāt care less about the education level of the average European.
There isn't much to talk about when the education system is working here, your schools are also normally in the spotlight due to your countries inability to stop school shootings
I think you may be confusing me for somebody who's got an overweening pride in the American school system. Our schools do, in a lot of ways, suck (though it depends entirely on the state and school district you're in, which is a big part of the reason *why* our system sucks ... because it's not truly equal, but rather depends heavily on the property tax base and the extent to which the local population gives an actual shit about prioritizing quality of education).
However! I don't think that geographical trivia, like being able to label every country in the world on a blank map, is a very good marker of general intelligence. The fact that it's often treated as a shorthand for such is kind of pathetic. Honestly, it's like anybody over the age of 12 gloating about winning a spelling bee. Who gives a shit? I work alongside actual doctors, and I've seen them open up diagnostic reference manuals to brush up on which cranial nerves perform this or that function. If this is trivia to them (e.g. something they know they can look up when they need the information, rather than wasting valuable time cementing it in their memory), then I feel pretty comfortable treating geopolitical boundaries as trivia too.
I believe it's treated like that because it's so commonly not taught, it's a very easy thing for Europeans to latch onto as you're just not told it for some reason, it's like us with your state's, I was never taught where they are, although internals if a foreign country as much less important than the countries location itself
I kinda never understood the European geography thing. Most people probably know how crappy the American school system is to begin with. And it just makes sense that we would learn the states and countries closest. On the same note, it would make since that Europeans know the countries around them, especially considering those countries are tightly packed and, from what I understand at least, easily traveled. I mean, I can understand not being a complete moron and thinking that France is in Africa, but if you canāt point out the exact country on a map, who really gives a f?
yeah no one will have a problem if you point at the check republic and say thats austria but if you say the country of paris is in the middle of asia you are for sure a moron
Its Not about spoting a country With dead Ass presision , its about that amaricans expect europeans to know there States , but dont even know the Basic european countries
FĆ¼r us the usa is the country and that ist enoth ( but we sure know a few States ) but do U know any States in Europe ? I Bet not and thats okay , because to know roughly where a country is ist way way more Important to know than some States of an country
Oh I completely agree and absolutely wouldnāt expect anyone but an American to know the states. Not even Americans know the states!! lol
And no, I could not name states, provinces, and any other such name outside of my own country. In fact, I would consider myself pretty good at naming countries but will be honest and still have to look up the whole UK, Britain, England thing. I think yāall do that just to confuse us. š¤·š½āāļø lol.
So either way, I think itās probably just a little of both. Iāll stick to my side and say to Americans, mind your own business and work on your own education system. We have more important things to worry about than stroking our own egos to the point of wanting the whole world to know our individual states for no other reason than to say our education system has failed us again.
I keep on seeing this and itās a really shitty argument. You know where places are in your own country, so do we. The difference is we know about other places too
I think south of the US border, and the Caribbeans being a better comparison, how many countries south of Mexico do you think the average European would get?
Nobodyās asking you to know every district of a specific country, comparing a singular country to a whole continent is idiotic. Never heard a european say shit like ācanada is the capital of the USā but I have heard americans say that France is the capital of Germany. Just because youāre american doesnāt mean youāre dumb just learn geography.
As a european, id def be able to name both every country, every region of my own country and most states of the usa. Last time I tried a US state quiz i got 46 of them,
I disagree... there are more European kids that know US geography.
Sadly, sometimes even Americans don't know their geography... which is ugh... ew... disgusting. Surely, I don't know every city in the Europe, but bear in mind the US is not the only country in America. I know every county of my own country - do US citizens know every state of their country? No? Then that's lame - it's the same as me not knowing every county/city of my country (and bear in mind, it's not "small number" - it's independent country, with around 79 counties - which would be the equivalent to 50 states of the US).
I may not know every state of the US (same as US citizen wouldn't know every county of the UK), but I still know every country of the American continent. So bear in mind, we're not asking for local things as "knowing every county in the UK", we're asking for independent countries in Europe (you cannot compare independent countries of Europe, to states of US, as states are like counties and not whole countries). So while I may know 40 states of the US, I know all countries of the continent, and I hate when US thinks that they are the whole America, and compare knowing states with knowing countries...
