Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

American Voters Were Asked To Find Iran On A Map, And It Went Predictably Badly

American Voters Were Asked To Find Iran On A Map, And It Went Predictably Badly
Junru Bian / EyeEm / Getty Images

A recent survey from Morning Consult and Politico found that only 28% of Americans surveyed could accurately find Iran on an unlabeled map of the Middle east.

Only 23% could find it on an unlabeled world map.

Among those who were unable to correctly locate Iran, 8% incorrectly placed it in nearby Iraq—another country we have been in conflict with for decades.


The survey highlighted American voters' lack of familiarity with world geography even as it related to countries that the US has been in long-term conflict with. Respondents' political affiliations and age were not strong factors in whether they could find Iran on the map.

Respondents' level of education and wealth were, however—more educated and wealthier voters were significantly more likely to be able to place Iran on the map.

Joanna Piacenza, from Morning Consult, tweeted the results of the survey.

This isn't the first test of our geographic knowledge that we've failed completely.

Morning Consult's survey is based on another from 2017 asking Americans to locate North Korea.

When the results of the Iran survey were shared on Twitter users were a bit confused by some of the answers.




Some people argued that the results actually weren't too bad, all things considered.



Many people weren't so much surprised by the survey results, just disappointed.





While the 1,995 people surveyed don't necessarily represent all Americans, it is troubling that only 28% of those polled could correctly locate Iran while a much higher percentage have vocal opinions on the country.

American citizens not being able to locate a country that we have been in conflict with for decades demonstrated an alarming trend, especially given recent calls to escalate hostilities and a possible war.

More from Trending

Jenna Bush Hager
TODAY/YouTube

Jenna Bush Hager Gets Emotional Speaking About Camp Mystic, Where Mom Laura Was A Counselor

Central Texas faced tragedy over the weekend when flash floods overtook the central part of the state, with at least 110 people killed and 160 still missing.

One impacted location was Camp Mystic, a private Christian summer camp for young girls, and 27 of the lost victims were either girls attending or young women counselors at that camp.

Keep ReadingShow less
School Principal Goes Viral After Cameras Catch His Sweet Interactions With Students
@zbauermaster/Instagram

School Principal Goes Viral After Cameras Catch His Sweet Interactions With Students

A Pennsylvania school teacher has had a video of him at work go viral, for positive reasons only.

Zac Bauermster, an elementary school principal in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, shared a video to his Instagram that was a montage of hallway security footage moments of him high-fiving, hip-bumping, hugging, and otherwise celebrating the children under his care with enthusiasm for each one.

Keep ReadingShow less
Sarah Jessica Parker
Marc Piasecki/WireImage

Sarah Jessica Parker Claps Back At Conservative Critics Who Want Her To 'Shut Up' About Politics And 'Act'

Nothing seems to get conservatives' goats quite like celebrities having political opinions—well, liberal and leftist celebrities, anyway.

They seem to love it when weird right-wing celebs like Kevin Sorbo get on the internet and say bizarre, usually counterfactual nonsense, or when JK Rowling does her darnedest to make her legacy not about Harry Potter but about her weird obsession with trans people.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ann Coulter
Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic

Ann Coulter Faces Fierce Backlash After Saying 'We Didn't Kill Enough Indians' In Deleted Post

Far-right provocateur Ann Coulter is facing fierce criticism after she made a genocidal remark in a now-deleted post on X in response to University of Minnesota professor and Navajo Nation member Melanie Yazzie's speech about colonization.

Yazzie, in a speech at last year's annual Socialism Conference, said "decolonization is the only thing that is going to save us as a species" during a panel hosted by Red Nation, a Native American nonprofit that advocates for Palestinian and Native American rights. She also said that the United States is the "greatest predator empire that has ever existed" and said it should be dismantled.

Keep ReadingShow less
James Gunn
Matt Winkelmeyer/WireImage

James Gunn Bluntly Fires Back At 'Jerks' Who Criticize Superman's Pro-Immigrant Themes

Superman director James Gunn issued a response to the "jerks" who criticize the political themes inherent to the superhero's story, expressing his hope that seeing the movie will "make people a little nicer."

Speaking with The Times of London, Gunn stressed that the story of Superman is more relevant than ever considering the ongoing political turmoil in the United States largely centered around the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.

Keep ReadingShow less