This paper describes a study of students' abilities to read and understand maps that are essential for understanding how geographical factors played in shaping a country's history. The maps help to: (1) relay location of countries; (2) demonstrate changes in the geographical boundaries caused by historical events; and (3) elevate the students' cognitive skills by relating maps to historical changes. Geographic location has been the most significant factor in shaping the historical destiny of nations. The study used a survey map study and three survey questionnaires. The first survey questionnaire tested the students' global knowledge of the maps by asking them to identify each country's location around the world. The places in the questionnaire, selected for identification by the students, were based upon countries that had historical, political, or economic ties to the United States. The second survey consisted of two questionnaires divided into the areas of study that the students had covered in two classes, a 10th grade social studies course that focused on the history of modern Western Europe, and a ninth grade course on the history of Asian countries. The last opinion survey tested cognitive geographic skills in map identification. The survey questionnaire was used to: (1) ask the students' opinions as to which global issue they regarded as most important to them; (2) see if they could identify properly the country with the most important issue they selected; and (3) list the reasons why the issue was important to them and their future. Results showed that 10th grade students did better on all three identifications than the ninth grade students. (DK)