A third of Brits believe Lapland is fictional

It's not just Father Christmas that some Britons don't believe is real - they also think an area of northern Sweden, Norway, Finland and Russia isn't real either.

Nearly a third of Brits believe Lapland is a fictional place, according to a study. Researchers found many are clueless about the region, with one in 10 having checked the internet to find out whether it is real or not.

Just 22 per cent of the 2,000 people polled understand Lapland spans the border of Norway, Finland, Sweden and part of Russia.

When asked to locate it on the map many of the respondents struggled to pin point Lapland, despite it straddling a vast area of northern Europe.