Europe proves a mystery for Britons

The British are the dunces of Europe, according to a test of general knowledge about the continent. Only the Portuguese know less about Europe.

About 3,800 adults in 19 European countries took part in the multiple-choice quiz. In the UK, the average score for the 20 questions was 11.5, heroically outshining Portugal on 9.6.

Poland – one of the countries not yet in the European Union but seeking entry – polled the highest score with 15.4.

In general, countries lining up to joint the EU – Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia – did better than the rest.

Britons did best at questions about Britain. For instance, 97.9 per cent correctly answered that it was a Brit – Sir Isaac Newton – who formulated the theory of gravity. Every British woman over the age of 36 answered the question correctly.

British adults also knew a thing or two about romance with 91.5 per cent knowing that the goddess of love was Aphrodite.

However, our performance plunged when we were asked to name the president of the European Commission (Romano Prodi), the author of "Hansel and Gretel" (Hans Christian Andersen) and the home country of the Nokia mobile phone company (Finland). Fewer than one in four respondents answered correctly.

In Europe as a whole, only just over half could name the president of the EC – 48 per cent thought it was still either Jacques Delors or Jacques Santer, his predecessors. On a better note, 80 per cent of Britons knew the singer Bjork was from Iceland.

Katherine Walker, the editor-in-chief of Reader's Digest, which commissioned the quiz, said: "While the results illustrate that the UK is not quite the bottom of the class in European affairs, we are not far off it. This all but confirms what people have often said – Britons are less than enthusiastic Europeans."

European Dunces: Average point score

1 Poland 15.4

2 Denmark 14.6

3 Italy 14.5

4 Austria 14.2

5= Germany/Switzerland 13.8

7 Czech Republic 13.7

8 Sweden 13.2

9 Finland 13.1

10= Hungary/Norway 13.0

12 Belgium 12.9

13 France 12.7

14 Netherlands 12.4

15 Spain 12.2

16 Russia 12.0

17 Slovak Republic 11.7

18 United Kingdom 11.5

19 Portugal 9.6