The Case of the Missing Country

The timing of this piece is funny: but -- alas -- it is no April fool. From The Guardian:

A new Brazilian geography textbook for schoolchildren neglects to include Ecuador on its map of South America -- but makes up for this with the inclusion of two Paraguays.

Half a million copies of the error-strewn book, which swaps the position of Paraguay with Uruguay, and includes a second Paraguay with a coastline at the southern end of Brazil, were distributed to sixth-grade students, according to Brazil’s television network Globo, which interviewed geography teacher Alexandre Zanin about the mistakes. “This ends up creating confusion for the pupil, who is in the process of learning,” he said. “It is missing a country. It is difficult,” added student João Gabriel Anchieta.

The Guardian piece is here.