User blog comment:Sunshineandravioli/An Unfortunate Announcement/@comment-1874924-20100404131740

@TDIRM: No, sadly, everybody doesn't know where the Korean penninsula is. When I was in college for my 2nd degree (this was plenty of years ago, but I doubt matters have improved since) there was a widely reported geography quiz where 15% of the "man on the street" respondents didn't know where the Pacific Ocean was. (They confused it with the Atlantic.) In another noteworthy blunder, someone identified New Zealand as Canada.

The school newspaper ran an article on the quiz results, including a world map labelled according to some of these responses and ending with a tongue-in-cheek call to action based on the results. I still remember the last line: "And for God's sake, liberate New Zealand from the iron jaws of Canada!"