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Strange Maps - United States Drawn From Memory

strangemaps.wordpress.com — Artist Kim Dingle made this oil painting from maps drawn by teenagers in Las Vegas who were asked to recreate the outline of the United States without looking at a map. The only thing they all seem to have in common is Florida.

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  • tomboy501, on 10/11/2007, -8/+70Hawaii always gets forgotten :(
    meh...even hi-tech MSM news/weather maps often don't show the 50th State...we're used to it.
    • neokyotodragon, on 10/11/2007, -5/+192Being an Alaskan, I can understand how you feel. America always forgets us as well. I have honestly met people who actually believed Alaska was south of the continental US as it is sometimes show on maps.
    • vroom101, on 10/11/2007, -2/+39The United States also includes (using their long names): Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Territory of American Samoa, Territory of Guam, and United States Virgin Islands.

      With one exception the people are United States citizens. That one exception is American Samoa where, according to CIA's "The World Factbook" ( https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/aq.html ), the people are United States nationals. I'd certainly be interested if someone explained in layman's English the legal difference(s) between U.S. citizen and U.S. national.
    • GawtMilk, on 10/11/2007, -14/+43Just a question. I understand that Alaska and Hawaii are off the map, obviously to save space in this instance, but what's this supposed to prove? If someone showed me that, I'd probably think, "that's a drawing of the United States". Is this one of those, "Americans are just SO stupid" kind of things?

      If it's trying to be one of those, "seventy three percent of Americans think Iraq is an Apple product" things, it kind of falls short. With the exception of two or three, they all look pretty good. I was just wondering if it was trying to make us believe that all American teenagers have no idea what America looks like.
    • tizz66, on 10/11/2007, -1/+35I think they're mostly pretty good personally... I'm in the UK, I don't think I'd be able to draw a very detailed outline of the UK.
    • cdemi, on 10/11/2007, -3/+23@tomboy501 (#6988821)
      try living in malta... most people don't know that our country exists :/
    • nixfu, on 10/11/2007, -12/+114>America always forgets us as well.

      The problem is its not connected.


      The solution? You Alaska people up there put down the bear pelts and start kicking ass and taking territory from the canooks in the name of the USA. Just head south and start getting rid of the candians until you make it back to oregon.

    • PaulOwen, on 10/11/2007, -5/+45I once met a Florida high school graduate who thought you had to get a ferry from Seattle to get to Alaska.

      She was also amazed at how straight the north coast of the USA is.
    • ninetyone, on 10/11/2007, -6/+56the only reason they remember florida is 'cos it looks like a penis...
    • firsttube, on 10/11/2007, -21/+9I don't see Iraq in any of those, doesn't anybody know it's the 51st state?
    • sych0, on 10/11/2007, -18/+6Uhhh... teenagers? In las vegas? No wonder they look terrible. Who cares about geography when youre 16 in vegas. :/
    • saralk, on 10/11/2007, -0/+43I love the one that looks like a postage stamp
    • sm1l3, on 10/11/2007, -3/+32Right smack in the middle is a mis-shapen Africa or South America. Maybe the teenager that drew that one has political aspirations :-)
    • seasleepy, on 10/11/2007, -0/+16@sm113: Considering they're from Las Vegas, I'm guessing that probably that one kid wasn't paying attention, heard "state," and just tried to draw Nevada.
    • bkemper, on 10/11/2007, -0/+40"Just head south and start getting rid of the candians until you make it back to oregon."

      Are there a lot of Canadians in the state of Washington? Or are you going to form some sort of land bridge in the Pacific between British Columbia and Oregon, out of the bodies of dead Canadians? It seems like stopping your invasion when you get to Washington would be easier.
    • rwinograd, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3@spuy767

      Dude - yours is totally no better than most of theirs.

      Including Baja, Texas being way further down than it really is, border going further north by Vancouver island? If you are going to complain about people at least do better than them. Hence the digging down effect.

      I vote the artist adds this to their collection.
    • calvmari, on 10/11/2007, -0/+14@sm1l3

      Take a closer look, that kid drew Nevada :-) (his home state)
    • cyclopsface, on 10/11/2007, -0/+10@GawtMilk

      I don't think this is supposed to show how stupid kids are - its just kind of an interesting way to show how everyone has different incomplete ideas about the world. There was a whole section in Goedel,Escher,Bach about this exact thing, the different maps each person would draw are called the "Alternative States of the Union" and the things we have in common and the things that are different among the maps reveal something about what we think about the US.

