GERMANS are the most intelligent people in Europe, well ahead of the British and the French, according to a study.
Northern Ireland's University of Ulster found Germans have an average intelligence quotient of 107, a scintilla of brainpower above the Dutch who also scored 107, The Times reported today.
Poles were on 106, Swedes on 104 and Italians on 102.
The British rated eighth with an average IQ of 100.
The Spanish scored 98, Ireland 97, Russia 96 and the French 94.
Serbians languished at the bottom of the table on 89.
The head of the study, Professor Richard Lynn, caused controversy last year by claiming that men were more intelligent than women by about five IQ points on average.
He said of his latest findings that populations in the colder, more challenging environments of Northern Europe had developed larger brains than those in warmer climates further south.
The average brain size in Northern and Central Europe is 1,320cc and in south-east Europe it is 1,312cc, according to his studies.
He described it as "a hitherto unrecognised law of history" that "the side with the higher IQ normally wins, unless they are hugely outnumbered, as Germany was after 1942", The Times reported.
There were also differences in IQ levels within countries – with higher scores found on average in big cities.
He said intelligence across Britain could be attributed to bright people moving to London over hundreds of years.
Adults in England and Wales have an IQ of 100, higher than Scotland with 97. |