Hogwarts is a real landmark, Dorset is a US state and the English Channel is an ocean… just three of the travel facts British kids got wrong in a geography quiz – and to make things worse, they were beaten hands down by their American counterparts.
The survey, by travel deal site Travelzoo, showed that despite just 39 per cent of Americans owning a passport compared to 71 per cent of Brits, that American kids were more clued up when it came to what is where in the world.
Some of the Travelzoo survey findings show:
* More than 25 per cent of UK children couldn’t name the country of the world which resembled a boot – with just 15 per cent of children from the US failing to name Italy as the boot-shaped land mass.
* Only 63 per cent of UK children could name Washington DC as the capital city of the USA, whereas 93 per cent of US children could name London as the capital city of the UK.
* More than 10 per cent of UK children think Dorset and Yorkshire are states in the USA with 15 per cent thinking Brazil is a state and 17 per cent thinking Sydney is also in the USA.
* 19 per cent of UK children think The Nile is one of the five oceans of the world, with just 7 per cent of US children agreeing.
* 25 per cent of UK children think the English Channel is an ocean compared to just under 5 per cent of children living in the USA.
* 11 per cent of UK children thought that Hogwarts, the famous but fictional school in Harry Potter, was actually a real landmark compared to 3 per cent of children based in the USA.
The poll was commissioned to mark the launch of a new Map The World app for iPads on Wednesday. The app is a timed digital jigsaw puzzle of the countries of the world designed for families to complete together. The free iPad app can be downloaded from the app store, with Sir Ranulph Fiennes hailing it as “an excellent tool for teaching children about the countries of the world in an engaging way.”
