THERE'S AN educated guess and then there's... this.
A survey on registered American voters by polling company Morning Consult partnered with Politico asked people to locate Iran on a map, and the results were... not great.
The survey, issued in the aftermath of the USA's killing of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani, showed that just 23% of voters could locate Iran on an unlabeled world map.
Not only could less than three in 10 registered voters not locate the middle-eastern country where tensions with their own country are escalating, many voters did not even come close.
Guesses as to the whereabouts of Iran ranged from elsewhere in the Middle East, to across Africa, Asia and Europe-- and multiple people placed Iran slap-bang in the middle of the United States.
In a more localised map focusing on the Middle Eastern region as well as parts of Europe, Africa, Ireland and the UK, those surveyed did marginally better, with 28% able to locate Iran.
One person, however, must have been confused between 'Middle Eastern country of Iran' and 'East county of Ireland', as they decided that Iran was, in fact, in Wexford.
As the map went viral on social media, reactions ranged from bewilderment, scorn and mockery, with some comparing the confusion to the time people in the UK were asked to draw the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.
(Spoiler alert: That also did not go well.)
The full results of the survey can be found here.
