An American Marine readies to land on Guadalcanal during the five-month struggle for the island between late 1942 and early 1943. Three thousand miles south of Tokyo, Guadalcanal was a major shipping point for military supplies. The Allied victory there in February, 1943, marked a major turning point in the war after a string of Japanese victories in the Pacific. (Photo by Joe Scherschel/Time & Life Pictures)

A long exposure image of embers flying off burnt out trees following the wind driven wildfire ranging in the mountain area near Rancho Cucamonga late 30 April 2014. Earlier in the day more than 1,500 homes were evacuated as the Etiwanda fire charred around 1,000 acres in San Barnardino National Forest. (Photo by Stuart Palley/EPA)

France's paralympic triple jumper Arnaud Assoumani poses in front of The Louvre Pyramide, designed by Ieoh Ming Pei, in Paris on April 20, 2024, ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic games. The Louvre was originally built as a fortress in the late 12th century, became one of the main residences of the kings of France later and actually is one of the largest museum in the world. (Photo by Franck Fife/AFP Photo)

Susan Njeri (C), mother of late face mask vendor Boniface Mwangi Kariuki, breaks down at Kenyatta University Funeral Home in Nairobi, Kenya, 11 July 2025. Kariuki was shot by police on 17 June during protests over the death of a Kenyan blogger in police custody. He died two weeks later while receiving treatment. (Photo by Daniel Irungu/EPA)

Sеx worker Geraldine, wearing cat make-up, excitedly holds up a dress she is thinking of buying from a street vendor, so that her partner, sitting nearby to keep her company, can see it, as she waits for clients outside the Revolution subway station, in Mexico City, Saturday, March 13, 2021. According to Geraldine, 30, the pandemic has cut clients and increased risks to the sеx workers but has also brought out more assistance for them too, both from dedicated organizations such as the activist group Brigada Callejera or “The Street Brigade” and from individuals who have donated food or clothing. (Photo by Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo)

Fighting Infections (single image) | Fighting Pandemic by Sudipto Das. “It’s exhausting. A tram conductor in Kolkata, India, wears protective clothing from head to toe even in the heat of a summer afternoon. This was when restrictions were easing after India’s first Covid-19 lockdown – public transport was running, but staff were advised to suit up like this. We’ve all grown used to saluting the efforts of healthcare workers, but plenty of other people in public-facing jobs have performed gruelling duties too to keep people safe”. (Photo by Sudipto Das/Wellcome Photography Prize 2021)

How sure are you of your geographical knowledge? Buzzfeed recently put Americans’ geographical knowledge to the test with a survey in which participants had to write in countries’ names on a blank European political map. Unfortunately, they didn’t fare too well, but some of their responses are hilarious (or hilariously mis-informed). But don’t be so quick to judge Americans – when Buzzfeed posted a similar survey testing Brits’ knowledge of the 50 United States, they also came up short. On the one hand, knowing a country’s states is different from knowing independent countries, but on the other, some U.S. states are larger than some European nations, and some U.S. states have larger economies than some European nations.