American Youth Can't Find Iraq on a Map

This is sad, even though we hear it all the time:

Even though their country has been at war there for three years, six in 10 young Americans were unable to locate Iraq on a map of the world, a survey found.

They did little better at home: despite the coverage of Hurricane Katrina, nearly one-third of 18- to 24-year-olds could not locate Louisiana, according to a Roper poll for National Geographic.

Fewer than three in 10 think it important to know the locations of countries in the news while just 14% believe speaking another language is a necessary skill. The poll kickstarts a five-year National Geographic push to improve geographic literacy.