      Its supposed to be a metaphor for our ideas in general - your idea of 'love' or 'justice' would similiarly have something in common and a lot that is different from my ideas of those things. So if we we're discussing love or how to get from one place to another in the US, we might not be talking about exactly the same thing.
    • MarkCiccone, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4Most of them look like Connecticut... one looks like South America? There's one with the Great Lakes that looks really good though, except for the extra peninsula before Florida.
    • qualish, on 10/11/2007, -2/+8@ nixfu

      So... the Alaskans should battle South through Canada, *through* Washington State (part of the US, fyi), to arrive to Oregon? For that comment on a geography post you should at least be a little bit embarrassed.
    • BalooUrsidae, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6@bkemper:

      The Three Flags region (Oregon, Washington and British Columbia) have more economic, social and political ties with each other and Canada than the US. Heck, in some spots it's possible to accidentally cross the border, usually without realizing it until long after you've done it, between the three territories due to towns sitting smack on the lines like Blaine/White Rock, Portland/Vancouver, and places where a state/provincial or national forest cross the lines.
    • Kinjiru, on 10/11/2007, -11/+1@ nixfu

      *snickers* that is easier said that done.. remember we are the only ones to not only kick your ass but set your "white house" on fire.. (hence why it's painted white to this day).. and every year we win in war games with you as well... imagine that :)

      Better to simply start teaching the dumb ***** about geography.. ohh wait.. they're too dumb for that same as Bush and his pathetic 91 IQ.
    • masterJDK, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3I see fish.
    • will180, on 10/11/2007, -3/+3@Kinjiru
      Hooray!!!
      Let's turn everything into an anti-America Rant!

      Welcome to my blocklist.
    • chrisbosh123, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4they all look like guns o.o
    • Cable, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5@vroom

      From Wikipedia
      "Nationals who are not citizens cannot vote or hold elected office. However, they may reside and work in the United States without restrictions and apply for citizenship under the same rules as other resident aliens."
    • kingfoot, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1@nixfu

      ... you mean back to Washington, not Oregon right?
    • tidu, on 10/11/2007, -0/+9@guydrury

      Homer: "Florida?! But that's America's Wang!"
    • ta10n, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1@cdemi:

      What's a malta? ;-)
    • nixfu, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Ok I guess my anti-microsoft feelings are showing with regard to WA. hehe.
    • Lux7, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2The kid who drew the one in the center looks like he must've been held back a couple of grades.
    • tech42er, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1@Paul
      It's physically possible to go through Canada, but I think there are ferries that go from Seattle to Alaska.
    • elk1, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1They also left out canada, the 51st state
    • EbilPhish, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1They actually seem quite good to me. I doubt I would do much better if someone actually gave me a map and told me to make copies.

      If someone asked me to draw the USA I probably would have put in south America and Mexico, but I'm Aussie. I also doubt I would do much better for Australia, although its a much more complex shape, More like the bat symbol rather than a block with a penis.
  • kilps, on 10/11/2007, -1/+149I know what shape my own country is ... I just can't draw :/
    • 10scott10, on 10/11/2007, -10/+1i can kinda draw the US. i suck at drawing, but i knwo the shape. but ask me to draw in the state, and you will be lucky to get 50.
    • quantumHobbit, on 10/11/2007, -3/+18Agreed I couldn't draw much better if I had a map in front of me. I hate to admit watching Friends but this is like the episode where Pheobe challenges Ross to write down all 50 states from memory. Try it, I promise you'll forget a random state like Utah. It's not because you don't know all 50 but unless you have a robot-like memory your going to have a brain-fart and forget one.
    • robz0r, on 10/11/2007, -2/+39I would rather cut my wrists then attempt to draw Canada, up north really goes up north here...
    • carpespasm, on 10/11/2007, -10/+2i just tried it from memory, havn't had a geography class since i can remember, and aside from the west coast being less curved than it should be it's all there, even washington's bay and michigan sticking out. and i live in florida, where all we have to remember to find our state is that we're the one dangling off like a wang. they must've been maps drawn by the slow class.
    • Spuy767, on 10/11/2007, -18/+3This is actually depressing. For anyone who believes in devolution, as I do, or has seen Idiocracy, this is just more evidence that the average person is getting dumber, and dumber, and dumber. Here is my US From Memory http://tennis-schedule.com/images/USFromMem.bmp and I know it's not entirely fair, but I did draw this on a laptop with a trackpad in less than a minute, so cut me some ***** slack. It's better than the douche who just drew his home state of Nevada.
    • spect3r, on 10/11/2007, -3/+5@ State of Alaska - come to Canada :) We pay good price!
    • jacobmar1ey, on 10/11/2007, -0/+23@spuy767

