The world is full of interesting places, people, and diverse cultures. Some facts here are not expected, while some will make you smile, others may make you frown. Being enlightened about a country might be helpful, in case you find yourself in such a country.
Even though you may know some facts about the country you live in, there is a possibility of you not knowing it all. Out of over 200 countries worldwide, here are the top ten countries with little-known interesting facts.
#1. New Zealand
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| Photo credit: Flickr |
New Zealand (NZ) is located in the Oceania continent. Around the world, you can find snakes, even in some countries, at every corner. In NZ, there is no snake, having a land area of 267,710 square kilometers. Someone who grows up in NZ and never travel abroad may never see a live snake. There are several species of lizards in NZ, but there is no native snake, this is unique. [1]
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| Photo credit: Flickr |
Besides, can you pronounce the following word? "Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu",
if you can pronounce the word, you are probably a New Zealander. It is the
world's lengthiest place name. Having 85 characters in a single name. It is a
hill's name in Hawke’s Bay, NZ.
When translated in English, it simply means,
"in the hill place, a man, the Tamatea, a lover with huge knees, he glid,
climbed over and consumed mountains as a whole, called 'land eater’, played his
duct flute with all joy to his special one." Nobody can simply walk on the
elevated area, it is only when you get permitted since it is owned privately.
Local people referred to the hill as Taumata Hill.[2]
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#2. India
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Photo credit: Punit Paranjpe/AFP/Getty Images
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In India, there is a remote village call Shani Shingnapur.
Their houses and buildings have no doors, just doorframes. They are the only
community in the world that houses and buildings have no doors.
The people have
so much confidence in their Lord Shani that it will always watch over them. If
anyone should involve in thievery, they believed the person will get stuck with
a blind-stone. They are also convinced that someone getting a dishonest gain
would experience bad luck for more than 7 years.
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| Image credit: Swati Jani |
They usually go out, leaving their money and jewelry in
their houses. Even when they are far away from home or out of town, they never
think of telling their neighbors to look over their houses. The village police
station has no doors, in honoring the community's beliefs.
The door to the United
Commercial Bank in the village as well as a lockless transparent glass door,
though with a remote electronic lock that is not visible. Their public toilets
are covered with only thin curtains for people to be observed and not to be
disturbed by others. [3]
See also:
The Top 15 Most Spoken Languages In The World
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#3. United States of America
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| Photo credit: Witizia from Pixabay.com |
Throughout the United States, the English language is popularly spoken, but in reality,
the US has no official language. More than 400 languages have been spoken by
people in the United States in history. The main language is English, which is
the commonest language, but not as an official language.
United States Constitution does not provide the basis for not having an official language. No one actually knows the reasons. Even though many steps have been taken to make English an official language, but it always fails. The diverseness of languages in the US may be accountable. [4]
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| Vint Cerf (left) and Bob Kahn (right). Photo credit: alemoline.com |
The
two men who invented the internet, Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn are from US 5. With their inventions we are able to use
the internet, to have access to sites like the one you are reading now,
Funlisthub, Facebook, YouTube, JW.ORG (the most translated website on the internet on earth today), and so on. Over 3 billion people are
connected to the internet today.[5]
The internet has been an integral part of so many people.
Many are making a living through the internet, even the two richest men on
earth wealth's is linked to the internet. Despite their great contribution to
the world, they are not really recognized by the world, neither their names
taught in high schools. [6]
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#4. Spain
Marcha Real, Spain's national anthem means "Royal march". The anthem is played with no words, it has no lyrics. During the rule of Francisco Franco over Spain from 1939 until he died in 1975, the anthem was sung with lyrics.[7]
The lyrics were penned by fascist poet José María Pemán. But immediately after Franco died, the lyrics were removed. Since then, no lyrics have been authorized by the Spanish government for the Royal march. [8]
Assuming you were born in Spain, you will have two surnames.
The first surname is from the father, paternal surname, and the second surname,
from the mother's first surname.
For instance, suppose a child's name is Laura
Rodriguez Fernandez. Laura is her first name, Rodriguez is from the father's
surname which comes first, while Fernandez is the mother's first surname
(mother's paternal surname), it comes second.
Someone can have four or even five names, like Laura Mara
Rodriguez Fernandez, the first two names are given name, Laura Mara, while the paternal and maternal surname is Rodriguez Fernandez. With that, children
usually have different surnames from their parents.
The
first surname, from the father, is the primary surname name. Yet, they do
adjust it; someone may decide to make maternal surname their primary surname.
When a woman marries, she won't lose her maiden name because they don't
change the name when married. This naming convention preserves the mother's
family name and makes every individual be unique among others.[9]
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#5. Belgium
Belgium is the only country that has had no government
over a long period of time. Throughout 541 days, there was no government,
between 2010 - 2011 after the general election was conducted. It seems the
citizens were used to the situation, because during those days, everywhere was
peaceful. [10]
Not only that, but Belgium has also devoid of the government
in 1979 after elections for 107 days, for one hundred and forty-eight days
after the 1988 elections, after 1992 elections for one hundred and two days, and in
2007, after elections for 194 days. [11]
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| Peter Minuit purchasing Manhattan Island (Left). Monument in honor of Walloon settlers, New York (Right). Photo credit: amazingbelgium.be |
Furthermore,
the former capital city of the USA, New York, was formed by Belgium, the first
settlers were Belgians. In 1626, a Walloon, Peter Minuit, purchased Manhattan An island from Manhattan Indians in exchange for glittering beads and trinkets
that were worth $24. There, New York was founded.