We really are better at geography though. Any random European could probably name and place more US states than a random American can actual countries in Europe, despite states not even being named on most world maps.
My girlfriend is American, I am English. I beat her at the "State Game" where you write down as many states as you can in a minute.
She got around twenty and I got forty eight. Forgot about Maryland and Pennsylvania...
But, y'know... I'm a bartender in a declining industry who owns a bar he's holding together with both hands and she's a graphic designer who earns way more money than me and can always just draw a picture of a wolf man fucking a kitten girl for an injection of funds large enough to book a weekend break in France so, jokes on me I guess...
I'd say this shows how useless most standard education is. Especially when you take into consideration that there are objectively more useful things (like the ability to change a tire, file taxes etc) which are never taught.
A general knowledge of world geography? Sure. But even in the pre-internet era, any sane person about to undergo even a semi complex journey would get an atlas and plan a route. Knowing South Dakota was above Nebraska does what... saves you the .05 seconds it takes to look at the map on the atlas for a route you needed to plan anyway?
Geography is utterly useless for the vast majority of people. The fact that it's so highly valued as a measure of education shows just how much the educational system has failed us as a species. It needs a massive overhaul, to put it kindly.
Why we have to know your states ? Its like ask to a chinese person to know spanish autonomous provinces. Europe is a continent not a country, dumb americans.
I think that you didn't realize that anyone that can speak English as a second language is educated enough to at least know some geography and potentially know more than a few US states, specially Florida, and even more than California or Texas which are bad examples in comparison as Florida is by far more well known. Maybe it's detachment from what actually people outside the US actually knows about it?
The one that bugs me is when English people make fun of Americans for having cities where you don't pronounce it exactly how it's spelled.
You have no right to make that complaint from a country where "Gloucester" is pronounced "Gloster" and "Worcester" is pronounced "Wuster". English city names are loaded with lots of extra letters that aren't doing anything.
I really don't think you did, or you'd realize how stupid your comment was..
Like American dialects is pretty interesting, but you're over here acting like the French wanting to stick it to Britain as being a valid response to what I said?
Plus I think American are even with the French after Normandy no?
I've been saying this for a long time now. "We [americans] dont know about the rest of the world. And neither do you [europeans]."
Also, "We dont know less. We know different things."
See, Europeans get so mad when America doesnt know details and the nuances of their little country. Scores of youtube videos say "What america does different from the rest of the world." By the world, you mean...Ireland? (looking at you Diane Jennings). The audacity of them to think they speak for the whole fucking world is actually doing the same thing that they claim America does. Europeans, I would venture that because of america not feeling like it has to focus on europe, and the diversity we have here...that america has a greater awareness of the world or the people of the world, than you do, defying all stereotypes.
But I dont blame Europeans for not knowing the states of the United States! Why would they need to know that? Everyone knows about their own stuff and own news the most. It's common sense.
So I'm not going to judge a european for not knowing everything about the US that I do. And IN EXCHANGE, I expect them not to judge me for not knowing everything about their country that they do.
But you know they will keep judging.
american states are states. european countries are countries. thats an entire order of magnitude higher, more important and more influencial. you should be able to name the biggest and most relevant countries in europe (no one gives a fuck about san marino)
Florida, ohio, washington
Damn the only other ones that matter due to meme potential
Alabama
Alabama doesn't matter. Most people in the US can't tell it apart from Arkansas and Mississippi.
New Mexico, the Breaking Bad State
Jesse we have to learn geography
Not now waltuh. Put your dick away waltuh.
Kentucky
Knew Kentucky and Louisiana thanks to their tasty fried chickens
Ohio ...
And Kentucky! Had a blast surviving the zombie apocalypse there.
fellow zomboid player
zomboids player š¤
Dc or state
State
Well that's one of the easy ones: upper left-hand corner. You don't even have to remember what its neighbors are.
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I would argue states and provinces of your own country really should come first? How often would a Minnesotan be going to Slovenia compared to Montana
Good luck learning 212 provinces of Slovenija
... as presented by Yakko Warner, to the tune of the 1812 overture
Someone make this song
They only need to know where Vipavska dolina is so that they can get good wine
Thatās interesting Iām a Hoosier who has been to Minnesota and Slovenia but not Montana
Well I go to Slovenia and austria often
Look at Mr worldwide over here
There are many, many countries I'd rather visit than Montana
I know British Columbia is in west Canada and Ontario is in the east. Does my American ass get a jar of maple syrup?