      Is Baja California now part of the US? I had no idea. (I'm giving you the benefit of trackpad-doubt on the oversized Texas.)
    • pegisys, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3@spuy767

      I don't think this proves anything but they are bad artist most of the pictures are close enough to know what they were drawing with out having to ask what it is

      drawing is not a skill that everyone can be learn, or be good at, and drawing something from memory that you don't see very often can be even harder

    • will180, on 10/11/2007, -3/+2@spuy767
      Yours looks like a penis.
    • hdtvdust, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4spuy...that is your US after seeing this page, meaning you got a recent look at others.

      And yet your drawing is STILL not as good ass many on that page, who did it COMPLETELY from memory.

      Maybe you are right about devolution. You are living proof.
    • tech42er, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2@Spuy
      YOurs isn;t that great. It's about as god as some of the ones on the page, except your Maine was the best I've seen. The main reason I'm responding to you is because any concept of "devolution" is asinine and because you think you're so superior, when your map really isn't.
  • neiltc13, on 10/11/2007, -31/+12I could do a better job than many of these guys and I don't even live in the US.
    • LordSkywalker, on 10/11/2007, -49/+11You can do a better job BECAUSE you're not from here, not in spite of it. Most Americans are pretty damn stupid for the most part.
    • desistere, on 10/11/2007, -6/+92"War is God's way of teaching Americans geography." --Ambrose Bierce
    • revenge7, on 10/11/2007, -27/+7Right now, most Americans probably know where 4 countries are: the US, Canada, Mexico, and Iraq.
    • Akaji, on 10/11/2007, -21/+11No, actually, most Americans don't know where Iraq is. Nor do they (well, I suppose it's 'we', but I really wish I didn't have to say that) generally know the locations of Afghanistan, the Gulf War, or Vietnam.
    • triscuitbiscuit, on 10/11/2007, -23/+3@revenge7
      I am sorry (in more than one way) to inform you that your statement is at least 75% wrong. I wouldn't be surprised if it was 100% wrong.
    • quantumHobbit, on 10/11/2007, -19/+4I don't know why everyone is so down on Americans for not knowing Geography. As long as they can read Interstate signs and trust the airline to do the rest they'll survive, and as a side note I get to look like a genius for knowing which continent Latvia is on. Just trying to put a positive spin on things.
    • Seth024, on 10/11/2007, -4/+16They should have been told to draw a map of Europe. That would have been much more difficult for an American teenager.
    • SpaceMonkeyZero, on 10/11/2007, -10/+46Can I join your hate Americans rally?

      LOL AMERICANS R DUMB. LOL
    • Seaborgium106, on 10/11/2007, -3/+28Those drawings aren't intended to be precise representations of the United States. Most of the students, like myself, probably have poor drawing skills. I doubt I could accurately draw the outline of any country, getting every proportion correct. In the same way, I would have difficulty drawing a horse or dog with accurate proportions, and get mostly poor results.

      Try drawing a random state or country, then compare it to a map. This has very little to do with geography, I'm guessing nearly every participating student knew exactly how the United States is shaped, but could not reproduce it accurately on paper. Like the United States, I know exactly what a horse looks like, but I cannot draw a perfectly proportioned horse no matter how hard I try.

      Accurate drawings of a country do not reflect geography skill, but drawing skill.
    • SpaceMonkeyZero, on 10/11/2007, -1/+11@Seaborgium: Colorado, and Wyoming FTW!
    • Seaborgium106, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1Some of those are pretty bad though... I do hope those come from students who thought the assignment was stupid, and not serious attempts.

      A couple in the middle are pretty sad...
    • CanIGetAWitness, on 10/11/2007, -9/+13All this Americans are dumb ***** is annoying. I'm an American and I can draw a fair WORLD map including many Islands and I don't even like geography, so get a life.
      I can also click a Check Spelling button just so I don't look like a tard if I made a mistake.
    • blueberries, on 10/11/2007, -3/+9wow...can you spell b-i-g-o-t? What on earth do you think gives you the right to characterize an entire country's people as ignorant and basely stupid? Why don't you save your comments for a hate rally, you prejudicial jackasses.
    • Herald42, on 10/11/2007, -0/+9"I get to look like a genius for knowing which continent Latvia is on."

