Americans Can't Name This Country

About

Americans Can't Name This Country is a catchphrase used in a series of memes in which made-up countries (such as Listenbourg) are added to existing maps, with the poster challenging other users to recognize and name that country. After the format gained initial prominence online following a viral post in September 2022, several versions of the meme went viral in the following months.

Origin

On September 27th, 2022, Twitter^[1] user @JaydenvdHeck posted a map of Europe with a new, made-up country added to the south of France, captioning the post "YOU'RE TELLING ME AMERICANS DON'T KNOW WHAT COUNTRY THIS IS?!??!!!!" The post (shown below) gained over 13,300 retweets and 170,700 likes in 10 months (shown below).

Spread

On September 28th, 2022, Redditor Odpadson posted a screenshot in the /r/HolUp^[2] subreddit, where it gained over 11,200 upvotes in 10 months.

On October 30th, Twitter^[3] user @gaspardooo posted a map with a made-up country added to the Iberian peninsula west of Spain (known as Listenbourg), writing, "I'm sure Americans don't even know the name of this country." The tweet (shown below) received 10,300 reposts and 117,000 likes in nine months (shown below).

In the following months, the format achieved virality in the /r/mapporncirclejerk^[4] subreddit. For example, on December 27th, 2022, Redditor CybogrIncorporated posted a version that received over 3,000 upvotes in seven months (shown below, left). On February 5th, 2023, Redditor Benjamin075 posted a version that received over 4,200 upvotes in the subreddit in six months (shown below, right).

More versions of the meme, including parody memes, went viral on Reddit and Twitter throughout 2023.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References