Europe's physical Iron Curtain may have been drawn back at the end of the Cold War, but a clear division still exists between East and West when it comes to social attitudes.

There are stark divides across the continent when it comes to topics such as support for same-sex marriage, the legality of abortion and belief in God, according to extensive polling by the Pew Research Centre.

Countries in Eastern Europe tend to be far more socially conservative in this regard, with as few as three per cent of respondents in Georgia and Armenia in favour of legalising same-sex marriage.

Western Europe tends to be more progressive across the questions asked, with 88 per cent of people in Sweden supportive of legalising same-sex marriage, by way of comparison.

The polling, which was carried out between 2015 and 2017, covering 56,000 adults in 34 European countries, also highlights the task faced by the European Union in its attempts to welcome Eastern European nations into the bloc.