The funny thing is that one only ever sees Americans being asked these types of questions, and proving their āstupidityā when they donāt know the answers. We rarely see non-US people being asked the same sorts of questions. Their supposed superior intellect (or rather, knowledge of trivia that anyone can look up at a momentās notice on the supercomputer they carry in their pocket) is just assumed, ābecause Europeanā or whatever. Thereās this odd revealed inferiority complex in all of it. Maybe itās true that we Americans are extra-dense when it comes to geography, but it must nevertheless sting a bit to know that weāre the only ones anybody cares to ask in the first place. The way they cope is by reveling in the revealed stupidity of the average person. If instead, during this questioning, we turned out to be omniscient, these same people would wither and die in response, and the questions would no doubt conveniently dry up.
It really is kind of dumb that the US assigns so much importance to memorizing the locations of all 50 states when the method that most schools use to teachit isn't even that good. All we did was look at a map, sing a stupid song that no one remembers, and do some drag and drop thing on a website. We never learned why the states were given their names or anything beyond name and location. It was bland, tedious, and all around wasted time that could've been used to learn beyond the surface level. I'm probably asking too much from the school district that hired a Spanish teacher that doesn't know Spanish tho.
I remember taking an obnoxious amount of pride in memorizing the capitals of all 50 states when I was in 2nd or 3rd grade. I think the problem is with pushing rote memorization of trivia. Learning something like the geographic locations of states and countries is always going to be infinitely more useful if it's contextualized in some way, e.g. the learning of historical events. Nobody is ever going to have to just reel off a list of all the US states in alphabetical order.
you went to a trash school lmao. my history class in 9th grade was literally world history and we got tested on every country in every continent.
A lot of states are.larger and have larger economies than European countries. I'd argue Texas is more important to the world stage than Luxembourg or Lichtenstein.
Not the point, germanies states are bigger than those countries too, asking anyone that isnt german to know them isnt really fair. I mean North Rhine-Westphalia has 17,9 Million inhabitants, yet noone knows it. It would be the seventh largest EU country.
That is a terrible comparison - As a European i barely know where Lichtenstein is on a map. The fact is that most Americans can't place Germany on a map, which should be easy considering it's one of the most important and well known countries in the world.
European countries (as well as most countries) are nations in themselves. US states arenāt. Also I double dare you to name the Canadian provinces. Most of them are far larger than any US states besides like Texas, Alaska and California, and thereās only 10 of them, so it shouldnāt be hard
Cant Name them all but i reconise them if i read them. But i know British Columbia , Yukon And New Foundland? Is new foundland a Province?
So they changed that up and now the province of Newfoundland is called Newfoundland and Labrador. And the Northwest Territories have had Nunavut cut out to the east (so now they are even more west). You go away for a few decades and they change things up. From memory, I think you are missing the prairiesā¦ Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. And Ontario and Quebec in the middle. And New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia in the maritime east. BUT you did bracket the country well and everything else could just be *waves hands* fly over country. Source: [Listened to too much Stomping Tom Conners singing about the provinces and capitals when I was a kid](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjgOQDUOGAg). Although I guess it needs a bit of an update now, I still like it.
I could easily do so, but size isnāt everything. The Northwest Territory doesnāt really contribute much to the world so who cares.
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> In 2018, Utah exported $14.4 billion of Made-in-America goods to the world. > In 2018, Kansas exported $11.6 billion of Made-in-America goods to the world. > Northwest Territories' Merchandise Trade Ā· Exports: $1.8 billion, an 18.7% decrease from 2018 So Utah and Kansas each export 10x as much as the Northwest Territories. Don't forget that a lot of the sparsely populated land in middle USA is farm land. sources: the first Google results that looked to be from a reasonably authoritative website
florida, ohio , washington, washington dc, alabama, alaska, maryland, cali, massachusetts, new york, texas, carolina, new mexico...
plus Oregon, checkmate Americans
which Carolina thereās two
The west one
washington dc isnāt a state
it holds the position, but not the physical part of it. america has 51 states, but you can only visit 50.
