MORE than three-quarters of British children have been abroad – but one in 10 cannot find the UK on a map, a survey has found.

The study of 1000 children aged between six and 10 also revealed 41% of them did not know the UK was in Europe. It found 78% of them had been abroad, 48% to Spain by the age of 10 and 42% to France.

However, 45% could not find Spain on a map and 36% were unable to identify the location of France.

The US was the third most popular holiday destination, with 19% of those surveyed having crossed the Atlantic – but 42% did not know where it was, and 5% of those surveyed by Heathrow believed it shared a border with the UK.

The children performed better when asked to find countries outside of Europe, with 78% identifying Australia, and 73% able to locate Russia.

Perhaps helping to explain their lack of knowledge when it comes to geography, 24% of the children said they did not know what an atlas was.

Heathrow has installed giant globes in its terminals in time for the Easter holidays to help children locate their destination – and maybe place the UK.