Every four years, the Olympic games bring together the most competitive athletes from around the world. Icelanders, per capita, consume more of the soft drink than any other country in the world. One of the most iconic foods in this European nation is the tomato. When you turn your head, you can hear that motion. Just over 96 percent of the total amount of the world's water is held in its oceans, according to Water in Crisis: A Guide to the World's Fresh Water Resources via the United States Geological Survey (USGS). They were able to tame, ride and milk horses some 5,500 years ago. In 2002, East Timor became the first new country of the 21st century. This former Soviet republic was the largest country in Europe in the 15th century. Get the latest BBC World News: international news, features and analysis from Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, South Asia, and the United States and Canada. Straddling the border of France and Spain is the miniscule nation of Andorra, which in its 1,000-year history has never engaged in battle. Its unclear why Dylan composed the song, as hed never visited the country, and the timing of its release was roundly criticized. That number is expected to reach 22 percent by 2050. 2023 Galvanized Media. Far south from the Peruvian capital of Lima are the mysterious Nazca Lines. And although the nations population is low, it has produced several of the greatest cricket players of all time, including Viv Richards, Richie Richardson, Andy Roberts and Curtly Ambrose. You can hear yourself breathing and it sounds somewhat loud.". That meeting saw police and judicial representatives from 24 countries get together to improve contacts between police forces in different countries to increase the effectiveness of international investigations. 14. In 2012, Russian scientists were able to regenerate a plant from a seed found in Siberian permafrost that was more than 30,000 years old. The world region with the highest unemployment rate in 2021 was the Arab World. 03 Uganda is home to the endangered mountain gorilla, particularly in the Ruwenzori Mountains. Relationships are a bit different in this African island country than most other places in the world. Tourists to this Himalayan hideaway have to pay a minimum of $200 per day (in the low season) to visit the country. Erno Rubik never intended his creation to be a toy but rather a vehicle for helping to understand three-dimensional geometry. India's railway network is rather massive Travel and Still life photography / Getty Images Trains, planes and automobiles. The deep, bellowing songs that males use to attract mates are considered to be the loudest of all marine life and can be "heard up to 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) away," according to Scientific American. Earthquakes can range from minor tremors that are barely noticeable to building-toppling ground-shakers that cause massive destruction. We'll have to wait and see. The first part was published in 1605 and the second 10 years later. When Arthur Guinness signed the lease for the brewerys St. James Gate property in 1759, it was for 9,000 years at 45 per month. After years circulating the globe and falling into the hands of a few notable ownersincluding the king of Egyptone of the coins was auctioned off at Sotheby's in 2002 for a stunning $7,590,020. This is the only country in Central America that doesnt have a coastline on the Caribbean Sea. Head to one of the best Turkish restaurants in the U.S. Either way, the main fermentation bacteria in the creamy dairy product is named after Bulgaria, lactobacillus bulgaricus, and was first discovered in the region. The best explanation so far is that Yoruba people eat a type of yam that contains an ovarian stimulate that might release more eggs. Home to more than one billion oysters, the area is a no-fishing zone, which will hopefully give the population a chance to recover. Tabu is the money of choice by the Tolai society, and while its not easy to make, its used like regular currency. READ THIS NEXT: 70 Wonderfully Weird Facts That Will Make You Question Everything. All Muslims are encouraged to visit it at least once, and because of its holy status, only Muslims are allowed to enter. There are 63 million pairs of chopsticks or 126 million single sticks manufactured in China every year. Amazingly, the boy's unimpressed teacher gave him a B-. Its also used generally by women as a sexual enhancer. 