Geography whizz earns expert status by labelling map of Europe in under a minute
Incredible Jonathan Feather Ruggles (China) is faster than you might think! This 20-year-old geography whizz from Macau, SAR, achieved a Guinness World Records title for the fastest time to identify and type all European countries on a map (Sporcle), completing the challenge in just 45.85 seconds.
Jonathan, currently a university student, shared with Guinness World Records that he has been passionate about geography since he was a young boy, and attempting a record in the field was very much in character!
Read more stories about record-breaking individuals in our Hobbies and Skills section.
“I'm not actually sure what my interest spawned from,” he said, “But I've loved [geography] for a long time, and I've been doing the Sporcle geography quizzes since then too. In middle school, I would also play Hearts of Iron IV, which is a World War II simulator – that got me interested in geography of the whole world and history.”
It wasn’t long before that passion took a competitive turn! Jonathan decided to go for a record after a talk with his friend, Buffy Bui, who previously achieved a Guinness World Records title herself – the fastest time to identify and type all of the flags of Oceania (Sporcle). Her success was an inspiration to Jonathan!
“Seeing that there were other Sporcle records available, I just thought to myself, I can probably do these,” he shared, “and tried doing them as quickly as possible!”
Typing in world-record speed isn’t for the weak! For Jonathan, one of the main challenges wasn’t his geography skills, but mastering the keyboard itself. Most Sporcle quizzes require good reflexes and typing practice.
“I think the most challenging thing for people is when they lose their reference point on the keyboard or fumble over their fingers, which I definitely did not do repeatedly in my attempts…” he laughed. “I was really just trying not to panic and get my fingers in a knot!”
Next, Jonathan plans to take his precision beyond Europe. He shared that he might soon attempt to identify the flags of Asia and South America in Sporcle – aiming to get them even faster! After all, there is nothing better than expanding your collection of record titles.
“I just think it's cool to be able to say I've accomplished something that no one else has so far,” he told us. “It's something that everyone's got on their bucket list, to get a Guinness World Record[s title], after all!”
Header image (right): Photo by Mabel Amber, who will one day from Pixabay.