Its not really surprising is it?
The majority of people in both Britain and the USA get their information from mainstream media, and process it with skills learned (?) in public schools!
We should remember that in the US, knowing which 2 countries border the lower 48 states was a daunting task for many high school kids, so why would we expect more as they age?
It should also be noted that travel really does seem to broaden ones knowledge base, and that this board is a prime example: although many here have strange opinions sometimes, at least they have formed them based on some actual thought process of their own*
* or the cut and pasted someone elses