6. There are many ideas, including that because of their reverence for St. George, outsiders bestowed that name on the area. These range from mass-produced disposable chopsticks to high-quality sticks that can take up to (yes) a month to painstakingly make. Israel invented the modern cherry tomato, along with a variety that doesnt drip, one thats resistant to viruses and another that doesnt spoil even after a week on the counter. The 49th parallel marks the border between Canada and the United States. But unless you live in China, the pandas that you're seeing are just visiting. If you ate one, it could potentially cause a type of anaphylactic shock, burning your airways and closing them up. They discovered that the dry spells are a "result of human-caused climate change and associated shifts in the jet stream," per EurekaAlert! Read this fascinating trivia and you'll never look at your canine companion the same way again. That's it for our list of world facts, but be sure to check back in with us soon for even more trivia! Eat blini while you look upon dancing bears and organized fistfights at the Maslenitsa celebration in Russia. The biggest source of revenue in this Caribbean island nation is not tobacco, sugar, rum or tourism its doctors. 1. Previously, CFOs had been common in refrigerators, aerosol cans, and dry-cleaning chemicals. Many cities around the world are trying to figure out how to accommodate cyclists and encourage more residents to use the environmentally friendly mode of transportation. In order to avoid excessive wear and tear to its historic monuments, this ancient European country banned high heels at archaeological sites. How many provinces are there in Canada? Oil explorations in the 1950s uncovered a fossil aquifer in this African nation that is 40,000 years old and existed before the end of the last ice age. Oct 27, 2019 - This is a guest post contributed by List25 Depending on which government list you're reading from and which countries they recognize, it's estimated that there are about 196 official countries in the world. There are estimated to be 72 million deaf people around the world. It was created by brothers Saints Cyril and Methodius in the 9th century. Following its invasion of Ukraine, the Coca-Cola Company announced that it would be suspending business in Russia. In 1861, Lincoln had just been sworn in as the 16th U.S. president and was receiving congratulatory letters from around the world. Forager bees regurgitate it. Finding previously undiscovered organisms in the depths of the ocean may sound like something straight out of a sci-fi horror film, but a 2020 study of a deep-sea volcano near New Zealand, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, uncovered "over 90 putative bacterial and archaeal genomic families and nearly 300 previously unknown genera.". In fact, some of those itty-bitty biological cells are actually good for us and aid the world in various and complex ways. You can also see the current populations of different countries. Due to its placement in the central Pacific Ocean and the fact that its islands cover an area of 1.3 million square miles, Kiribati has the special distinction of being the only country in the world thats located in all four hemispheres. It was part stunt and part cry for help, and it at least succeeded in attracting media attention. So are we looking at the early signs of future land-dwellers? Known as Swaziland until 2018, this southern African nation is one of the worlds last absolute monarchies. } ); 43 Fascinating Wedding Traditions From Around the World Wedding Ideas & Advice Wedding Ceremony Ideas 43 Fascinating Wedding Traditions From Around the World These customs prove there. Due to its location 8 to 12 degrees north of the equator, this Central American country is always about the same distance from the sun. Manas is a folk hero in this former Soviet republic. 2. July 23, 2021 15:37. As of the time of this writing, the overall human population is estimated to be more than 8 billion people. } else { Watch the whole process of how bees make honey in this video! The program, called Acoustic Kitty, involved surgically implanting batteries, microphones and antennae inside cats. In 2015, airborne laser scanners found vast ancient cities buried under the jungle near Angkor Wat in this Southeast Asia nation. This South American country has only volunteer firefighters who are entirely unpaid. It is undoubtedly one of Europe's most underrated attractions. Sheep are a prized animal in the Muslim nation and are therefore very well taken care of. The sky is so clear at night in this Central American nation that stargazers can see 86 of the 88 constellations. With around 200 countries and more than 7.8 billion people (plus plants, animals, and other organisms), the world is full of interesting, fun, and fascinating facts. Mongolia has the world's sparsest population Mongolia's horse population outnumbers its human population Religious edicts called fatwas encourage contraceptives, and both men and women are required by law to take a class on modern contraception before their marriage license will be issued. Now, this island nation accounts for 40 percent of the worlds nutmeg production. He has staunchly retained the feel of the USSR. * Population stats were sourced from Worldometer. Santa Cruz del Islote in the Archipelago of San Bernardo off the coast of Colombia may only be about the size of two soccer fields (two acres), but the artificial island has four main streets and 10 neighborhoods. The Spanish Steps (seen below) are found