Geography fun facts

# Iceland is the world's oldest functioning democracy

# Mongolia is the largest landlocked country

# Because heat expands the metal, the Eiffel Tower always leans away from the Sun

# There are 1,792 steps to the top of the Eiffel Tower

# In Calama, a town in the Atacama Desert of Chile, it has never rained

# The only man-made structure visible from space is the Great Wall of China

# Birth-control campaigns in Egypt in the late 1970s failed because village women ended up wearing the pills in lockets, as talismans

# Niagara Falls has moved about ten miles upstream in the last 10,000 years. The falls are eroding at the rate of 5 feet per year

# The Sahara desert is expanding half a mile south every year

# The Channel between England and France grows about 300 millimeters each year

# The Hudson River along the island of Manhattan flows in either direction depending on the tide.

# There is now an ATM at McMurdo Station in Antarctica, which has a winter population of 200 people

# The Australian term for extras in cricket are 'sundries'

# In early Rome, March 1 was New Year's Day. Later, the ancient Romans made January 1 the beginning of the year

# Ancient Persians gave New Year's gifts of eggs, symbolizing productivity

# Due to precipitation, for a few weeks K2 is bigger than Mt Everest

# Vietnamese currency consists only of paper money; no coins

# Canada declared national beauty contests canceled as of 1992, claiming they were degrading to women

# There are more Rolls Royce cars in Hong Kong than anywhere else in the world

# Until 1896, India was the only source for diamonds to the world

# It snowed in the Sahara Desert in February of 1979

# Australia's national anthem is called Advance Australia Fair

# The only nation whose name begins with an A, but doesn't end in an A is Afghanistan

# The Atlantic Ocean gets wider by a little more than one inch every year

# The world's only city whose name consists solely of vowels is Aiea, in Hawaii, USA.

# Soldiers in the Netherlands are not required to salute officers

# Los Angeles' full name is "El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula". In English this means 'The City of Angels'

# The Netherlands has built 800 miles of massive dikes and sea walls to hold back the sea. If it wasn't for these walls, 40% of the country would be flooded.

# Big Ben is actually the name of the largest bell inside the London clock tower, not of the clock itself.

# In 1867 the United States paid Russia only $7.2 million (2 cents an acre) for Alaska

# Every year in France there is a "Thieves Fair" where people are encouraged to try to steal things from the stalls

# The world's longest street is in Canada. Toronto's Yonge Street runs 1,190 miles

# In the kingdom of Bhutan, all citizens officially become a year older on New Year's Day

# Santa Claus, St. Nicholas, was born in the ancient southeastern Turkish town of Lycia early in the fourth century

# Belgium is the only country that has never imposed censorship for adult films

# The Nullarbor Plain of Australia covers 100,000 square miles without a tree.

# Antarctica is the only land on our planet that is not owned by any country

# Australia is the only continent on earth without an active volcano.

# In Turkey, in the 16th and 17th centuries, anyone caught drinking coffee was put to death

# There are twice as many kangaroos in Australia as there are people.

# There are no public toilets in Peru

# Mickey Mouse is known as "Topolino" in Italy

# The oldest national flag still in existence, that of Denmark, dates back to the 13th century

# Nepal is the only country that doesn't have a rectangular or square flag

# In 1949, the temperature in part of Portugal soared to 158 degrees F for a couple of minutes. No one knows why

# Nauru is the only country in the world with no official capital

# Windmills always turn counter-clockwise. Except for the windmills in Ireland

# It was once against the law to slam your car door in a city in Switzerland

# In 1980, Bhutan was the only country in the world with no telephones

# There is a hotel in Sweden built entirely out of ice; it is rebuilt every year.

# In the great fire of London in 1666 half of London was burnt down but only 6 people were injured.

# The longest fence in the world is in Australia and it runs for over 3,436 miles (5,530 km)

# In Switzerland, it is illegal to flush the toilet after 10 P.M. if you live in an apartment.

# Holland is the lowest country in the world. It is estimated that 40 percent of the land is below sea level.

# Tokyo has had 24 recorded instances of people either killed or receiving serious skull fractures while bowing to each other with the traditional Japanese greeting

# Netherlands, most densely populated country in the world, followed by Belgium, then Japan

# Perth, Australia, is the most isolated city on the planet..200 miles across impenetrable desert from the next city of any size.

