It's interesting how many of you say that these things don't really enter into your daily consciousness. Again, maybe because my family is spread out across the world, geography is dearly important to me... it can make or break relationships...
When my mom met my boyfriend, all she knew was that he was "Middle Eastern," since she had no idea where Lebanon was. She assumed he was from the same place as bin Laden, since "they're all the same anyway..." all those countries get lumped together geographically, so why not culturally in her mind, too?
So she asked him, point blank, not to be funny but because she really wanted to know... if he knew where bin Laden was hiding, in the mountains of "his (my bf's) country." I am not joking. I credit my boyfriend for being such a contained person and not saying what was on his mind... but it was still very offensive that she didn't even bother to look up his country on a map, at least. Later on she said he was from Pakistan.
Now, my Icelandic and Thai relatives... that's another story altogether.
In any case, my point throughout this piece is not that we should know each and every name of every place in the world... but that we should at least know the places that are significant to us as a country, as we make decisions that impact the daily live of millions of *other* people.
Again, the big three I am most shocked by: Israel. Iraq. Louisiana. Do those places not affect us on a daily basis?