in which city? So do the folks from Lake Chargoggagoggman-chauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg in Massachusetts and Tweebuffelsmeteen-skootmorsdoodgeskietfontein, South Africa. This country in Southern Africa has the continents highest concentration of elephants thanks to strict regulations around hunting. The secret police are referred to as the KGB and communal farming is still practiced. xhr.send(payload); Europe has been experiencing serious dry spells and extreme heat since 2015, which has caused major droughts. This Southeast Asian country is the worlds largest island nation, but no one knows exactly how many islands it contains (thousands and thousands, to be imprecise). During his lifetime between 1162 and 1227, Genghis Khan fathered countless children. In the 1980s, Norway started selling salmon, one of its major exports, to Japan because that island nation was facing a seafood shortage. Armenia is the only country in the world that requires students to take chess lessons in school, and its paid off the country often wins international competitions and has a high number of grandmasters per capita. At the same time, there are 10 quadrillion (10,000,000,000,000,000) individual ants crawling around at any given time. The longest river in the world is the River Nile, clocking 6,853km in length. The company finalized its exit from the world's largest country just five months after the war began. This makes it one of the most innovative countries on the planet. And a large chunk of that number is alive right now. If the Earth's time zones were each one hour apart, then we would have 24 time zones, which sounds pretty straightforward. That's almost seven miles! Category 1: Nature The deepest place on Earth is the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean. In 1893, this island nation in Oceania became the first self-governing country in the world to allow women to vote in parliamentary elections. Unlike in many of its Middle East neighbors, women are allowed to vote and run for office in Bahrain. It sat out both World Wars and its last conflict was in 1814 with neighbor Norway, which had declared its independence. The Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite, is said to have been born on a beach in this Mediterranean Sea island nation. One of the top attractions in Hanoi is the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. In China, the holiday lasts for weeks! if( 'moc.enilnoefiltseb' !== location.hostname.split('').reverse().join('') ) { Its true, and its in this Central American nation. This Central American country is the birthplace of chocolate, with ancient Mayans worshipping the cacao tree. The coins are legal tender on the Polynesian atoll, but around the world, they are being traded as collector's items. The Milestii Mici wine cellar contains nearly 2 million bottles and the tunnel system housing them stretches for 75 miles. Kimchi and rice are the two most important foodstuffs of this East Asian nation, and there is a common saying that if you have kimchi and rice then you have a meal. This reliance on kimchi and rice dates back up to 3,000 years. Monaco wanted foreign money from this pursuit, but it didnt want its own citizens going into debt from gambling addictions. There is a tire dump in this small Middle East nation that is so massive, its not only the biggest in the world, but it can be seen from space. It ceded 30 percent of its land to Britain following the Anglo-Nepalese War from 1814-16, but the Brits were never able to conquer it all due to the countrys treacherous terrain. That would make them far older than the Egyptian pyramids, and Bosnia would be the cradle of European civilization. Guinness is arguably this European nations most recognizable beverage. When looking for unusual and fascinating cultures all around the world, you don't want to pass up an opportunity to visit or even see the Wayuu people. Turkey is known for its delicious desserts like baklava, but it also has a pudding called tavuk gogsu thats made from, among other things, milk, sugar, cinnamon and shredded chicken breasts. READ THIS NEXT: 50 Summer Facts That'll Make You Even More Excited for the Season. In 2011, this Pacific Ocean nation comprised of dozens of islands and atolls created the largest shark sanctuary in the world. Spain has twice occupied this African nation, and its the only country on the continent with Spanish as its official language. China also has an impressively large rural population, with 578 million living outside of major centers. Though there are short people and tall people everywhere, Indonesia is home to some of the shortest people in the world, according to data compiled from various global sources by the Telegraph in 2017. Indonesia attempted to count them all in 2017, but several differing figures still exist. The rising global demand for cashews has been a boon for this small African nation. The world's longest commercial flight took around 30 hours. Take the road less