# Los Angeles's full name is "El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina delos Angeles de Porciuncula". It means the City of Angels.

# India never invaded any country in her last 10000 years of history.

# In Thailand, it is illegal to leave your house if you are not wearing underwear

# In Israel, picking your nose is illegal.

# In Sweden, while prostitution is legal, it is illegal for anyone to use the services of a prostitute.

# On every continent there is a city called Rome.

# Vatican City is the smallest country in the world with a population of 1,000 and a size of 108.7 acres.

# China has only about 200 family names.

# The country with the most Post offices is India with over 152,792 compared with just over 38,000 in the United States.

# Colombia produces the most emeralds of any country in South America.

# The world's largest gold mine is in Juneau, Alaska

# Namibia, Africa, supplies the most valuable diamonds of the 18 countries in southern Africa rich with diamonds.

# Switzerland attracts the most suicide tourists.

# India has no rabbits in the wild – only hares

# In Tokyo, a bicycle is faster than a car for most trips of less than 50 minutes!

# It's illegal to drink beer out of a bucket while you're sitting on a curb in St. Louis, Missouri!

# It's against the law to pawn your dentures in Las Vegas!

# It's against the law to burp, or sneeze in a certain churches in Omaha, Nebraska!

# The state of Florida is bigger than England!

# In Natoma, Kansas, it's illegal to throw knives at men wearing striped suits.

# It was once against the law to have a pet dog in a city in Iceland!

# There are more plastic flamingos in the U.S, than real ones!

# About 3000 years ago, most Egyptians died by the time they were 30!

# In Bangladesh, kids as young as 15 can be jailed for cheating on their finals!

# A company in Taiwan makes dinnerware out of wheat, so you can eat your plate!

# Q is the only letter in the alphabet that does not appear in the name of any of the United States!

# In Tokyo, they sell toupees for dogs!
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FunFacts

# It takes about 20 seconds for a red blood cell to circle the whole body.
# It's been proven that people can lessen reactions to allergies by laughing.
# Laughing lowers levels of stress hormones and strengthens the immune system.
# Six-year-olds laugh an average of 300 times a day.Adults only laugh 15 to 100 times a day.
# It was during the Victorian era that the formerly nude Cupid was redesigned as wearing a skirt.
# The human heart creates enough pressure while pumping to squirt blood 30 feet!!
# February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon.
# Tomato Ketchup was once used as medicine in the United States. Was sold as "Dr.Miles Compound Extract of Tomato"
# When you blush, the lining of your stomach also turns red
# Dating back to the 1600's, thermometers were filled with Brandy instead of mercury
# The quartz crystal in your wristwatch vibrates 32,768 times a second
# An earthquake on Dec. 16, 1811 caused parts of the Mississippi River to flow backwards.
# Shoe sizes were standardized in Britain in 1885
# The average person's eyes will be closed about 30 minutes a day due to blinking.
# Women blink nearly twice as much as men.
# Every day 200 million couples make love, 400,000 babies are born, and 140,000 people die.
# There are at least 40 known carcinogens in cigarettes.
# The earliest British expeditions tackling Everest wore tweed jackets, woolen underwear, and leather boots.

