Britain may at one stage have treated the world as its oyster, but today's citizens have a distinctly warped view of their own history and geography.
|
One in seven Britons replying to a survey to launch the 2002 version of the
Encyclopaedia Britannica
placed the world's highest mountain - Mount Everest - in Britain rather than Nepal.
One in 20 britons also believed that Hadrian's Wall - built by the occupying Romans in 122 AD to keep out the warlike Picts in what is now Scotland - was actually erected somewhat further south to keep the French out.
"Britain is a nation whose heritage and landmarks are renowned throughout the world," Encyclopaedia Britannica's marketing manager Ms Christine Hodgson said. "Our lack of knowledge of such national treasures really puts us to shame."
Stonehenge the neolithic stone circle in Wiltshire west of London and one of the country's better known landmarks - did not escape the ignorance unscathed.
One person in 20 said it was built during the time of the dinosaurs, while one in 10 said Queen Victoria - who died just over 100 years ago - was responsible.