I'd say that polling the 'Cat is not a fair assessment of US knowledge. Folks here are, on average, a little more world savvy than your average garden variety US citizen.

To drive the point home, I have a friend...and he's fairly intelligent, and fairly knowledgable about world affairs...who said the following after the war in the gulf began in the 80's: "They're bombing Jerusalem...and Israel too". I had to inform him that Jerusalem was a city, not a country.

This same person thought that Baltimore was the Capital of Maryland. In actuality, it is Annapolis. This may seem obscure information to most, but he *lives* in Maryland...one would think he'd know.

Geography just isn't everyones bag, I suppose...especially when you live in a country where it takes you 4 days to cross by car.