Mapping Out the Confusion Over Some People, Places

Kenneth Davis says he wrote his best-selling “Don’t Know Much About Geography� (Morrow, $23) for adults who need to recharge the batteries of their map lights. In it, for instance, he tackles such geographic brainteasers as:

* What’s the difference between an ocean and a sea? “Four oceans, many more seas,� reasons Davis, explaining that seas refer to smaller divisions of oceans or to saltwater bodies partially enclosed by land. “But we use the words ocean and sea interchangeably,� he says. “We eat seafood that comes from the ocean. We go to the seashore and rent ocean-front houses. This is typical of our confusion over geographic terminology.�

* Was Cleopatra black? “For most Americans, when you say ‘Cleopatra,’ their image is Elizabeth Taylor with heavy eye shadow,� he says, adding that now a generation of Americans think all ancient Egyptians were black.

But geography and history dictate that Cleopatra “most certainly was not black,� Davis concludes in the book. She ruled as queen of Egypt from approximately 51-30 BC, and was “a member of the Ptolemaic family . . . descended from the Greek dynasty installed by Alexander the Great’s generals after they conquered Egypt.�

* What’s so bad about the Badlands? “You’ve heard of those places that are nice to visit but you wouldn’t want to live there?� jokes Davis. The treacherous landscape and violent thunderstorms of the North Dakota territory earned a bad name early on by the Sioux, who called it mako sica, literally bad land.