travelled and visit these underrated European cities. Gibnut is so revered in these parts that it was served to Queen Elizabeth II in 1985 during a royal visit. That's because these countries are under long-term U.S. trade embargoes. Today, it has the most foreign-born players in Major League Baseball, at 102. There is a dancing ceremony in this tiny European country that is so old and so popular that in 2010 it was included on UNESCOs Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list. But the group dates all the way back to 1914 when the International Criminal Police Congress was held in Monaco. In 2022, another country made it onto the list. The panda at your local zoo may look like it's at home in its cozy sanctuary. Desire O is a freelance writer who covers lifestyle, food, and nutrition news among other topics. The marbles practice started in the 1960s as a way to avoid spoiled ballots and to make it easier for illiterate citizens to vote. chemically refined about 2,500 years ago in India, 20 percent of the worlds 6.0-magnitude or higher temblors, 18 emperors born in what is now modern-day Serbia, mints its own euro coins and issues its own stamps. "Then, the rate began to increase: by 1995, it was 2.5 percent. After Catherine of Braganza wed King Charles II in 1662, her favorite libation, tea from China, quickly caught on in the royal palace, then the rest of the country. 5 / 10. Because of this, it grows 99.9 percent of all commercially grown artichokes, and has even been nicknamed the "Artichoke Capital of the World.". Often called Africa in miniature, Cameroon touts 1,738 different linguistic groups and more than 200 national languages. This Southeast Asian nation is one of the only countries in the world governed by an absolute monarchy. The American Colonization Society founded this African nation in the early 1800s as a place where free-born black Americans and freed slaves could live. Step aside John, James, Mary, and Janethe most popular name in the world is believed to be Muhammad. READ THIS NEXT: 40 Facts So Funny They're Hard to Believe. So it's no surprise that more people want to visit France than any other country in the world, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization. READ THIS NEXT: 100 Fascinating Facts You'll Want to Share with Everyone You Know. Wayuu, Colombia. Completed in 1989, it measures 518 feet tall and covers an area of 323,000 square feet. 1 spot for 2021. From the top of this Central American countrys highest point, Volcan Baru, you can watch the sun rise over the Pacific Ocean and set over the Atlantic Ocean on the same day. That makes dentistry one of the oldest recorded professions and is definitely a reason to smile. With each generation that passes, more and more people are learning how to read, according to UNESCO. That's why 68 percent of households in the country have a pet, which is more than any other nation in the world. He is so popular in his home country that some 120,000 people worship at the Church of Maradona. Dukhan is a Sudanese tradition that involves a month-long series of smoke baths for brides-to-be that are intended to make their skin smooth and glowing for their wedding day. 4. France is a beautiful country, filled to the brim with delicious wines, scrumptious cheese, and tons of romance. In one Berlin marathon a few years ago, male runners from this single tribe placed first, second, third, fourth and fifth; women runners from the tribe nabbed first, second and fourth place. Mongooses are a familiar sight on this Caribbean island. The laws date to the introduction of gambling in the country in the mid-1800s to save the nation from bankruptcy. Siberia is home to approximately 25% of the world's forests, which covers more land than the continental United States Suriname has the highest percentage of land covered in jungle - 91%. Interesting Facts. Theres a sacred fig tree in this South Asian country that was planted from a cutting some 2,300 years ago and has been lovingly tended to ever since. A 2020 study led by Clemson University scientists determined that the UV pigmentation in flowers has increased over time which has led to the degradation of their pollen. While four babies are born on Earth every second, it's estimated that around two people pass away at the same time. Figs aren't fruits, they are flowers. You win this round Russia. The bitterly cold winter of 1977 made its way to the Bahamas and on January 19, snow fell on Grand Bahama Island. By adding 772,000 square miles of space, the Marshall Islands nearly doubled the amount of protected ocean for the marine mammals. In 1996, a tropical cyclone named Olivia hit off the coast of Barrow Island, Australia with such force that it broke an incredible record. Tokyo is a booming citynot only by Japanese standards but also compared to cities around the world. This South American country unfortunately has a history with German Aryans dating back to the 1880s, when Bernhard Frster, the father of Nazism, relocated to Paraguay. Its