Going to a University in the US doesnt seem to help much - I had a recent graduate of a major college with a masters degree in physics come to work with me a few years ago - during a discussion of Alaska for some reason one day, she stated "yep its an island to the west of Canada".
Seems that she had always thought it was an island because the maps always have it in a separate box making it look like its all alone in the Pacific Ocean. Of course this same "honor student" when hearing me talk to a friend about playing old 45s on a record player, asked why you would put a gun on a record player
