Young Adults Don’t Think World Knowledge Is Vital

Washington

If you have trouble identifying Iraq on an unlabeled map of the Middle East, or are unaware that the population of China is more than four times that of the United States, you are not alone. Most young adults in the United States have difficulty answering such questions, a new survey finds.

But their lack of geographic literacy goes beyond simple gaps in knowledge and skills: Most don’t believe it is essential to know more about the world.

“Americans are far from alone in the world, but from the perspective of many young Americans, we might as well be,” says the report on the findings, released here last week by the National Geographic Education Foundation. “Most young [American] adults between the ages of 18 and 24 demonstrate a limited understanding of the world beyond their country’s borders, and they place insufficient importance on the basic geographic skills that...