The amniotic fluid that surrounds a baby in the womb is completely replaced every three hours.
# During World War II, twice as many fighter pilots were killed during training than combat
# In 1962 an outbreak of contagious laughter in Tanganyika lasted for six months and caused schools to be closed
# A nautical mile measures 6,080 feet while a land or statute mile is 5,280 feet
# No one can drown in the Dead Sea. It is 25 percent salt, which makes the water very heavy
# Plants watered with warm water grow larger and more quickly than plants watered with cold water
# Earth's oceans contain 7 1/2 million tons of gold, dissolved in the water
# Children who are breastfed tend to have an I.Q. seven points higher than children who are not.
# The bird flu virus could evolve into a form that is easily spread between people, resulting in a highly contagious and lethal disease.
# The Chinese, in olden days, used marijuana only as a remedy for dysentery.
# If you are right handed, you will tend to chew your food on the right side of your mouth. If you are left handed, you will tend to chew your food on the left side of your mouth.
# To make half a kilo of honey, bees must collect nectar from over 2 million individual flowers
# Heroin is the brand name of morphine once marketed by 'Bayer'.
# Communications giant Nokia was founded in 1865 as a wood-pulp mill by Fredrik Idestam.
# Tourists visiting Iceland should know that tipping at a restaurant is considered an insult!
# People in nudist colonies play volleyball more than any other sport.
# Albert Einstein was offered the presidency of Israel in 1952, but he declined.
# Astronauts can't belch- there is no gravity to separate liquid from gas in their stomachs.
# Ancient Roman, Chinese and German societies often used urine as mouthwash.
# The average person who stops smoking requires one hour less sleep a night.
# The Mona Lisa has no eyebrows. In the Renaissance era, it was fashion to shave them off!
# Because of the speed at which Earth moves around the Sun, it is impossible for a solar eclipse to last more than 7 minutes and 58 seconds.
# The night of January 20 is "Saint Agnes's Eve," which is regarded as a time when a young woman dreams of her future husband.
# There are over 25 million bubbles waiting to burst out of each bottle of Champagne
# Google is actually the common name for a number with a million zeros
# It takes glass one million years to decompose, which means it never wears out and can be recycled an infinite amount of times!
# The "heat" of peppers is rated on the Scoville scale
# Gold is the only metal that doesn't rust, even if it's buried in the ground for thousands of years
# Your tongue is the only muscle in your body that is attached at only one end
# If you stop getting thirsty, you need to drink more water. For when a human body is dehydrated, its thirst mechanism shuts off.
# Each year 2,000,000 smokers either quit smoking or die of tobacco-related diseases.
# When it originally appeared in 1886 - Coca Cola was billed as an Esteemed Brain Tonic and Intellectual Beverage.
# Zero is the only number that cannot be represented by Roman numerals
# Kites were used in the American Civil War to deliver letters and newspapers.
# The song, "Auld Lang Syne" is sung at the stroke of midnight in almost every English-speaking country in the world to bring in the new year.
# For every real Christmas tree harvested, two to three seedlings are planted in its place.
# Drinking water after eating reduces the acid in your mouth by 61 percent
# Peanut oil is used for cooking in submarines because it doesn't smoke unless it's heated above 450°F
# The Shell Oil Company originally began as a novelty shop in London that sold seashells
# The roar that we hear when we place a seashell next to our ear is not the ocean, but rather the sound of blood surging through the veins in the ear.
# Nine out of every 10 living things live in the ocean
# The banana cannot reproduce itself. It can be propagated only by the hand of man
# Airports at higher altitudes require a longer airstrip due to lower air density
# Fish and Chip selling officially remained an offensive trade until 1940 due to the smell it produces
# The University of Alaska spans four time zones
# The tooth is the only part of the human body that cannot heal itself.
# In ancient Greece, tossing an apple to a girl was a traditional proposal of marriage. Catching it meant she accepted.
# Do you know the names of the three wise monkeys? They are: Mizaru(See no evil), Mikazaru(Hear no evil), and Mazaru(Speak no evil).
# Warner Comm. paid $28 million for the copyright to the song 'Happy Birthday'
# Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.
