Ulster children are divided over which is their capital city - Belfast or Dublin, a survey out today has said.

According to a poll of 667 children born after the second IRA ceasefire in 1997, 85% of Protestant youngsters said Belfast was the capital of their country compared to 39% of Catholics.

A total of 47% of Catholics believed Dublin was their capital compared to 4% of Protestants.

The survey also showed Protestants were more likely to define themselves as British and Catholics more likely to see themselves as Irish. However, up to half of Catholic and Protestant children were happy to be labelled as Northern Irish.

Catholic children were four times more likely to name Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams as a politician they knew than Protestants, who were three times as likely than Catholics to name Stormont First Minister and DUP leader Ian Paisley.

The survey revealed Catholic boys were four times more likely to say they would befriend a child pictured in a Glasgow Celtic shirt than Protestants. Protestant boys were three time more likely than Catholics when the same test was applied to a child wearing a Glasgow Rangers shirt.

Protestant children (39%) were twice as likely to say they played hockey 'a lot' compared to Catholic children (18%). Catholic kids were more likely to play the gaelic sports of hurling and camogie 'a lot' than Protestants (35% compared to 6%).

The survey revealed the socio-economic background of children did not affect their attitudes, with children from more deprived areas as likely as those from more affluent backgrounds to express the same views.

But boys were more likely to want to play with kids from their own community and have negative attitudes to those from the other community than girls.

Queen's University Belfast academic Professor Paul Connolly, who designed and carried out the survey for BBC Northern Ireland's State of Minds programme, said the survey showed segregation ran deep in the province with many Catholic and Protestant children living parallel and separate lives.

"Our research raises fundamental questions for us as a society in terms of how we should deal with the segregation that exists," he said.

"My own view is that we shouldn't be forcing children to be the same. Children should be encouraged to have a strong sense of their own culture and identity.

"The challenge, however, is how this can be done in a positive and inclusive way.

"One way of doing this is to encourage children's sense of being Protestant or Catholic alongside also helping them to recognise that they are all part of a wider and shared identity as Northern Irish.

"Perhaps the most positive finding from our research is that many children are already beginning to think in this way."

Each child who took part in the study completed a questionnaire and then undertook psychological tests. The survey was conducted in consultation with Barnardos, Save The Children and the Northern Ireland Children's Commission.