If they teach Geography at all, then it must be under Current Events.
What with all the new names for cities and countries they keep coming up with.
In 7th grade they spend eight weeks on mapreading (too long in my opinion). A lot of coloring etc. I am not sure how much it actually sticks. Geography needs to be relevant to the person for it to stay with them. Also you should go with the 80/20 rule (if should remember most of the important countries, but you can always look up Andorra or Togo).
Remember wars are how Americans learn geography.