# A comet's tail always points away from the sun
# The "Swine flu" vaccine in 1976 caused more death and illness than the disease it was intended to prevent
# Caffeine increases the power of aspirin and other painkillers, that is why it is found in some medicines.
# The military salute is a motion that evolved from medieval times, when knights in armor raised their visors to reveal their identity.
# If you get into the bottom of a well or a tall chimney and look up, you can see stars, even in the middle of the day.
# When a person dies, hearing is the last sense to go. The first sense lost is sight
# Trivia is the Roman goddess of sorcery, hounds and... the crossroads
# In ancient times strangers shook hands to show that they were unarmed
# Strawberries are the only fruits whose seeds grow on the outside
# Avocados have the highest calories of any fruit at 167 calories per hundred grams
# It cost the soft drink industry $100 million a year for thefts committed involving vending machines
# The moon moves about two inches away from the Earth each year
# The Earth gets 100 tons heavier every day due to falling space dust
# Due to earth's gravity it is impossible for mountains to be higher than 15,000 meters
# Men's shirts have the buttons on the right, but women's shirts have the buttons on the left
# Mickey Mouse is known as "Topolino" in Italy
# Soldiers do not march in step when going across bridges because they could set up a vibration which could be sufficient to knock the bridge down
# The painting that won second place in a competition held by the US National Academy of Design was hanging upside down when it was judged
# Everything weighs one percent less at the equator
# For every extra kilogram carried on a space flight, 530 kg of excess fuel are needed at lift-off
# The letter J does not appear anywhere on the periodic table of the elements
# Snake venom is ninety percent protein
# Mercury is the only metal that is liquid at room temperature
# Pizza Hut is the world's largest pizza restaurant serving close to 1.7 million pizzas a day
# Beer foam will go down by licking your finger then sticking it in the beer
# Those stars and colors you see when you rub your eyes are called phosphenes
# A full-moon is nine times brighter than a half-moon
# If all of the blood vessels in your body were placed end to end, they would stretch 12,000 miles
# If you were to roll a lung from a human body and out flat it would be the size of a tennis court
# Everyone's tongue print is different, like fingerprints
# Two-thirds of the people in the world have not made a phone call
# Contrary to popular belief, a swallowed chewing gum doesn't stay in the gut. It will pass through the system and be excreted
# The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket
# The Nobel Peace Prize medal depicts 3 naked men with their hands on each others shoulders
# Earth is traveling through space at 660,000 miles per hour
# In 1643, the British Parliament officially abolished the celebration of Christmas
# Santa's Reindeers are Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen
# In 1875 the director of the US patent office resigned. He said that there was nothing left to invent
# The Channel between England and France grows about 300 millimeters each year
# The average person's field of vision encompasses a 200-degree wide angle
# Offered a new pen to write with, 97% of all people will write their own name
# On average, a person has two million sweat glands
# Grapes explode when you put them in the microwave.
# Wearing headphones for just an hour will increase the bacteria in your ear by 700 times.
# Your tongue is germ free only if it is pink. If it is white there is a thin film of bacteria on it.
# The attachment of the human skin to muscles is what causes dimples
# 97% of the earth's water is undrinkable
# The Earth gets heavier each day by tons, as meteoric dust settles on it
# All babies are color blind when they are born
# Babies' eyes do not produce tears until the baby is approximately six to eight weeks old
# 14 million people were killed in World War I, 20 million died in flu epidemic in the years that followed
# There are more than 40,000 characters in the Chinese script
# Vision requires more brain power than the other four senses
# On average, men are 40% muscle and 15% fat; women are 23% muscle and 25% fat
# There are no public toilets in Peru
# Urine and tears have the same basic ingredients
# The reason honey is so easy to digest is that it's already been digested by a bee.
# Every time you sneeze some of your brain cells die.
# Historically, a blue ribbon has been awarded for first prize
# The motto of M-G-M movie studios is Art for Art's Sake
# The lion that roars in the MGM logo is named "Volney"
# It cost 7 million dollars to build the Titanic and 200 million to make a film about it
# The Titanic was the first ship to use the SOS signal.
# The Mercedes-Benz motto is 'Das Beste oder Nichts' meaning 'the best or nothing'.
# The color blue has a calming effect. It causes the brain to release calming hormones.
# There are more Rolls Royce cars in Hong Kong than anywhere else in the world
# X-ray technology has shown there are 3 different versions of the Mona Lisa under the visible one
# The pupil of the eye expands as much as 45 percent when a person looks at something pleasing.