      My high school American Government teacher was telling us about the War on Terror, and listing the countries that had offered their support. The class kept asking him, "Well, what about this country," and "Well, what about that country." I looked over at one student who was looking at the world map trying to find them all. I asked the student if he thought Bohemia was backing us in the war on terror. He gave me a blank look, and I said, "You know, where the Rhapsody is from." He just nods, points to a country, and shoots his hand up and asks. The coach just nods. "Bohemia is one of our staunchest supporters in the War on Terror. You know they always have our backs."

      Only two or three other people in the class of fifty did not realize that Bohemia wasn't a country. A number of the rest went to search for it on the map. The teacher just kept going, oblivious.
    • Kinjiru, on 10/11/2007, -9/+4@ blueberries

      Quote:
      wow...can you spell b-i-g-o-t? What on earth do you think gives you the right to characterize an entire country's people as ignorant and basely stupid? Why don't you save your comments for a hate rally, you prejudicial jackasses.
      Unquote.

      It's not about the right to etc etc... it's simply calling it as it is. On the whole Americans prove themselves time and time again to not only be beyond ignorant about the rest of the world but they also prove themselves as a people to be incredibly stupid.

      Proof? Sure... check out the last two elections you had... the entire world was laughing at the incredible incompetence.. not to mention supreme stupidity of actually allowing Bush back in for a second term. All the while the US was trying to force other countries to allow them to "supervise" elections??? I mean Honestly.. who the ***** are you kidding??? That would be like asking a recent Darwin winner to give advice on not doing anything stupid!

      More proof you say? How about the fact that over 90% of Americans don't even know that Canada is not only BIGGER than the US but that we don't live in Igloo's.. don't live exactly 1.3km apart.. don't all say ABOOOT.... and we refuse to sit back and kiss the USA's ass.

      More stupidity? Sure... the DMCA comes to mind.... not to mention the Helms Burton Law.. and how about the fact the US gets ticked at the world for not kissing their ass and automatically following US law.. note.. the point there is US LAW not WORLD law.. ***** arrogant morons

      Yet more you say? Check out the TV show "are you smarter than a 5th grader".... with the redneck king himself hosting it...
      meanwhile they blatantly ripped off the concept and are being sued for that as well!.

      Ok fine... you personally don't make the laws.. might not have voted for bush.. don't produce TV shows and even realize we don't live in igloos.

      Good for you.

      But as a whole the American people have provided more than enough evidence to say beyond any shadow of a doubt they are arrogant, egotistical and ***** dumb.

      Don't like it? Sorry but reality bites eh?


      Ohh and that dosn't even touch violence vs sex ed etc etc etc.... creationism ***** aside...
    • hdtvdust, on 10/11/2007, -2/+5 Kinjiru...your comment prove YOUR ignorance, and extreme stupidity as well. Can we make a generaliztion against whatever country is unfortunately enough to call you a citizen?
    • hdtvdust, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4Let's also realize that there were probably FAR more drawings than are represented on this website, and since the site is trying to prove a point, they would take the WORST ones.

      It is like those "man on the street" questions where people give stupid answers, and idiots here on Digg actually think it represents the avearge American. Of course, those man on the street shows, etc. ask these questions to hundreds of people all day, just to find a small handful who gave stupid answers. (Many of which do it on purpose.)


      Herald...*****.
    • victorc26, on 10/11/2007, -2/+5"By Akaji
      No, actually, most Americans don't know where Iraq is. Nor do they (well, I suppose it's 'we', but I really wish I didn't have to say that) generally know the locations of Afghanistan, the Gulf War, or Vietnam."

      I do, but that's because I have a general interest in geography.

      I know I'm one of the few though. Sadly.

      Interesting tidbit: Most people are ignorant (Not stupid), no matter what nationality.
    • Kinjiru, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1@ hdtvdust

      On the contrary it proves the fact that I have actually paid attention to such things. I'm hardly the only one either.. it's simply reality no matter how little you like it.. or anyone else in the US. If you don't like it then instead of getting mad at someone telling the truth perhaps you would be better off putting that energy into changing it so the world can no longer laugh at the level of stupidity in the US.

      And I'm Canadian.. one of those that told your president to kiss my ass with the DMCA and the Helms Burton *****.