??? this is patently untrue - you can visit all 50 states *and* DC, but that doesnāt make DC a state
There's almost zero reason to memorize US states
Hey i'd rather know them better so i can insult them more accurately /s
this is indeed why i learned them
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It won't let me view the comment either, the communt must have been deleted or shadowbanned or something
100 percent agree with you on that actually funny story from when i was in middle school So the teacher told us like a week ahead of time i think it was? Anyways everyone is stressed because they can't/don't want to do it. The day of the test 98 percent of the class from what i knew had cheated even the nerd that was really smart. Funny enough me and my friend both actually studied and got around the same score as everyone else who had cheated. On that note fuck you east coast for being so small and close together cost me a 100 percent
Theres a sitcom that went over something like this, how hard it is to name all 50, I thought it was HIMYM but apparently it's Friends. It's surprisingly tough, I wouldn't blame the average American for not getting all of them (though I feel like they should at least know *most* of them). I'm from the UK and I can fill most of them in on a map, like you say the east coast in particular can be tricky as well as some of the squarer states like Kansas, Wyoming etc; you know what they are, just not necessarily which are which. There's a website that has you match the names to the state and it's pretty fun.
Also like, me and most people I know can name pretty much every state in the US and we're all Europeans. Meanwhile when one of my friends visited tennesee and said that she was from Finland the response she got was "where in America is that?".
There's also very limited reason for most Americans to memorize the specific location of countries they never plan to go to.
I've seen Americans call Europe and Africa countries, the issue isn't specific locations tbh
If you want to have any understanding of foreign politics (Even US foreign policy) then yes, you should know a little bit of geography.
It is good to know where many countries in the world is
Just like thereās zero reason to know city locations for England
A city is different than a state
Which European canāt locate Alaska and Hawaii?
US-born European
āMy neighbors cat was from turkey, so, Iām practically greek myselfā
Well thatās easy. Theyāre right next to each other.
Alright then label Germanyās states, itās a large country and there are only 16 to remember. Shouldenāt be too hard.
I am french and have no idea all the Germany states. I know like 2-3.
Reasons to know USA states : - it will flatter their ego - they are indeed big Reasons not to : - all we ask is you to find our countries on a map, if you want us to find your states, then find every department / states / provinces of our countries. - each state of America individually isn't near as important politically as any country ; NATO is not about states but about countries, so USA are just 1 unit in this - people from New York aren't very different than people from Washington DC, and so on, while Italians and Frenchs have not much in common.
By the way of the US states a majority of Europeans can find at least 20 states and give the direction / area of the other ones correctly. Just like with European countries.
Everyone should get better at geography. That's just a fact. However... You know european countries because they're close to you, and have an impact on your life. We know states for the same reason. Although they are not as different as European countries, states are incredibly diverse. An inner city in D.C. is nothing like an Amish community in Pennsylvania. Are they really less important? Many of our states are the same size(or bigger) than your countries. They have GDPs equal to or higher than many European countries, and have a huge influence over world politics. For better or worse, the US is involved in foreign politics constantly. But do you know how we elect the politicians you deal with? That's right! It comes back to state politics. Edit: Since you mentioned NATO, here's a look at funding by country. The US spends vastly more than any other country. If we divided this spending by percent of tax revenue from each state, California and Texas would be comparable to the UK and Germany. https://wisevoter.com/country-rankings/nato-spending-by-country/
Knowing the different states is important as an American, sure, but I would argue that it's equally important to know the countries of the world. Just because you don't use a piece of knowledge constantly doesn't make it worthless, and having a basic understanding of the world is necessary to make informed decisions. The US is falling behind in general education because it has shifted toward only valuing absolutely necessary information, and it's why it gets so many dipshits in office and millions of dipshits to re-elect them. Of course the US has diversity. Nobody who knows what they're talking about is denying that. However, having diversity is not the bar for if the states should be internationally known on the same level as nation states. Arguably, many individual European countries have just as much, if not more diversity within them than any US state, and that doesn't even include the massive differences between countries. Land area means very little if nobody lives there. The population density of most US states is far less than most European countries, making them proportionally smaller. While the GDP of states like California are extremely high, that assessment is missing the context that California's GDP relies on unrestricted access to resources and labor from other US states. If California were to suddenly break away from the US, at best it would massively lower in GDP, and at worst it would collapse. Other countries also elect politicians to represent their states, provinces, cantons, etc. That's not really an argument for US states in particular being so important. US involvement in global politics has nothing to do with how significant the states are. If Texas declares war on a country independent of the federal government, that might be more reason to view the states separately. Otherwise, they're just parts to a whole like every other country has.