water resources are shared by 11 different countries, too. However, only The Gambia and The Bahamas formally include "the" in their names. Traditional Christian marriage is largely reserved for the upper class, and its acceptable for men to maintain several households. They keep the money, and the mothers brother is tasked with providing for her children. The tallest people among us live in the Netherlands, where the average adult height is 6 feet. According to a study developed for National Geographic in 2011, the world's "most typical" person is right-handed, makes less than $12,000 per year, has a mobile phone, and doesn't have a bank account. About a quarter of all overseas nurses come from the Philippines, making it the worlds top supplier of nurses. Only recently did this African nation switch from marbles to paper ballots for elections. There are more uncontacted people in Brazils portion of the Amazon than anywhere else on the planet, with the number of isolated tribes believed to be more than 100. Mount Chimborazo in this South American nation is not the tallest mountain in the world, but it is the highest spot on Earth and thus closest to outer space. Research done led by the University of Cambridge (and published on the National Centers for Environmental Information website) looked at isotopes in the rings of old European Oak trees in Central Europe which formed over thousands of years to try to pin down the cause. A new Pew Research Center analysis finds that 79 countries and territories out of the 198 studied around the world (40%) had laws or policies in 2019 banning blasphemy, which is defined as speech or actions considered to be contemptuous of God or of people or objects considered sacred. Landlocked inside Italy, San Marino is an ancient and tiny country with one very famous honorary citizen: Abraham Lincoln. Snakes are revered in this West African nation, so much so that they are welcomed into peoples homes to eat and theres a building called the Temple of Pythons that houses 50 royal pythons that tourists can visit. Ancient Kazakhs are credited with domesticating wild horses. 90% of the world's fresh water is in Antarctica! Not all bacteria are bad. Camels are extremely important to the people of this African nation. You can also sign up for our newsletter to enjoy hit pieces on health, entertainment, and travel. But if you think the Earth is perfectly round . However, the situation is a little more complicated than that. Bees are big in this former Yugoslavian republic. This nation in the middle of Africa is one of the three least light-polluted areas in the world, along with Chad and Madagascar. The gene that causes this is naturally occurring and totally distinct from the one that gives Europeans blond hair. The crop accounts for 80 percent of the countrys export revenue. Located at Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond, Washington, the lab room measures a background noise of -20.35 dBA, which is 20 decibels below the threshold of human hearing and breaks previous records for spaces that were deemed the planet's quietest places, according to CNN. "As soon as one enters the room, one immediately feels a strange and unique sensation which is hard to describe," Hundraj Gopal, a speech and hearing scientist and principal designer of the anechoic chamber at Microsoft, told CNN. A few of the coins were made, but most were destroyedsave for nine that were presumed stolen by U.S. mint workers. That set the Guinness World Record for the most expensive coin ever sold at auction. This ancient Balkan nation claims to have accidentally created yogurt some 4,000 years ago. The 1933 Double Eagle was a $20 U.S. coin made of gold that never went into circulation. The mystery is enhanced by the fact that they are only visible from high above. One of Maltas islands, Gozo, has a cave that is apparently featured in Homers Odyssey. Gozo serves as the Island of Ogygia in the epic poem and the cave in question is where Calypso the nymph held Odysseus as her prisoner of love for seven years. AfrikaBurn is a cousin festival to the Burning Man festival in the U.S. Countries With The Most Summer Olympic Medals. Now they are simply part of the island. The "weapons-grade" Dragon's Breath chili pepper is so hot it's downright deadly. Located east of the Philippines, Palau is a small island nation and one of the only places in the world that adheres to a strict matrilineal system in which kinship is traced through the mothers family line. Confoundingly, it was replaced by Baywatch.. xhr.open('POST', 'https://www.google-analytics.com/collect', true); And since its demands were ignored in the Treaty of Versailles, it remained at war with Germany until the outbreak of World War II in 1939. 