Today, the real circumstances around the foundation of New
York to Belgians are almost unknown. US government show appreciation by
erecting a monument in honor of the Walloon settlers, on the site of Battery
Park, in the southern part of Manhattan on May 20, 1924, for the tercentenary
founding of New York. Also, 50 cents silver coins were circulated at that time
describing Walloons sailing. [12]
See also:
#6. Venezuela
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| Photo credit: Carlos Garcia Rawlins |
After food, diapers are very important for babies. It
makes both the mother and the baby at ease. In Venezuela, mothers have to carry
birth certificates or sonograms to buy diapers as proof of having a baby. If
there is evidence of a stock of diapers at a supermarket or pharmacy, mothers
have to stay in a long queue for several hours to buy diapers.
This is because
diapers are very rare, almost impossible to get. Even when mothers resort to using cloth
diapers, washing them poses another problem. Laundry detergent is hard to get
like disposable diapers. [13]
The financial crisis and government policymaking of the country have made the production of
diapers impossible. Venezuelans face a lot of economic hardship. The economic
crisis in Venezuela is blamed on the socialist rule for corruption and
mismanagement. Many citizens are fleeing from the country. [14]
Nevertheless, in Venezuela, gasoline is very cheap that it
cost almost nothing. The country enjoys the most inexpensive gasoline in the world. They have the world's biggest oil
reserves.
A barrel of gasoline in Venezuela costs equal to a few US dollars.
Gasoline is very cheap that gas station attendants are not even aware of the
price. Some drivers pay gas stations attendant with a single cigarette, some
drivers get signaled not to worry even if they do not have anything to pay. [15]
#7. China
Many social websites are censored in china since 2009. Social media Websites such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest, and Quora. There are bands on Search engines like Google (voice and text), yahoo, and Wikipedia.
WhatsApp, Telegram, and KaKao Talk (Korean) are among the banned messaging apps. Gmail, YouTube, Microsoft OneDrive, Google play are censored. Blogging platforms such as blogger and medium are not left out.
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| Image credit: Engin Akyurt from Pexels |
There are still lots more. The numbers of censored websites continue to increase. As apps or websites become popular, they will be banned. Chinese government censored websites and apps for different reasons including the fact that they feel their citizens are not secured when others have access to their vital information. Their citizens were able to bypass censorship with the use of a VPN. [16]
Moreover, China is the world's largest producer of tomatoes. China produces 59,626,900 tons of tomatoes just in a year, while the second in place, Indian produces 20,708,000 tons of tomatoes in a year followed by the US. They consume much of the tomatoes produced, they also export to Russia and Japan, either as fresh fruit or dried. Chinese tomatoes are said to be unique and tasty. [17]
#8. Afghanistan
For more than a decade Afghanistan has been on news more than any other country. They are widely known for terrorism, war, Taliban. One-quarter of death related to terrorism worldwide in 2017, occurred in Afghanistan. [18]
Nevertheless, Afghans are said to display extreme hospitality, it is part of their culture. They welcome guests to their homes with handshakes between both gender and not with the opposite gender.
They may place their right hand on the chest and nod to show respect. [19] They serve the guests the best possible food and a cup of delicious tea. Food is served and eaten on a low table with legs crossed. [20]
Also, they do not celebrate their new year on January 1st
like other countries. They celebrate theirs within 19th of March and 21st of
March, call Nowruz in Afghanistan. It is commemorated at the precise time of the spring equinox.
They prepare for the
new year's celebration by cleaning their houses, washing dirty rugs, fixing old
furniture, painting old walls or walls that are repainted. On the day of the new
year, they put on new outfits, dancing, rejoicing, singing, hailing one
another, skipping over fires, feasting and some families go for a picnic. [21]
See also:
#9. South Africa
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| Cape Town, South Africa legislative capital. |
South Africa splits its governmental power into three
major large cities namely, Cape Town, Pretoria, and Bloemfontein. None by no
way is the official capitals. There's no single official capital in South Africa.
The most populated city, Cape town serves
as the legislative capital. Pretoria a.k.a Tshwane acts as the administrative
capital. Bloemfontein sited in the central
city of South Africa Africa serves as
the judicial capital. [22]
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| Dr. Barnard in 1969 ( Left), Dr. Barnard, and his patient (Right). Photo credit: Wikipedia |
Moreover, the first heart transplant in the world was performed in Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. It was performed by Dr. Christiaan Barnard and his team. It was the world's most popular medical report because it was done in Africa.
Giving Africa a forefront in medical innovation. It inspires health professionals in Africa and all around the world[23]. Prof. Christiaan Barnard died in 2001 at the age of 78.
#10. Singapore
Chewing gum in Singapore is a crime. Prior to the ban, some citizens stuck used chewing gum on MRT trains sensor doors. Disrupting the functions and services of trains. Not only that, used chewing gum ends up everywhere, from sidewalks to subways to statues, littering places all over.
The government educates the public about chewing gum littering, it yields no results, so the government decided to ban it. A year after it was banned, it had positive effects on the country, the government was able to save a lot of money from cleaning places. However, the law allowed the Medical use of chewing gum. [24]
Some Singaporeans don't seem to be disciplined. The government has to force laws about the use of the elevator as well. Adult Singaporeans are seen to squat and pee on the elevator. It is insanitary, some will enter the elevator, step on the pool of urine, others will cover their nose, holding breathes from the awful smell of urine. [25]
Closed-circuit television (CCTV) and Urine Detector Device (UDD) were installed on elevators. UDD is used to detect kidney-filtered water or the smell of it.
If UDD detects it, the door will be locked, it will raise the loud alarm that will catch the attention of others. The police will come to unlock the door and jailed the person. Besides that, the person will pay a large amount of money as a fine. [26]
Which one out of the list fascinates you the most? Please comment in the section below and hit any social media share button.
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