@skyfaller Americans don't get taught enough geography, but there's also the fact that political boundaries do change over time. Sometimes you might know what it was before but not be caught up on how it's changed since. I'm still fuzzy on that part of East Africa, on the post- Bosnian War, post-Kosovo War, and other post-USSR breakup lines.
Keeping up on political boundaries involves reading news combined with Wikipedia. It also helps to have a diverse feed on social media.