Fewer than a quarter of U.S. voters can find Iran on a world map

Iran so far away — but that’s no excuse.

Despite the United States being on the brink or war with Iran, fewer than a quarter of American voters can find the 81-million person nation on a world map.

According to a poll by Morning Consult/Politico, that number leaps only slightly when voters were asked to find Iran on a map showing just the Middle East.

Only 23% of the 1,995 registered voters surveyed properly placed the Islamic republic between Iraq and Afghanistan. That number jumped to 28% when the study’s participants were given a map focusing specifically on the part of the world where Iran is located.

NEW from me: We asked folks to identify Iran on an unlabeled map.

28% of them got it right. Here's where they guessed. https://t.co/XhP5OU9s2n pic.twitter.com/IQ8HYFDKxE

— Joanna Piacenza (@jpiacenza) January 8, 2020

Nevertheless, more participants in the study support the controversial air strike that killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad last week than oppose it.

According to the Morning Consult/Politico study, 47% of registered voters were for the targeted killing and 40% were against it. The strike was backed by 85% of Republicans polled and 70% of Democrats.

Iran responded to Soleimani’s killing by firing a dozen missiles at U.S. bases in Iraq Tuesday. The Morning Consult/Politico study was concluded prior to that offensive. There were no reported casualties.

Men correctly identified Iran’s borders at twice the rate of women, the research found. Just under half of total respondents reported hearing “a lot” about the killing of Soleimani.

Support from President Donald Trump has not been impacted by the U.S.’s strike on Jan. 3, according to a separate Morning Consult finding.