Designating the week beginning December 1, 1991, and the week beginning November 15, 1992, each as "Geography Awareness Week".
PL 102-189 (H.J.Res.201), enacted 12/04/1991

105 STAT. 1288 
PUBLIC LAW 102-189—DEC. 4, 1991 
Public Law 102-189 
102d Congress 
Joint Resolution 
Dec. 4, 1991 
Designating the week beginning December 1, 1991, and the week beginning Novem-
[H.J. Res. 201] 
^®^ 1^' 1992, each as "Geography Awareness Week". 
Whereas geography is the study of people and their planet, offering 
a framework for understanding ourselves, our interdependence 
with other peoples, our relationship to the Earth, and world 
events; 
Whereas the United States has both worldwide involvements and 
influence that demand an understanding of geography, different 
cultures, and foreign languages; 
Whereas the credibility of our Nation's foreign policy largely de-
pends on the support of a geographically informed public, a public 
which understands both the locations and the significance of 
historic changes occurring around the globe and their impact on 
the United States; 
Whereas an ignorance of geography, different cultures, and foreign 
languages places the United States at a disadvantage with respect 
to other nations in matters of business, politics, the environment, 
and global events; 
Whereas, although geography as a distinct discipline has virtually 
disappeared from the curricula of schools in the United States, it 
is still being taught as a basic subject in other nations, including 
the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, and the Soviet Union; 
Whereas our Nation's Governors, in their National Goals for Edu-
cation, explicitly identified geography as one of five subjects in 
which American students should demonstrate competency; 
Whereas a perspective in geography offers a critically needed under-
standing of the relationship between human activity and the 
condition of our planet in this time of increasing environmental 
problems; 
Whereas the first federally funded National Assessment of Edu-
cational Progress revealed a "disturbing geography knowledge 
gap" among 12th graders: 58 percent could locate Jerusalem on a 
regional map, but only 36 percent knew that Saudi Arabia is 
bounded by the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf; 
Whereas in a 1988 Gallup Poll, 75 percent of those surveyed could 
not locate the Persian Gulf on a map, and fewer than half of those 
surveyed could name Asia as the place that Christopher Columbus 
was hoping to reach when he discovered the New World; 
Whereas that 1988 Gallup Poll also projected that 24,000,000 Ameri-
cans could not identify the United States on a map of the world, 
58,000,000 Americans could not tell direction on a map, and 
105,000,000 Americans did not know the population of the United 
States; 
Whereas geography is more than the study of map identification. 
State capitals, and country names, but geography also gives mean-
ing to location and establishes a context for understanding the 
connections among peoples, places, and events; 
59-139 O - 91 (189) 
PUBLIC LAW 102-189—DEC. 4, 1991 
105 STAT. 1289 
Whereas the success of a democracy relies heavily upon an educated 
citizenry whose members are aware of both their influence on and 
connection with the rest of the world; and 
Whereas national attention must be focused on the integral role 
that a knowledge of world geography plays in preparing citizens of 
the United States to assume a responsible role in the future of an 
increasingly interconnected and interdependent world: Now, 
therefore, be it 
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, That the week 
beginning December 1, 1991, and the week beginning November 15, 
1992, are each designated as "Geography Awareness Week", and the 
President is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation call-
ing upon the people of the United States to observe such week with 
appropriate ceremonies and activities. 
Approved December 4, 1991. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H.J. Res. 201: 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 137 (1991): 
Nov. 22, considered and passed House. 
Nov. 26, considered and peissed Senate. 
o