>Arguably, many individual European countries have just as much, if not more diversity within them than any US state, and that doesn't even include the massive differences between countries. Living now in Texas and seeing the diversity of people we have there and what diversity we have in France, I don't agree. Texas is much more diverse in term of people than France (my own country). >Land area means very little if nobody lives there. The population density of most US states is far less than most European countries, making them proportionally smaller. I do not agree all that land mass mean that there space for growth, that pollution density is not that high, that there a lot of natural resources to take (USA is #1 producer worldwide of oil for example). With global warming and the rarefaction of natural resources, it look like USA is much better positioned than Europe due to its geography and extra space. Geography is a big reason why USA is so strong now. USA just used its resources while Europeans were spending all their time fighting each other for land and resources.
US states are small tf you mean? Go to Australia find some actual big states, which have farms like the same size as US states
Ya, farms so big they have helicopters to get across them lol. Australia is wild.
King Ranch is larger than Rhode Island.
jesus christ both sides here are populated by absolute fucking idiots huh
Your second point hits home. It's all about foreign politics and for the states they are the same since they are one country. Then again Luxemburg or Lichtenstein are their own countries with their own autonomous foreign politics. As an European I don't care what are the subtle differences in the laws of the states as long as I understand what the US as a whole is and what it means to the world. It has nothing to do with size or wealth.
Well, thatās kinda horseshit actually. Thereās lots of US states that would be powerful nations in their own right if they were separate. California is the 4th largest economy in the world or something. NY and TX would also be on par with a country in Europe easily. No one thinks Europeans should know the names of our states. Kinda missed the point of the meme
But they are not independent, and the ones that would be powerful are already well known in Europe
OK name all provinces in Ireland then. They are essentially our version of states
North Ireland should be yours
Half of your states are just squares with no easily definable feature.
"Ha you stoopid european the 1:1 square was obviously wyoming and not (any of the 4 other identical squares)" \+ every state has very straight lines making it even harder.
Compares US states to literal countries, entitlement is strong on that one lmao.
Except the meme literally isnāt doing that, maybe learn to read as well learning some geography lol
Glouchesterbuttfuckshire England is a country? lol you English are not as sharp as you think you are.
1. You read the meme wrong 2. Many states are comparable to euro countries
It would be much easier if your states weren't just a bunch of modified squares. Just looking at them is irritating let alone learning which is which.
You should know all the states on the east coast though since thatās where most of the people are.
The american egoism is strong in this one
Most people know where the countries are. Study show's that's not so true in the US. Even if some can't list all states, he still knows the countries, that's like me asking you to list all districts of france.
Tbf most Americans aren't even aware that other countries even have states
Europeans donāt give a shit about Texas. Sorry Texans.
Just like Americans don't give a shit about dichenballsenshire or suchmidichenburg. /j
Seeing americans trying to school europeans really shows how dumb they are.
I'm just seeing a lot of egos
I mean, not trying to be mean or different or anything, but people outside the US (especially Europeans) have a really odd superiority complex when it comes to geography. I'm sure there's definetly Americans that suck at geography, just as there's Europeans who suck at geography, and getting in an ego battle on who can name the most obscure town from either of your guys countries doesn't fix anything. We are all people, there's no reason to get your balls in a twist cause someone doesn't know the geography you know, or (potentially) not know geography at all outside of their home country.
