The author of GeoFact of the Day would like to thank government leaders and personnel around the world for at least trying to learn more about the world around them. However, one such head of state allegedly mispronounced the names of BHUTAN and NEPAL in an intelligence briefing — but also said something that leaves geography nerds (like me) and international-relations wonks pulling their hair out! According to Politico (↗) based on two sources "with knowledge of the meeting," the U.S. President mispronounced Bhutan as something like "button," while Nepal was pronounced something like "nipple." Unfortunately, no recording of the incident is publicly available as far as I know. This leader also mispronounced NAMIBIA as "Nambia." I get it, sometimes countries have interesting names. When speaking, there is probably at least one countries' name that I am mispronouncing. However, the mispronunciation of Bhutan and Nepal as mentioned above is a far stretch in my opinion, and especially for a leader!
...But there's more (dun dun dun...)! According to John Wolcott's Time report (↗), the U.S. President thought that Bhutan and Nepal were entities within INDIA, rather than the separate and sovereign countries that they really are. OH THE HORROR!!! I have much respect for India, but as a proud geography whiz, hearing that a "world leader" thought Bhutan and Nepal were a part of another country rather than as their own is absolutely heart-wrenching! Nowadays, geographic information is thankfully at the fingertips for everyone with Internet and library access.
We make mistakes, so hopefully he can learn from these geographic mistakes and try better at learning more about other countries. Maybe GeoFact of the Day would be a great place for him to start (hint hint, wink wink), so at least he can sound smarter at his intelligence briefings! It feels strange knowing something that a world leader did not at the time, so maybe I will run for President one day!
Bhutan post (↗) ● Nepal post (↗) ● India post (↗) ● Namibia post (↗)
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