      Fact is most of the world is sick and tired of the bully tactics from the US and the fact the average american is too damned stupid to do anything about it.. even when such is within their own country. (New Orleans anyone??? Or how about the insane no-bid contracts to Haliburton.. Bush friendly of course... and a few thousand other prime examples for that matter...)

      In essence the average american is either too stupid or too spineless to actually do anything about it.

      Go on back.. bury your heads in the sand again.... aka American Idol etc...

      Pathetic...
  • KMye, on 10/11/2007, -6/+4that top maine looks kinda phallic...
    • Akaji, on 10/11/2007, -2/+4Well, it depends on what you're trying to see...
    • KMye, on 10/11/2007, -0/+13I think I watch too much porn
    • doctorfungi, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7OR, a low amount of porn, except it contains a huge amount of scholngs within a small time frame.
    • KMye, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1yeah, I was waiting for that one...
    • quantumHobbit, on 10/11/2007, -1/+10That gives me an idea, maybe if we started teaching Geography with sexual innuendo, the future citizens of the impending idiocracy will actually remember their 4th grade Geography.
    • tech42er, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Maine could be considered phallic, as could Florida.
  • KMye, on 10/11/2007, -12/+6digg down
  • vudicarus, on 10/11/2007, -9/+10USA....It's what's for dinner
    • SpaceMonkeyZero, on 10/11/2007, -2/+7I was going to say many of them look like crude cows!
  • jmpeagle, on 10/11/2007, -15/+6once again this prove Bush was behind 9/11
  • Mast3rDigg3r, on 10/11/2007, -0/+49why is there a picture representing a hot air balloon in the middle of the page? wtf was that kid doing
    • phoephus, on 10/11/2007, -1/+30That was an illegal alien from south america.
    • issoy, on 10/11/2007, -6/+8its a lousy map of Nevada by some blond who didn't listen to the instructions
    • SpaceMonkeyZero, on 10/11/2007, -1/+28That was by the child who should have been left behind.
    • KMye, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6I thought he go mixed up and drew Greenland.
    • machinegunopera, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6I just love how every person outside of the U.S.A. thinks they're all so much ***** smarter than every single person in America...
    • tech42er, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Nevada.
  • GaidinTS, on 10/11/2007, -0/+20I don't know what you guys are complaining about in Alaska and Hawaii, I think in the general public they are both more recognizable then North Dakota
    • sundancekid503, on 10/11/2007, -0/+10North *what*??
    • ikaumeyer, on 10/11/2007, -1/+0Try living in Vermont, than you can tell me about not being recognized.
    • tech42er, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Is that surprising? N. Dakota resembles a lot of other square states (e.g. Colorado or Wyoming).
  • doodoodoodoo, on 10/11/2007, -4/+4What's that one in the middle (sort of) with a bird footprint at the top?
    • GawtMilk, on 10/11/2007, -0/+38Those are the Great Lakes. Go four to the left, you can see Canada teabagging us.
  • mick6885, on 10/11/2007, -6/+1the 'hot air balloon' loox more liek a giant turd.
    perhaps this student missheard the instructions and began to draw waht bush had turned america into.
  • Easty, on 10/11/2007, -1/+17What the hell is with the one in the middle?
    Since when did the US look like a steak?
    • carpespasm, on 10/11/2007, -0/+23looks like someone who wasn't listening and drew a map of nevada.
  • chicken101, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2I lot of those look like jumping black cats.
  • Jyaif, on 10/11/2007, -0/+10It would be interesting to see the average of all the shape. Would it give us a good approximation of the real shape?
    • carpespasm, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5if you scaled them all to the same rough size (the better ones look like they're mostly smaller on that picture), the west coast would probably be less curved and there might be some chunk of baja stuck on there
  • knugen, on 10/11/2007, -1/+15At least yours doesn't look like a split, flaccid penis...