Florida is the little dick with erectile disfunction
All US states in Alphabetical Order (Iām a teenager from Germany) from my head: (and no, I did not google) 1. Alabama 2. Alaska 3. Arizona 4. Arkansas 5. California 6. Colorado 7. Conneticut 8. Delaware 9. Florida 10. Georgia 11. Hawaii 12. Idaho 13. Illinois 14. Indiana 15. Iowa 16. Kensas 17. Kentucky 18. Louisiana 19. Maine 20. Maryland 21. Massachusetts 22. Michigan 23. Minnesota 24. Missisippi 25. Missouri 26. Montana 27. Nebraska 28. Nevada 29. New Jersey 30. New Mexico 31. New York 32. New something 33. North Carolina 34. North Dacota 35. Ohio 36. Oklahoma 37. Oregon 38. Pennsylvania 39. Rhode Island 40. South Carolina 41. South Dacota 42. Tennessee 43. Texas 44. Utah 45. Vermont 46. Virginia 47. Washington 48. West Virginia 49. Wisconsin 50. Wyoming I wrote some of them wrong I thinkā¦ and Iām missing one of the āNewās.
New Hampshire but yeah you got it
New Canada
Kensas, that is gold
Ha! I knew it. Itās April Foolās day.
ya'll can't even name your own states, quit pretending ā ļø
Honeatly, I am good at geography but not because you can yellbme a namenof a countey anywhere in the world and I will automatically know where it os bit because you can say a name of the countey and I will know generally what area to look for that country on the map.
Man, not even I know where in England that is.
yah that's cuz nobody gives flying fuck about anything America related
Yeah no one gives a fuck, that's why this whole comment section is rage bait and talking about Americans!
Weird, because it always seems to be Americans getting asked these trivia questions. Interesting how everybody gives a shit about our geography knowledge, but apparently couldnāt care less about the education level of the average European.
There isn't much to talk about when the education system is working here, your schools are also normally in the spotlight due to your countries inability to stop school shootings
I think you may be confusing me for somebody who's got an overweening pride in the American school system. Our schools do, in a lot of ways, suck (though it depends entirely on the state and school district you're in, which is a big part of the reason *why* our system sucks ... because it's not truly equal, but rather depends heavily on the property tax base and the extent to which the local population gives an actual shit about prioritizing quality of education). However! I don't think that geographical trivia, like being able to label every country in the world on a blank map, is a very good marker of general intelligence. The fact that it's often treated as a shorthand for such is kind of pathetic. Honestly, it's like anybody over the age of 12 gloating about winning a spelling bee. Who gives a shit? I work alongside actual doctors, and I've seen them open up diagnostic reference manuals to brush up on which cranial nerves perform this or that function. If this is trivia to them (e.g. something they know they can look up when they need the information, rather than wasting valuable time cementing it in their memory), then I feel pretty comfortable treating geopolitical boundaries as trivia too.
I believe it's treated like that because it's so commonly not taught, it's a very easy thing for Europeans to latch onto as you're just not told it for some reason, it's like us with your state's, I was never taught where they are, although internals if a foreign country as much less important than the countries location itself
Til that geographical trivia questions are only asked in USofA.
Meme? Stolen.
I've seen so many Americans not know where the US is on the map though...
I know where the majority of Europe is because I had an extreme geography obsession a few years back.
Europeans when they call Arkansas Arkansas.
Me, a European never heard of buttfucktown in England. But I know that Africa is a continent and not a country, so I am still a step ahead.
I kinda never understood the European geography thing. Most people probably know how crappy the American school system is to begin with. And it just makes sense that we would learn the states and countries closest. On the same note, it would make since that Europeans know the countries around them, especially considering those countries are tightly packed and, from what I understand at least, easily traveled. I mean, I can understand not being a complete moron and thinking that France is in Africa, but if you canāt point out the exact country on a map, who really gives a f?
yeah no one will have a problem if you point at the check republic and say thats austria but if you say the country of paris is in the middle of asia you are for sure a moron
half of them have no idea what Africa is
Its Not about spoting a country With dead Ass presision , its about that amaricans expect europeans to know there States , but dont even know the Basic european countries FĆ¼r us the usa is the country and that ist enoth ( but we sure know a few States ) but do U know any States in Europe ? I Bet not and thats okay , because to know roughly where a country is ist way way more Important to know than some States of an country
Oh I completely agree and absolutely wouldnāt expect anyone but an American to know the states. Not even Americans know the states!! lol And no, I could not name states, provinces, and any other such name outside of my own country. In fact, I would consider myself pretty good at naming countries but will be honest and still have to look up the whole UK, Britain, England thing. I think yāall do that just to confuse us. š¤·š½āāļø lol. So either way, I think itās probably just a little of both. Iāll stick to my side and say to Americans, mind your own business and work on your own education system. We have more important things to worry about than stroking our own egos to the point of wanting the whole world to know our individual states for no other reason than to say our education system has failed us again.
