If I were to ask you if you could name the Seven Wonders of The Modern World, would you be able to?
I have to be honest, despite working in the travel industry, I’d name most, but not all of them!
But when I read that a significant percentage of Brits mistakenly name key tourist attractions – including Buckingham Palace and the Hollywood Sign – among the seven modern wonders of the world, I had to stifle a giggle.
The Icelolly.com survey asked 1,000 Brits to name the ancient, modern and natural wonders of the world, with shockingly poor results.
In reality, only 6% of people were able to identify all seven modern wonders, with large proportions of Brits missing Christ the Redeemer in Rio, Brazil (60%) and Petra in Jordan (67%) off the list.
However, more than half (54%) mistakenly thought Stonehenge was one of the elite landmarks.
And it also seems that our love of skyscrapers has clouded our judgement, as 32% of Brits thought the Empire State Building was on the list, while 40% thought the USA’s Statue of Liberty was included.
Astonishingly, 8% of the nation named Disney World Florida as a modern wonder of the world. Oh dear.
Another 5% identified the elusive Area 51 as a modern wonder and 12% thought the list included the Hollywood sign.
What’s even more surprising (or worrying – whichever way you look at it) is that 5% of people think the fictional land of Narnia is an ancient wonder of the world, while 20% of Brits think the mythical land of Atlantis makes the list.
In fact, just 4% of Brits were able to identify all seven natural wonders of the world, with less than a quarter recognising the Harbor of Rio (11%), Aurora (17%) and Parícutin volcano (15%) as natural wonders.
A further 16% of Scotland also thought the Loch Ness was one of the seven locations on the list. Poor Nessie missed out there.
Modern Wonder of the World
|
Modern Wonder of the World
|
Percentage of participants who correctly identified as a wonder |
|
Christ Redeemer: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
40% |
| Great Wall of China: China |
77% |
|
Machu Picchu: Peru |
52% |
| Petra: Jordan |
33% |
|
Pyramid at Chichén Itzá: Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico |
51% |
| Roman Colosseum: Rome, Italy |
57% |
|
Taj Mahal: Agra, India |
78% |
Ancient Wonder of the World
|
Ancient Wonder of the World |
Percentage of participants who correctly identified as a wonder |
|
Great Pyramid at Giza, Egypt |
79% |
|
Hanging Gardens of Babylon |
80% |
| Statue of Zeus at Olympia, Greece |
49% |
|
Temple of Artemis at Ephesus |
58% |
|
Mausoleum at Halicarnassus |
42% |
| Colossus of Rhodes |
69% |
| Lighthouse at Alexandria, Egypt |
45% |
Natural Wonder of the World
|
Natural Wonder of the World |
Percentage of participants who correctly identified as a wonder |
|
Grand Canyon |
80% |
|
Great Barrier Reef |
83% |
|
Harbor of Rio de Janeiro |
11% |
|
Mount Everest |
58% |
|
Aurora |
17% |
| Parícutin volcano |
15% |
|
Victoria Falls |
62% |
Icelolly.com has launched an online ‘Where’s Lolly’ game where you can test your own world knowledge.
1 comment
I must admit I’d do better with the ancient wonders than the modern wonders. I do think Nessie should be in there though!!