There are many Americans that don't know where Oklahoma is in a US map, also many don't know where Puerto Rico is or even ever heard of the Dominican Republic or Hispaniola. Many americans also think that Alaska is another country or think that Alaska is just a big block of ice without any summers, good thing they picture Alaskans as Eskimos living inside igloos freezing their buttocks off, we don't need them up here, lol.
But I don't blame them, their school does not need to teach them world geography or world history, all they need to know is that their first president was George Washington, that the statue of liberty and the twin towers represented NY, That all the hollywood stars live in California, that all the cowboys are from Texas and that Mickey Mouse lives in Orlando Florida,
It is the same thing with many Dominicans, even the ones that have some education it is not like most of their teachers sat with them to teach them about all the states in the US.
Most poor Dominicans only hear about NY, Florida, California, Washington D.C and Texas when referring to the US because it is where most Dominicans travel to.
Many Dominicans in the DR have not heard of Virginia, Maryland, Oregon, Ohio, etc, many won't know these states or that they are part of the US unless one tells them, just like many Americans don't know that Oviedo or Pedernales are in the DR or that the DR has the oldest city of the Americas.