I was trying to help out my poor wife with a geography quiz she was doing yesterday. She starts a new job today and part of her first test has to do with knowing American Geography.

I've always prided myself in knowing a lot about international geography, so I took the knowledge for granted. I had no idea how bad my wife was though... she was completely oblivious to everything. She said to me, "You mean San Francisco and Philadelphia aren't in the same State?"

I had to laugh.

ANYWAY.... I was wondering about Washington, D.C. Is it in Maryland? Or is DC some kinda region unto itself?

DC is actually between states. Half is in Virginia and Half Maryland....

But DC isn't a state, right? Wife just called me from her training session and she says that everyone is confused, lol.

DC is a region unto itself. Until very recently, the residents of the District had no representation in the Federal Government. There are still no senators, but they do have one representative in the House.

DC was ceded by Maryland to build the new Capitol in the early 1800s. If you look at it on a map, it looks like a nice right-triangle. Arlington, VA is on the other side of the Potomac River.

Maryland didn't have a problem getting rid of the low-lying swamp land. Nobody wanted it. Nobody had to be relocated when building the new city. The land is so bad that several times the White House was evacuated because of unlivable conditions. Swamp gas, sewage backups, etc., all come right down to the center of town - the White House.

Yeah - it's a lousy spot for a Capitol. Just remember that, since it's on the Eastern Seaboard, if it gets nuked, most of the country will survive. B)

Another thing my wife asked me is, "Do you think I have to memorize all the States and be able to identify them on the map?"

I said it was unlikely. Then I told her that 50% of Americans probably don't know how to do that, much less Canadians.

Then I thought to myself, "Maybe I should ask the FHL peeps if that's true..."

So is it? Would 50% of Americans be able to look at a blank map of the USA and name each state?

I would very much doubt that they could. I'm sure they would probably have to learn it at some point but I doubt most adults could recall even half.

Given Time I prolly could get at least a 75%......

ACtaully played aflash game once where we had a blank map of the US with no state borders adn you had to place the states.....

On the spot I would so fail....

Thanks Clay for the info on DC....I wasn't up-to-date on all the ins & outs of it....

As for naming all the states on a blank map....I think I would be able to muddle my way through it, kinda. I'm really "iffy" on alot of states in the northwest (Colorado, Utah, etc area), & some in the midwest I get confused (Kansas, Missouri, etc)...but I know the ones on "my" side of the US! B)

Now, ask me to just sit down & NAME all 50 states? Nope, I couldn't do that, I admit it....

I think you guys should merge some of your useless states.

Like... North Dakota and South Dakota can merge and just become Dakota. I mean... who would miss either of them? No matter how many thousands of message boards I've been on, there has NEVER been a person from any of the Dakotas.

Utah and Idaho can merge into one state as well. Two completely useless states. :)

West Virginia and Virgina can become *drumroll* Virginia!!

Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire... one state.

Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island... one state!

Delaware and Maryland... one state! That way, 4Jacks can say that he's from Maryware!!

Montana can join forces with Wyoming too.

Wow, I'm not as up on state placement as I thought....I found this interactive US Map quiz...you drag & drop the states into their right spots on the map....try it...I'm not EVEN gonna post my score... B) :rollseyes:

US States

Here's another one....it asks you where the state is, & you click on where "you" think it is on the map....

US Map

They also have different ones you can do, like Australia, CANADA, the Carribbean...

That was a cool game!

Score 88%
Average Error 34 Miles
Time 354 seconds

I have traveled a great deal. I lived in seven states when growing up - from coast to coast (actually, never saw the coast until my next-to-last move and that was at age 13). I wanted to be able to point out the states I'd been to (driving cross-country really racks 'em up!), so I began to memorize the map. In the fifth-grade, (while living in Illinois), I learned a song about the fifty states in alphabetical order. Singing that song, and counting the states I've actually set foot in, the number is 30. Never been to New England, or much of the East Coast. Want a list? Sure, why not!