# It takes only about 8 minutes for the Space Shuttle to accelerate to a speed of more than 27,359 km/hour
# Hydroponics is the technique by which plants are grown in water without soil
# Time magazine named the computer its "Man of the Year" in 1982
# Chewing on gum while cutting onions can help a person from producing tears
# Your left lung is smaller in size than your right lung, it is like that in order to make room for your heart.
# Until babies are six months old, they can breathe and swallow at the same time
# Male human brains are about 10 percent heavier than female brains
# Before 1800 there were no separately designed shoes for right and left feet
# The glossy look to lipstick comes from fish scales, which are iridescent
# To find out if a watermelon is ripe, knock it, and if it sounds hollow then it is ripe
# Honey is used as a center for golf balls and in antifreeze mixtures
# The original name for the butterfly was 'flutterby'
# Your body weight is lower at 9 A.M. than at any other time of the day
# The average person is about a quarter of an inch taller at night
# 40% of McDonald's profits come from the sales of Happy Meals
# Without any greenhouse effect, Earth would be cold and lifeless with an average temp of 0.4ºF
# The primary purpose of growing rice in flooded paddies is to drown the weeds surrounding the young seedlings. Rice can, in fact, be grown in drained areas
# Not a single new livestock animal has been domesticated in the last 4,000 years
# Bone China is so called because powdered animal bone is mixed with the clay to give it translucency and whiteness
# The original reason for tablecloths was as a towel to wipe one's fingers and hands on after eating
# Mount Everest moves approximately 2.4 inches (10 cm) in a Northeasterly direction every year
# Mickey Mouse has four fingers on each hand
# The bark of a redwood tree is fireproof. Fires that occur in a redwood forest take place inside the trees
# The storage capacity of human brain exceeds four Terra bytes
# There are an average of 178 sesame seeds on a McDonald's Big Mac bun
# Because of the rotation of the earth, an object can be thrown farther if it is thrown west
# In 2001, the five most valuable brand names in order were Coca-Cola, Microsoft, IBM, GE, and Nokia
# After the "Popeye" comic strip started in 1931, spinach consumption went up by 33 percent in the US
# A rainbow can only occur when the sun is 40 degrees or less above the horizon
# At 40° Centigrade a person loses about 14.4 calories per hour by breathing
# Most gemstones contain several elements. Except the diamond it's all carbon
# Onions help reduce cholesterol if eaten after a fatty meal
# It has been calculated that in the last 3,500 years, there have only been 230 years of peace throughout the civilized world
# Feb 1865 and Feb 1999 are the only months in recorded history not to have a full moon
# The citrus soda 7-UP was created in 1929; "7" was selected because the original containers were 7 ounces. "UP" indicated the direction of the bubbles
# The "crack" from a whip is actually the tip of the whip traveling faster than the speed of sound, emitting a small sonic boom
# If the information contained in the DNA could be written down, it would fill a 1000 volume encyclopedia
# It would take 13 years and eight months to stay one night in every room at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas
# Brain damage occurs at an internal temperature of 105 degrees Fahrenheit
# The sound you hear when you crack your knuckles is actually the sound of nitrogen gas bubbles bursting
# If you gave each human on earth an equal portion of dry land, (including the uninhabitable areas) everyone would get roughly 100sqft
# Just twenty seconds worth of fuel remained when Apollo 11's lunar module landed on the moon
# There are more than 1,000 chemicals in a cup of coffee
# Pearls melt in vinegar
# There is about 200 times more gold in the worlds oceans, than has been mined in our entire history
# Human hair and finger nails continue to grow after death
# Windmills always turn counter-clockwise. Except for the windmills in Ireland
# Eighteen per cent of all global carbon dioxide emissions are from cars
# Onions get their distinctive smell by soaking up sulfur from the soil
# Mango is the number one selling fruit in the World. India is the biggest producer of mangoes in the World
# The only part of the body that has no blood supply is the cornea in the eye. It takes in oxygen directly from the air
# No nation has ever won the Miss Universe, Miss World, and Miss International Pageant in the same year?
# About 85% of the plant life on earth is in the oceans
# In most watch advertisements the time displayed on the watch is 10:10 because then the arms frame the brand of the watch and make it look like it's smiling
# If a person counted at the rate of 100 numbers a minute and kept counting for 8 hrs a day, 5 days a week, it would take a little over 4 weeks to count to one million and just over 80 years to reach a billion
# An average person perspires a gut-wrenching 278 gallons of sweat each year
# Because metal was scarce, the Oscars given out during World War II were made out of wood
# A banana is about 75% water. They grow on a rhizome, not a tree. You are more likely to be a target for mosquitoes if you consume bananas.