By a 52-48 percent margin, the popular vote in the United Kingdom last night moved to from the European Union.
It's been a momentous event, building up for months with anticipation and anxiety domestically and abroad, marked by , and of an anti-"Brexit" member of Parliament, Jo Cox.
But if you judge a country's interests only by prevalent Google searches, it was after the polls closed when British voters started to think seriously about the implications of their choice.
"What is the EU?" is the second top UK question on the EU since the were officially announced
— GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends)
According to , the searches for "what is the eu" and "what is brexit" started climbing across Britain late into the night. The polls closed at 10 p.m. local time.
Though of course searches for these questions were dwarfed by the general interest in "Brexit results," the question "what is the EU" spiked in popularity across all parts of the U.K., in this order: Northern Ireland, Wales, England, Scotland.
Google Trends, on Twitter, has highlighted a few local spikes, too, with "what is Brexit" a top search related to the referendum in both Northern Ireland and Scotland. Both of them of remaining in the EU.
"What will happen if we leave the EU?" Top questions on the in Northern Ireland since first results announced
— GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends)
"What happens if we leave the EU?" Top questions on in Scotland since polls closed
— GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends)
Londoners specifically did a lot of googling for "move to Gibraltar." ( is a British territory in southern Europe.)
+680% spike in searches for "Move to Gibraltar" in London since polls closed
— GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends)
Like many in the U.K., people around the world are starting to figure out . Driven in large part by concerns about immigration, Britain's unexpected decision to exit the EU won't be settled for a few years and leaves a lot of uncertainty about the future of trade and cooperation.
Read more of NPR's coverage of Brexit .
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