"Are there corresponding statistics for AUS, UK etc?"
Er... Daniel, Great Britain is part of the UK, there you have an example of how the results are right. :)
(sorry, couldn't resist)


As to why people need to know geography: can you understand the importance of Turkey, or Kuwait, or Saudi Arabia supporting the presence of US troops for a possible invasion of Iraq, and compare that to the importance of European countries allowing US troops if you don't know where the countries are?
Can you understand why maquilas in Mxico are generally cheaper than getting things manufactured in China if you don't know where those countries are?
Can you realize that even if North Korea had nuclear weapons with the current range of their missiles they don't pose an immediate threat to the US, only to those nearby allies within range, if you don't look at the map?
Can you realize that most illegal immigrants from Central and South American countries can't arrive directly to the US but have to cross through other countries to get here?
Can you realize that Japan's economic success does not come from having natural resources and a lot of land, while the US success came in great part due to those factors, without knowing some geography?
Maybe geography is not as important by itself, make it a class on geopolitics and the relation of history to geography and you'll see how important it can be.

About testing: sure, the current structure is more of one that measures the ability to take tests than knowledge, but not having tests? There has to be a way to measure the effectiveness of teaching, otherwise getting a degree is meaningless, otherwise if you want to hire someone and are looking for someone that actually learned the subjects versus a candidate that just went through and got his diploma without ever understanding or learning anything is impossible.
And there would be classes you won't be interested in, but honestly, in this modern world you have to know a little bit of everything, so a general education is essential.

But, then, I got good grades and can't complain as much...


Another news article on the survey is available from the National Geographic Society website, where it says
"The young U.S. citizens received poor marks generally in geography. But then, as results showed, their counterparts in other countries were hardly star students."
They don't give the full statistics, even if they comissioned the poll... but it discusses geography education. They also report that the US Education Dept. has found average improvements in geographic knowledge in US students.

If anyone can find the complete survey and results please post a link...

P.S. Mxico is in North America.