23. After several years at No. These days, Interpol (or the International Criminal Police Organization) may be well-known for tracking down outlaws around the world. Burkinab revolutionary Thomas Sankara is known as the African Che Guevara for his efforts, as president from 1983-87, to rid the country of corruption and environmental degradation while empowering women and boosting education and health-care access. In 1974, a 3.2 billion-year-old hominin (early human) fossil was found by paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson. READ THIS NEXT: 175 Random Facts So Interesting You'll Say, "OMG!". "I've tried it on the tip of my tongue and it just burned and burned," Mike Smith, the hobby grower who invented the Dragon's Breath along with scientists from Nottingham University, told Live Science. This former Soviet republic contains the largest glacier outside of either the north or south poles. This sovereign state located between Jordan and Israel contains a small city called Bethlehem that, in addition to being the birthplace of Jesus Christ, celebrates Christmas three times a year: Jan. 7 (Greek Orthodox), Jan. 18 (Armenians) and Dec. 25 (Catholics). However, during World War I, it was one of the first countries to declare war with Germany despite the fact that it had no military. Cars and bikes are needed to traverse it, and the same road rules apply underground as above ground. According to the BBC, a majority men and boys around the world share this name. Like Demilked on Facebook: Being stuck in quarantine means you suddenly have tons of free time on your hands. You can't expect negotiations with the French to be like negotiations . Often called the Eye of the Sahara, its best viewed from space, where it can easily be seen. This European island nation is known for being tops in a lot of per-capita categories, but none is more surprising than Coca-Cola. Bob Dylan, known for his politically charged songwriting, released an album in 1976 around the time of this African nations independence from Portugal that contained a romantic love song called Mozambique celebrating the country. Men fasten plant vines to their ankles and jump off a rickety wooden platform high above the ground. Folklore and superstition reign supreme in this former Soviet republic. A third of world's languages are spoken in Africa! India gave the world its sweet tooth. But has it always been so icy? With 221,800 islands, Sweden is thought to have more islands than any other country in the world. var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest(); As one of the biggest waterfalls in the world, Victoria Falls is quite impressive. ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb. The rate surpassed 3 percent in 2001 and hit 3.3 percent in 2010. Mother Teresa was ethnically Albanian and remains the only person from this European country to have won the Nobel Prize. The United Nations recognizes 193 countries plus two observer states, Palestine and the Vatican (Holy See). ", National Centers for Environmental Information, 70 Wonderfully Weird Facts That Will Make You Question Everything, United Nations World Tourism Organization, 100 Fascinating Facts You'll Want to Share with Everyone You Know, 125 Facts That Will Make You Feel Instantly Smarter, 12 percent of people on Earth are 60 years old, 40 Facts So Funny They're Hard to Believe, 50 Summer Facts That'll Make You Even More Excited for the Season, https://www.mountwashington.org/about-us/history/world-record-wind.aspx, https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo-search/study/32292, https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/bams/102/2/BAMS-D-20-0101.1.xml, https://www.pnas.org/content/118/13/e2021442118, https://www.pnas.org/content/117/51/32627, https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(20)31267-7, https://www.nature.com/articles/srep12150, https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/which-country-has-most-earthquakes, https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/our-natural-resources/forests-and-forestry/state-canadas-forests-report/how-much-forest-does-canada-have/17601, https://www.audubon.org/news/what-most-abundant-wild-bird-world, https://www.interpol.int/en/Who-we-are/What-is-INTERPOL. There is a street in the city of Soweto called Vilakazi Street that was once home to two very famous South Africans: Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu. The smallest recognized independent country in the world uses the euro as its currency even though its not part of the Eurozone or European Union. And if rainfall is rare, wouldn't snowfall be even rarer? The U.S. Defense Departments Operation Christmas Drop started in 1952 on one of the many islands that make up Micronesia in the North Pacific Ocean. This continent/country is home to Uluru, or Ayers Rock, a massive red sandstone formation in the Northern Territory that is sacred ground for aboriginals. It was written by many people starting in the 1800s and finishing with the first publication in the 1920s. No matter where you go, it's comforting to know you can always enjoy a Coca-Cola. Much of chocolate as we know it today was created in Switzerland, including milk chocolate, chocolate with hazelnuts and melting chocolate.