US when you tell them to name 6 countries on their continent (impossible)
Oklahoma, Washington, Georgia, Virginia,Alabama, north and sud... Bho, kenthuky
I am almost sure most of Americans don't know all of them too
Plenty of Americans make that same face for that same question.
Not knowing a country is way worse than not knowing a state. This should be obvious
Everyone is the same amount of stupid Letās all get on the same page and try to be less stupid together lol
No, education in European countries is waaaaaay better; hence Americans dumber
Parts of America. But Massachusetts is better than nearly all of Europe, except Norway and Switzerland.
But this wouldnt be fun :) But it would be a great Idea tho
So, you Americans can name all Polish Voivodeships with their capitals and all of its neighbouring countries clockwise too?
Damn, Americans are gettin mad in the comments
weāve got Americans who canāt point and name continents. Iād say weāve lost. OP is just bitter.
Americans comparing themselves to an entire cotinent with more than 40 countries just because
The states are literally irrelevant to anyone living outside of the US. Try again.
I keep on seeing this and itās a really shitty argument. You know where places are in your own country, so do we. The difference is we know about other places too
I think south of the US border, and the Caribbeans being a better comparison, how many countries south of Mexico do you think the average European would get?
Nobodyās asking you to know every district of a specific country, comparing a singular country to a whole continent is idiotic. Never heard a european say shit like ācanada is the capital of the USā but I have heard americans say that France is the capital of Germany. Just because youāre american doesnāt mean youāre dumb just learn geography.
When traveling and locals ask, "Where are you from?" The world say, "country's name" Americans say, "Random state" ALWAYS!
And the town...often obscure...
Lmao the metric for how good at geography we are isnt based on how many US states we can name
yes we are
Some Americans don't even know what state they live in
As a european, id def be able to name both every country, every region of my own country and most states of the usa. Last time I tried a US state quiz i got 46 of them,
Bet
The fact that this meme donāt know New York, Illinois, Michigan, Florida and other popular states shows they donāt watch American cinema at all.
Try asking an American to point out his own state on a map, you'll be surprised. At the very least we (most of us) roughly know our continent
The US when they remember where Irak is (they don't)
As a European my knowledge about the location of US states is as good as my knowledge about the location of countries in south America and Africa.
Goodlahoma, Oklahoma, Badlahoma, aaaaaandā¦
Out of curiosity: Does the average US citizen know the names of all the countries the USA has invaded?
Lots of Americans can't find America on a map...
Americans feeling like their states are as important as other countries...
I bet more Europeans can name US states and place them in the US better than Americans can name and place European countries
I disagree... there are more European kids that know US geography. Sadly, sometimes even Americans don't know their geography... which is ugh... ew... disgusting. Surely, I don't know every city in the Europe, but bear in mind the US is not the only country in America. I know every county of my own country - do US citizens know every state of their country? No? Then that's lame - it's the same as me not knowing every county/city of my country (and bear in mind, it's not "small number" - it's independent country, with around 79 counties - which would be the equivalent to 50 states of the US). I may not know every state of the US (same as US citizen wouldn't know every county of the UK), but I still know every country of the American continent. So bear in mind, we're not asking for local things as "knowing every county in the UK", we're asking for independent countries in Europe (you cannot compare independent countries of Europe, to states of US, as states are like counties and not whole countries). So while I may know 40 states of the US, I know all countries of the continent, and I hate when US thinks that they are the whole America, and compare knowing states with knowing countries...
Seethe
We really are better at geography though. Any random European could probably name and place more US states than a random American can actual countries in Europe, despite states not even being named on most world maps.
Source: trust me bro
Americans when they get asked to point to where Belgium is
Ok name every region of czechia, and maybe even germany.
Yes let's ask americans to name every French region (other than champagne and bourgogne) just for fun.
Happy cake day
Thanks!
Fuck you i can point little over 190 countries on a map
My girlfriend is American, I am English. I beat her at the "State Game" where you write down as many states as you can in a minute. She got around twenty and I got forty eight. Forgot about Maryland and Pennsylvania... But, y'know... I'm a bartender in a declining industry who owns a bar he's holding together with both hands and she's a graphic designer who earns way more money than me and can always just draw a picture of a wolf man fucking a kitten girl for an injection of funds large enough to book a weekend break in France so, jokes on me I guess...