• Alabama
• Arizona
• Arkansas (be there next week!)
• California (lived there '78-'79, stationed in San Diego '89-'91)
• Colorado
• Florida (boot camp)
• Georgia
• Hawaii (five weeks, courtesy of the US Navy!)
• Idaho
• Illinois (lived there '74-'76)
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Kentucky (lived there '72-'74)
• Louisiana
• Mississippi (US Navy A-School)
• Missouri
• Montana
• Nebraska
• Nevada (lived there '65-'72, '76-'78)
• New Mexico (Honeymoon! :booyah: )
• Ohio (both parents and all cousins from there)
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• Tennessee
• Texas (need I go on? B) )
• Utah
• Virginia
• Washington (Stationed in Seattle '87-'89)
• West Virginia
• Wyoming (I don't remember visiting Wyoming, but my folks tell me I went to Yellowstone at age 2!)

I've also visited the following foreign countries (all except Canada and Mexico courtesy of the US Navy):

• Canada (is it really a foreign country?

)

Mexico

Japan (for 8 hours)

Hong Kong

Philippines

Thailand

Singapore

Diego Garcia (it's an experience!)

Bahrain (8 more hours)

Brasil - Rio de Janeiro

Barbados

Panama

Not bragging, but I thought it fit. B)

:haha: My comments:

I've often wondered if anyone actually lives in someplace called "Badlands" whose only claim to fame is fifty feet of snow in the summertime.

Nah - we don't want the Mormons getting more territory than they already have.

Well, technically speaking, West Virginia (though it's full of hicks) didn't secede during the Civil War. Hence the West. Virginia did. Therefore, West Virginia is full of Yankees. Virginia is southern.

Why don't you just take them? Add them to the Labradors?

Add them to the new Labradors mentioned above. We don't need 'em!

:haha: I like that one!

That's God's country, right Mandy? I don't think there's a place on Earth more beautiful than Montana and Wyoming.

OK, I did it again, and this is a pretty embarassing score for the SECOND try!! :rollseyes:

Score: 86%
Avg Error: 29 miles
Time: 220 sec

If the offer were presented to some supreme Canadian Geographical Council, I'm sure they would gladly accept those States. :)

And I'd love to visit them.

I wouldn't mind visiting them, but the folks that live there - well, that's where Ted Kennedy is from. :urgh:

I don't think there's a conservative in any of those states!

Red- What kind of job did she get? Is this one going to have better hours? Hope so....

I got:

Score 92%
Avg Error 19 miles
Time 214 secs

Course it might help that I've been to about some 40 odd states running around in the truck but that only helps with placement of them. For some insane reason though I did learn all 50 US states as a kid, just decided to learn them one day :lol:

That's better than most Americans do with geography outside the US. I think very few Americans can name the Provinces of Canada or Mexico, let alone locate them on a map. I know I'm guilty of that, as well. I know the border states - most of 'em, anyway.

Kudos to you for living in Britain and learning the States!

That drag - n - drop game is *REALLY* hard.

The first state I got was Colorado - and I was off by over 100 miles. I did pretty good through the border/coastal states, and was able to complete with:

92%
6 miles
259 seconds (over four minutes!)

I need to try it with a real mouse instead of this thinkpad red thingamajigger.

Customer Service Rep for AirMiles.

Hours aren't fixed. You have to bid (not sure what the bidding is based on) for the hours you want.

Whatever you win... you get to keep that shift for 4 months.

But I have interesting news... which I'll post in another thread over in Marriage Ministries. :)

When I was a kid, I remember two gifts that I got.

1. A Globe
2. A Disney book on countries around the world.

I think this is where I got my love for geography. I kicked butt whenever we played Carmen Sandiego

Thinking about this subject:

How may countries, other than the US are as 'state-centric' as we are? We had a war because the Northerners wanted the central government (Washington DC) to tell the states what to do. The Southerners wanted the states to have more freedom than that. We call it "States' Rights".

Right now, there are certain laws that are left up to the states to determine and enforce, like traffic laws. I mean, what does Barney Frank :urgh: (from Massachussets - one of the reasons I'd like to give them to Canada...) know about driving the open roads of West Texas?

The individual states in the United States, therefore, are more 'individual' than in other countries. I know that sending mail to the US from outside, you still put the city, state, country, zip. When sending mail to Canada from outside, you put the city, province, country, six-character-thingy. But, when sending mail to France, you send it to the city, country and postal code.

Are there any other countries in which the states are as 'individual' as the US?

When sending mail to Canada

Name
Street
City, Province
Postal Code
Country (if mail is international)

We have some inter-provincial divisions in Canada as well. Mainly with Quebec, due to the language beef that they have with the rest of the country. They have a different set of laws too.

I'd entertain you with the rest of the politics, but it's really quite boring. :)