I want to talk about misconceptions in geography. Why? Well, because sometimes I laugh and smile at them, while other times, I let myself down and I get angrier than Bruce Banner in a traffic jam.

Let’s clear something up first; what do I mean by misconceptions? What I’m talking about is a piece of information that people believe to be true, but in actual fact, it isn’t.

An example of this is the famous misconception from Star Wars. In Empire, when Darth Vader is monologuing to Luke, about how great the Dark Side of the Force actually is, he utters the immortal words, “No, I am your father.” The misconception is that people believe the line is, “Luke, I am your father.”

Because of this, people are walking about quoting and repeating misconceptions, that are simply just not true. Every subject or topic has misconceptions within it, but for some strange reason, geographical misconceptions really get under my skin, like the Ceti eel. Chekov and Khan know all about it.¹

So without anymore fanfare, here are some geographical misconceptions that, to my eternal shame, upset me.

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1.) Africa is a country

This is the one that drives me totally crazy. Really, really crazy, because it’s so wrong. Whether its racism or ignorance, this misconception sends my all ready high blood pressure, into the atmosphere.

Against what some Hollywood studios and tv shows try to tell you, Africa is not a country, but one of seven officially recognised continents on Earth. Africa is home to 54 countries and 4 dependencies, with rich and diverse cultures. It’s not a country, but a continent.

2.) The Earth is Flat

I have discussed this before, but the Earth is not flat. No matter how many hours you have researched this topic on YouTube, it is still not flat. Although the Earth appears to be perfectly round, it actually bulges slightly at the equator. Also just to reinforce this, the Earth is not flat.

3.) Lapland is a country

If you have ever heard of Lapland, and wondered why they don’t clean up at the Winter Olympics, there’s a reason: It’s not a country. Lapland is the northern region of Finland, but also incorporates parts of Norway, Sweden and Russia. Even though Lapland sounds like a country, it’s really not.

4.) Capital cities are confused

I feel this one is extremely common, in way or another. Some cities round the world, are sometimes referred to, or confused with the real capital city of a country. Some examples of these are:

Auckland, New Zealand: Reality-Wellington.

Sydney, Australia: Reality-Canberra.

Marrakesh, Morocco: Reality-Rabat.

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: Reality-Dodoma.

Lagos, Nigeria: Reality-Abuja.

Istanbul, Turkey: Reality-Ankara.

Geneva, Switzerland: Reality-Bern.

The Hague, The Netherlands: Reality-Amsterdam.

Toronto, Canada: Reality-Ottawa.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Reality-Brasilia.

5.) Countries that people still think actually exist

This is a crazy one. I saw on a game show, only a few years ago, that if they won, a contestant said they wanted to visit Yugoslavia. My jaw hit the floor, faster than Garfield eats lasagna, because Yugoslavia doesn’t exist anymore.

During the 20th century, many countries went through civil wars, political unrest, revolutions, and invasions. Whether it’s a just a name change, or the country has broken up, there are some people they still believe the countries on the below list, still exist in the 21st century. Though to be fair, two names on the list were Empires.

Austro-Hungarian Empire: Dissolved in 1918, into Austria and Hungary again.

Prussia: Dissolved in 1918.

Ottoman Empire: Dissolved in 1922, later became Turkey.

Tibet: Annexed in 1950, by China.

United Arab Republic: Dissolved in 1961, and changed name to Egypt in 1971.

East Pakistan: Changed name to Bangladesh in 1971.

Ceylon: Changed name to Sri Lanka in 1972.

South Vietnam: Unified with Vietnam in 1976.

Rhodesia: Changed name to Zimbabwe in 1979-1980.

Burma: Changed name to Myanmar in 1989.

North Yemen and South Yemen: Unified in 1990.

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics/Soviet Union: Dissolved in 1991, later became Russia; along with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

Yugoslavia: Broke up in 1992, later became Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia; but also including the regions of Kosovo and Vojvodina.

Czechoslovakia: Dissolved in 1993, became the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

6.) Polar bears live in Antarctica/Penguins live in the Arctic

This is just funny, because I see this mentioned a lot. Polar bears only live in the Arctic Circle, whereas penguins only live in the Southern Hemisphere; which includes Antarctica. You will not find polar bears in Antarctica, nor penguins in the Arctic.

7.) Tigers live in Africa

I understand why this misconception exists; lions and cheetahs live in different countries in Africa, so why not tigers?

Although some members of the big cat family, originally started in Africa, tigers do not live there. Tigers can actually be found in countries like India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Russia, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam; but not any African country.

Anyway, I’ll shut up now. Hopefully this rant was enlightening somehow to you, so thanks again for reading, and I’ll see you soon.

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¹ One of the best sequels ever made, and it’s in my top three best Star Trek films of all time; Wrath of Khan is gorgeous.