She’s been called the world’s most powerful woman, the architect of Europe’s response to the ongoing debt crisis and “the de facto leader of the EU.” But German chancellor Angela Merkel may not be tops at geography.
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During an open geography lesson at an international school in Europe, Merkel was asked to pick out Berlin on a blank map of Europe. She missed, and fairly dramatically, placing the German capital somewhere in the vicinity of St. Petersburg, Russia. (Germany has nine neighbors; Russia is not one of them.)
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This wasn’t exactly a “potatoe” moment for Merkel — to be fair, the Chancellor was staring at a blank map without colors or borders. But it proves that even TIME 100 honorees can get it wrong sometimes.
Erica Ho is a contributor at TIME and the editor of Map Happy. Find her on Twitter at @ericamho and Google+. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.