Once considered some of the shortest people in the world, the Dutch are now the tallest. However, the situation is a little more complicated than that. Because of this, it grows 99.9 percent of all commercially grown artichokes, and has even been nicknamed the "Artichoke Capital of the World.". This Asian nation has no independence day because, unlike most countries around the world, it was never fully occupied by Europeans. With each generation that passes, more and more people are learning how to read, according to UNESCO. Then after the war, Paraguay became a Nazi hideaway. There are 63 million pairs of chopsticks or 126 million single sticks manufactured in China every year. During this week a temporary city of art is created in the desert, and people from around the world gather to celebrate art installations. Both won Nobel peace prizes. Those terms are still adhered to today. Only recently did this African nation switch from marbles to paper ballots for elections. Part 1: https://youtu.be/ZPZnTAAGKvsFor my next. With around 37 million people living in the Tokyo metro area, it's the world's largest city when it comes to population size. if( navigator.sendBeacon ) { Dating back to 859, the University of Al-Karaouine in the ancient city of Fes el-Bali is the oldest known university in the world. You've basically got superpowers from head to toe. 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. If youve ever dreamed of walking up to an ATM and withdrawing a gold bar, then head to Dubai in this Middle East nation, where you can find just such a machine. Fedchenko Glacier stretches some 47 miles and is located among thousands more glaciers in the Pamir Mountains. It is the third-largest lake in Africa, but contains more species of fish over 1,000 than any lake in the world. The British royal family may be the most famous royal family on the planet, but there are still plenty of other nobles out there. 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. That's almost seven miles! Other vegetables high in water are lettuce, celery, bok choy, radish, zucchini, green bell peppers, and asparagus. According to wildlife presenter Chris Packham, who appeared on the BBC in 2014 to discuss this, when combined, all of those ants would weigh about the same as all of us humans. While I'm not about to do an interesting fact about all 196, here are a list of 25 fascinating facts about vario Tabu is the money of choice by the Tolai society, and while its not easy to make, its used like regular currency. Sarawak Chamber on the island of Borneo is the largest known cave chamber on Earth. 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. The game of chess is huge in this former Soviet republic located between Europe and Asia. The fossils age? 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. The former member of Yugoslavia in southeastern Europe is home to whats considered one of, if not the, worlds oldest olive tree: Stara Maslina. Although the vast majority of Bolivians are Catholic, they still hold many indigenous beliefs, such as sacrificing llamas to the goddess of the Earth, Pachamama. Watch the whole process of how bees make honey in this video! 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. Forager bees regurgitate it. Belgium colonized this African country from 1908 to 1960, and one of the leftovers from this period is an obsession with mayonnaise. From Japan's penis festivities to the baby-jumping revelry in Spain, experience some weird holidays and bizarre festivals from . The first early human fossil ever discovered in Africa was discovered in the caves of Kabwe in 1921. Confoundingly, it was replaced by Baywatch.. Men fasten plant vines to their ankles and jump off a rickety wooden platform high above the ground. The world region with the highest unemployment rate in 2021 was the Arab World. Take the road less travelled and visit these underrated European cities. READ THIS NEXT: 70 Wonderfully Weird Facts That Will Make You Question Everything. About a quarter of all overseas nurses come from the Philippines, making it the worlds top supplier of nurses. if( 'moc.enilnoefiltseb' !== location.hostname.split('').reverse().join('') ) { 40% of world's countries and territories had blasphemy laws in 2019 Americans also happen to love furry friends, which is why more than half of all U.S. homes have either a dog or cat (or both). 25 Fascinating Country Facts from Around the World - Today I Found Out The man who invented the steam espresso machine and the Illycaffe brand, Francesco Illy, was born in this European nation in 1892. That's bad news for everyone, since the fragile gas layer protects our planet and shields us from the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays. Scientists believe this trend is due to the fact that older women tend to have more twins, and women are choosing to start families later. They discovered that the dry spells are a "result of human-caused climate change and associated shifts in the jet stream," per EurekaAlert! So are we looking at the early signs of future land-dwellers? This country in Southern Africa has the continents highest concentration of elephants thanks to strict regulations around hunting. 14. "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. Besides big players like the United States, Indonesia, Pakistan, China, Mexico and Brazil, most of these countries have fewer than 50 million residents and might be difficult for people to find on a map. Crocodiles are found on the American, Asian and Australian continents. Today, however, Cholula is mostly covered by dirt and plants. Since 1949, the Finnish government has given every expectant mother a cardboard box that their baby can sleep in, filled with essential items like clothes, sheets and toys. Completed in 1989, it measures 518 feet tall and covers an area of 323,000 square feet. The Yoruba people in the southwest part of this African nation are known for giving birth to more twins than anywhere else in the world, at a rate of 50 per 1,000 births. Due to overfishing and disease, the oyster population in Maryland's Chesapeake Bay was seriously suffering. 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. Ancient Kazakhs are credited with domesticating wild horses. However, one study found evidence of teeth being drilled in skulls that dates from 7,500 to 9,000 years ago. Traditional Christian marriage is largely reserved for the upper class, and its acceptable for men to maintain several households. Here you can view the embalmed body of the countrys most beloved leader, known as Uncle Ho, who was encased in glass (against his will). This former Soviet republic was the largest country in Europe in the 15th century. After the long process of measuring the mountain with GPS devices, however, experts have now stated that Mount Everest stands at a whopping 29,031.69 feet, due to plate tectonics. The rising global demand for cashews has been a boon for this small African nation. It was written by many people starting in the 1800s and finishing with the first publication in the 1920s. 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.