This NYT article prompted me to find a youtube video, in which a young, sweet-looking American girl publicly admits that she thought Europe was a country...
You have to watch it, to actually believe it:
According to the same article "nearly two-thirds of Americans want creationism to be taught along with evolution". TWO-THIRDS.
It's really scary that (many) citizens of one of the world's most influential countries playing a leading role in world's politics and economy are so ignorant.