Geo 101: How big is the US?

Easy question: How many states comprise the US?
Answer: 50.

I think most people would get this right, even non-Americans.

Medium to very difficult: The British have colonies. We have territories. Name the US territories. Hint: think recent storms in the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.
HowbigisUSTypical answer: Uh…Puerto Rico, and …I don’t know, are there more?
Complete answer: Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, plus a number of minor outlying islands, which include Bajo Nuevo Bank, Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Islands, Navassa Island, Palmyra Atoll, Serranilla Bank, and Wake Island.

If you are not a Jeopardy champion and did not get the last part, don’t feel bad. I don’t think too many Americans ever heard of Bajo Nuevo Bank in the Caribbean, let alone named it as an American territory. I didn’t; I had to look up Wikipedia myself. However, in the wake of the recent terrible storms that wreaked havoc on the Virgin Islands (which jurisdiction is divided among the US, UK and Spain), and Puerto Rico, I think most people who have some interest in world news and an intrinsic quantity of empathy toward others might have paid a little more attention to these areas.

Well, if you still do not care, you are in good company. The “president” of the US Virgin Islands did not either. Dunno Trump, in a public speech, told the press and the world that he met with the “president” of the Virgin Islands after the hurricanes. Once and for all, Dunno: The President of the United States is the President of the US Virgin Islands!

I understand that as the head of a country, any country, you have to deal with places and issues you have not studied. But before you meet with the “president” of a “foreign” country like the US Virgin Islands, shouldn’t you spend a few minutes telling your speech writer and other aides to prepare something appropriate for you to say?

Hail to the Chowderhead-in-Chief, and God bless America!

*** The End ***

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