Google reveals what New Zealanders really want to know about the UK

According to Google, Kiwis are still pondering the origin of our nickname for the Brits. Photo / Getty Images

New research has revealed the questions people from around the world ask the most on Google about Britain, and includes both what the Brits most often ask about New Zealand and what we want to know about them.

The data, from Google, was compiled by UK tour company The Original Tour, who used the language for each country to Google "why is Britain" or "why are Brits" and recorded what the top autocomplete result was.

While it seems both the personalities and appearance of Brits come under great scrutiny from nations around the world - the Germans ask "why Brits are ugly", the Irish ask why they are "always negative" and the Portuguese are keen to know why Brits are "so pale" - the most asked question from New Zealanders is "Why are the British called poms?"

According to The Original Tour, the label was coined by Australians around 1912 when "the rhyming phrase 'Jimmy Grant', used to describe a British immigrant, changed to 'pomegranate' or 'Pommy Grant'."

It goes on to suggest pomegranate also refers to British visitors getting red faced in the Aussie heat. Otherwise, the phrase is said to refer to an acronym for "Prisoner of her Majesty".

In return, the Brits' most common query about our nation is "why does New Zealand have no snakes?"

The data also includes questions about our nearby island nations asking why Fiji has such good water and why Tonga is called The Friendly Island.

And across the ditch, the most perplexing thing about Australia seems to be why they're part of the singing competition Eurovision.

Britain's most asked questions about New Zealand and its surrounding nations. Image / NZ Herald

When it comes to the rest of the world's inquiries about Britain, politics is high on the agenda for some, with the top question by Russians being "why did Britain leave the EU?", and Luxembourg demanding to know why the UK does not have a constitution.

For Americans, they are keen to know why Brits are so good at waiting while Mexicans are eager to find out why they love their Queen so much.

Meanwhile, the research also shows the questions Brits themselves have asked the most about other countries.

In Europe, Brits want to know why Iceland "smells of eggs", why Germany is so good at football and why Swedish people are so happy.

Food is important for Thais, who are keen to find out why British food is "so bad" while the French inquire "why do Brits drink so much?"

Among Asian countries, Brits want to know why North Korea is "so crazy" and, turning to African countries, demand to know why Egyptians "wear eyeliner".

Other probing questions include "why do Americans love guns?" and "why are Peruvians so small?"