    (scandinavia)
  • LavaHot, on 10/11/2007, -9/+3Are all of our teenagers retarded? why do they all look like they were either drawings of Maryland or done by 1st graders?
    • BenKaras, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6Because this is a really bad representation of America's youth and holds no real ground to prove any sort of point. If you can't draw, you can't draw.
  • cuoops, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2They look like Indian rock drawings.
  • rafe101, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6There is no indentation from the Great Lakes. That would exclude a large land mass where I happen to live, right between lakes Michigan and Superior.
    • McHoffa, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4and who doesn't know michigan looks like a mitten (lower half of michigan)... I always thought the whole state looked like a mitten reaching for a fish...
    • CanceledCzech, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2I always thought it was a mitten reaching for some sort of chipmunk/squirrel-like animal.
    • Killerah, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I love the rendition of it that features Michigan sticking way up into Canada.
  • qwertyuio, on 10/11/2007, -4/+1KIM DINGLE LOL!!!
    Sorry...
    • hdtvdust, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2You should be apologizing to yourself once you realize your maturity stopped evolving when you turned 12.
  • BuddyBoller, on 10/11/2007, -8/+1I love how the one in the middle looks like an up-side-down idaho
    • Spuy767, on 10/11/2007, -1/+23Or a right-side-up Nevada you stupid bastard.
  • radio1mike, on 10/11/2007, -1/+8Uhhh. These drawings are from 1991. Before the explosion of the intertubes and such.
    • silverchrysalis, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2so- you're implying that now they would be worse?

  • chaos7, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3hideous
  • falcon1, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5Was the only reason this was submitted to try and start up a conversation of how dumb Americans are? I know exactly what the U.S looks like, but damned if I could draw it well.
  • hoginthefog, on 10/11/2007, -2/+2I'm sorry, but was this a special education class?

    I just can't imagine any normal high school students (including myself) drawing such inaccurate maps. What's up with the one shaped like South America, and the one that just looks like an ink blot?
  • Warptera, on 10/11/2007, -0/+8The one in the middle... Is that Nevada?!
    • Netrilix, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4Yeah, why the surprise? These are teens from Las Vegas, so I can see someone ***** with his friend...

      1: Dude, what are we supposed to draw?
      2: Nevada, weren't you listening?
      1: Yeah, I was just making sure.
  • DaviDaviDaviD, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5Damn, one of those in the middle just looks like he or she didn't try. This really isn't a true representation of the US's teenage population. I'm from the UK and if you asked most British teenagers to point out where in the UK they live they wouldn't know. It's a world problem to be honest.
  • xbugmenotx, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2They all look like speech bubbles except for one in the middle that looks like a steak.
  • 666dorado, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1actually looks like a butcher's chart of beef cuts. those brown things are cows, right?
  • wannabenomad, on 10/11/2007, -1/+9I'd lighten up on these kids a bit. I'm American, somewhat artistic, and consider myself better than most when it comes to geography.
    Two years ago I was living in Barcelona and took a beginner's Catalan course, which also included some history and geography. Sometime in the first few weeks, each student (we were all adults) had to go up to the white-board, draw his or her home country, mark his or her city and answer questions. I thought I'd do a great job, but mine ended up not looking so good. The Mid-Atlantic (where I'm from) was great, but the rest was a little warped and out of proportion.
    A lot of the other maps (Thailand, Ukraine, Norway) were even worse than mine. Everyone seemed a little surprised and dismayed about how badly their maps turned out. I really don't think that it reflects ignorance, but just a lack of precise artistic ability.
  • erkokite, on 10/11/2007, -3/+2us Amarakin teennajers, weer sow smrt
  • raymore, on 10/11/2007, -2/+2Kinda sad, because I thought it might have been teens in Africa or something, but there are right here in Vegas.
  • lcrplaya54, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3I'm fourteen, and I hate to say it, but our generation is chock-full of some of the stupidest kids you will ever meet. I'd say at least 80% of my grade, if not more, thought that Alaska was an island. No joke. I know someone that thought Eskimos were a species of animal, and about 5 girls in my English class thought Helen Keller was a poet. They also thought that Oliver Twist and Vincent Van Gogh were poets.
    • rwinograd, on 10/11/2007, -2/+3In Canada Eskimo is considered pejorative. The term is Inuit.
    • vroom101, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1@lcrplaya54

      dude! is it really that bad?
    • yurishoujo, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0Well, Helen Keller was an author, so poet really isn't that far of a cry off? And I sincerely doubt 80% thought it was an island. I don't think this poor drawing comes from a lack of knowing what the country looks like in all cases. Oil paintings are a pain in the ass, it's just as likely these kids weren't as good at painting.

      Not to mention, did anyone notice the good ones are represented much smaller, with the worse ones HUGE? There are some very decent ones on that pic.
  • Error601, on 10/11/2007, -2/+4Biased sample fallacy. They only picked the odd ones. As far as we know from that, 99% might have been right on.
    • hdtvdust, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Of course you get buried, Digg never lets facts get in the way of a good bitchfest against the US.

