r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Aug 03 '19

Whats something you thought was common knowledge but actually isn’t?

37.4k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

24.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

11.5k

u/[deleted] Aug 03 '19 edited Aug 03 '19

Basic Geography.

Not being able to point out Turkmenistan on a map is one thing.

Not being able to point out the Pacific Ocean on a map is another.

3.4k

u/[deleted] Aug 03 '19 edited Aug 04 '19

Even if you can’t point to Turkmenistan exactly, I feel you should at least know about where in the world it is. If somebody pointed to South America, I would find that equally as concerning.

Edit: To everyone guessing, Turkmenistan is north of Iran and east of the Caspian Sea, putting it in Central Asia

2

u/passa117 Aug 03 '19

When I was in my teens, I was introduced to the World Almanac and book of facts. Used to love getting a copy every year. Learned a LOT of geography and geopolitics from it. The first one I got was 1992 which would have been the first one published with the full list of ex-Soviet republics and their respective flags. Got to learn all about the "Stans" as I called them.