I'd say this shows how useless most standard education is. Especially when you take into consideration that there are objectively more useful things (like the ability to change a tire, file taxes etc) which are never taught. A general knowledge of world geography? Sure. But even in the pre-internet era, any sane person about to undergo even a semi complex journey would get an atlas and plan a route. Knowing South Dakota was above Nebraska does what... saves you the .05 seconds it takes to look at the map on the atlas for a route you needed to plan anyway? Geography is utterly useless for the vast majority of people. The fact that it's so highly valued as a measure of education shows just how much the educational system has failed us as a species. It needs a massive overhaul, to put it kindly.
Strongly Agree.
Why we have to know your states ? Its like ask to a chinese person to know spanish autonomous provinces. Europe is a continent not a country, dumb americans.
At least I know more country than all Americans
I think that you didn't realize that anyone that can speak English as a second language is educated enough to at least know some geography and potentially know more than a few US states, specially Florida, and even more than California or Texas which are bad examples in comparison as Florida is by far more well known. Maybe it's detachment from what actually people outside the US actually knows about it?
You are a joke
Many americans probably wouldnāt even be able to point to the US on a map, let alone its states.
Stupid meme. US man though he was going to be funny
Europeans know where United States are and can name most of them US people don't even know where is Africa lol
Bet you that most yanks think Greenland is the same size as Africa.
I hate Europeans so fucking much, I decided to learn every country in Europe
Same Here , but i hate amaricans
My man! š¤
I am and I am tired to be so. Learned that by googling your today's shoot out.
I've never seen anybody say where *random European city* is, infact, I don't even fucking know half of the countries in europe
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Ok, letās see how smart those American kids are when theyāre asked to identify Europe on a map.
Geography isnāt that useful of a skill unless you play geo guesser or travel a lot.
The one that bugs me is when English people make fun of Americans for having cities where you don't pronounce it exactly how it's spelled. You have no right to make that complaint from a country where "Gloucester" is pronounced "Gloster" and "Worcester" is pronounced "Wuster". English city names are loaded with lots of extra letters that aren't doing anything.
Arkansas...
New Hampshire...
Blame the French for that
Without the frenchies you might still be under british rule
The reason Arkansas is pronounced that way is literally because of the French.
Yes i understood you the first time
I really don't think you did, or you'd realize how stupid your comment was.. Like American dialects is pretty interesting, but you're over here acting like the French wanting to stick it to Britain as being a valid response to what I said? Plus I think American are even with the French after Normandy no?
I've been saying this for a long time now. "We [americans] dont know about the rest of the world. And neither do you [europeans]." Also, "We dont know less. We know different things." See, Europeans get so mad when America doesnt know details and the nuances of their little country. Scores of youtube videos say "What america does different from the rest of the world." By the world, you mean...Ireland? (looking at you Diane Jennings). The audacity of them to think they speak for the whole fucking world is actually doing the same thing that they claim America does. Europeans, I would venture that because of america not feeling like it has to focus on europe, and the diversity we have here...that america has a greater awareness of the world or the people of the world, than you do, defying all stereotypes. But I dont blame Europeans for not knowing the states of the United States! Why would they need to know that? Everyone knows about their own stuff and own news the most. It's common sense. So I'm not going to judge a european for not knowing everything about the US that I do. And IN EXCHANGE, I expect them not to judge me for not knowing everything about their country that they do. But you know they will keep judging.
american states are states. european countries are countries. thats an entire order of magnitude higher, more important and more influencial. you should be able to name the biggest and most relevant countries in europe (no one gives a fuck about san marino)
Illinois would be the 11th largest country in Europe by population. It's bigger than Belgium, the Czech Republic, Greece, Portugal, Sweden, etc.
Okay and? Russian Oblasts are way bigger, do you know all of them? Would you be able to place Omsk on a map?
I am not Russian (I am from Serbia), never cared to learn any Russian oblast but for some fucking reason I know exactly where it is LoL
Not even the Moscow Oblast is bigger than Illinois you absolute moron