      The hilarious thing is that if BEFORE this made it to the front page, if EVERY SINGLE ONE of the assholes talking about how bad these drawings are was asked to do the same thing, and then we took the 50 or so worst ones, it would look EXACTLY like the sample on this page.
  • nestafett, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1alot of them avtually arent that far off, they are teenagers and this is going off memory, and i know people that dont even know how to draw a straight line, hell, my u.s. history teacher in college drew a map the other day that looked similar to these. not because hes an idiot (hes not) but because hes horrible at drawing
  • lcrplaya54, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2@rwinograd sorry about that, I had no idea. I'll remember that though, thanks. Sorry if I offended anyone
    @vroom101 yeah, it really is. It's pretty horrible.
  • Scarfy, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/2633/screenshot1ir5.png

    What is this!?
    Come on, people.
    • hdtvdust, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2And where is the link to YOUR drawing of the US? (Done without looking at a map right before.)
  • MasterAaron01, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2Really interesting pictures. I wish they'd do some follow-up studies to confirm whether the areas emphasized are of special significance in some way to the kids who did the drawings.

    On a related note, to those who are complaining about the America-bashing... Give it a rest. That's not the point of the picture. I don't think that, as an intelligent, educated adult, I could do significantly better than these. The problem isn't that the kids don't know what their country looks like - believe me, you see its picture all over the place in school. You'd have to sleep through the entirety of high school history, government and geography to not have a basic impression of what the United States looks like, not to mention the entire REST of school leading up to that point. However, unless you choose to really focus on learning US geography (which I imagine few students do), you're only likely to really latch on to the pieces with some sort of significance. Most people, for example, caught the exaggerated Florida peninsula, which is a major coastal landmark for the US. But what (obvious) special import do the Great Lakes have for a bunch of Nevada high schoolers? They don't see the lakes directly in their lives. On the other hand, if you gave the same assignment to Michigan or Ohio students, I'd bet that the lakes, in some form, would be almost universally recognized. These kids weren't being stupid - they just naturally locked into their brains the parts of their country that made sense to them.
  • Cornedbeef, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0The map in the middle looks like Illinois or Vermont.
  • Katana314, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2Kudos to the one near the middle for remembering the great lakes.
    • hdtvdust, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2Why give them kudos? The Great Lakes are part of the United States.

      Should they also have put a small circle in northern Utah for the Great Salt Lake.

      The ones who took the Great Lakes out of their drawing are WRONG. They did not draw the borders of our country. And since they didn'texcluse ALL waer, they were wrong either way.
  • Fisos, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1on an irrelevant note, I'm just going to go ahead and put it out there... Americans make so many racial and prejudice jokes and assumptions, we have no right to defend ourselves when anyone calls us stupid, besides, what matters is personal confidence, not admiration from others
  • hdtvdust, on 10/11/2007, -2/+2The "analysis" of these drawings is idiotic...

    "The indentation in the US’s northern border made by the Great Lakes is missing in almost all drawings.".....ummmm, could that be becuase the Great Lakes are PART of hte US, and therefore if you were to draw the US, you would include that?

    Does not appear that these kids were asked to draw only the land. Otherwise, why no tiny circles for other lakes?
  • danarama, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1you should get them to try and draw the entire earth and see what you get. canada? isn't that next to mexico and hawaii?
  • theoreticalk, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3I love the one that has Florida curling in towards Texas.

    Hilarious.
  • eugene2x, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Lol, the one in the middle is Nevada!
  • CMOSLogic, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3This morning on cspan or something, ( my wife just told me about it) an editor from Harper's Weekly said, in 194, a high school graduate had a vocabulary of 12,000 words.

    Today, it's 6,000.

    Think about that.. and that 6000 includes all the new products, so what does that tell you about the actual working vocabulary capability of modern American schoolkids?
  • thethresh, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Who the ***** thinks Texas is a "political" boundary? Ever heard of the god damned Rio Grande you asshats? Dumb mother *****.
  • cambob76, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Florida. America's wang.
  • CosmicBratt, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1One of my elementary school teachers said we should know how to draw our country's borders with our eyes closed. We all tried and pretty much got it. Given, it was Israel, so there wasn't much to draw.
  • DavidtheDuke, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1One of them included Mexico, lawl
  • keyguy242, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1this made me really sick for some reason.
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