Britain and US clash (online) over geographic knowledge

You probably know that Sacha Baron Cohen's character Borat (from the movie of the same name) hails from Kazakhstan – but could you locate his homeland on an unmarked map? Or name the country that produces the most cocoa beans in the world?

If you aced those two geography questions, and you live in Britain or the United States, consider logging on to www.geographycup.com and see if you can score a few points for your national team. Until Dec. 31, a battle of knowledge and understanding is raging between the Brits and Americans. (At press time, Britain was trailing by 1.7 percentage points.)

The transatlantic challenge was conceived by Roger Andreson of Atlanta and Daniel Raven-Ellison of Reading, England. Mr. Andreson is founder of A Broader View, a company dedicated to promoting geographical awareness through games and competitions. Mr. Raven-Ellison is a secondary school teacher and cofounder of Give Geography Its Place, a grass-roots campaign focused on expanding the public's grasp of geography.

"Geography is far more than a place on a map," says Raven-Ellison. "It's also about understanding and appreciating the issues that are taking place on a map, whether they are caused by man or caused by environment."

For instance, people may know about the escalating conflict in Darfur, a province of Sudan. But if they can't place Darfur on a map, they probably can't visualize the size of the country or which neighboring countries might be affected by the turmoil. "The complexity of the issue doesn't mean as much to you if you can't imagine where these places are," says Raven-Ellison.

Raven-Ellison found Andreson and www.geographyzone.com while doing some online research for Give Geography Its Place. Given the centuries-long bond between the United States and Britain, Raven-Ellison proposed a head-to-head competition. The Geography Cup challenge was officially launched Nov. 12, the start of Geography Awareness Week in the US. The game is largely relying on word-of-mouth and Web links to recruit new players. (Currently, there are 14,827 US participants and 2,701 in Britain.)

"I found with my geography products I was only reaching people already interested in geography," says Andreson. "Competition is a good way to get people interested in a subject."

While the quiz suggests participants expand their geography skills by ordering games and puzzles from A Broader View, Andreson says his main priority is to get people hooked on geography.

Here's how it works: Participants register at Geographycup.com by selecting a user name and password. The country location of your IP address will automatically determine if you are a Yank or a Brit. Once the game starts, you have two minutes to answer questions such as "Where is Madagascar?" by moving your cursor over a global map and clicking on what you think is the correct location. (Note: Several seasoned journalists at an international newspaper found it challenging.)

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