160+ Facts About The World, That Will Blow Your Mind.

Every month on Instagram, we share some cool mind-blowing facts about the world and all the countries. In case you've missed some, we listed them all here as well. 

FACTS ABOUT THE WORLD THAT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND:

1. Iran has had 27 capitals, which is more than any other country in the world. Now the 28th one is Teheran.

2. The Netherlands male residents are the tallest people in the world. Their height on average is 1.838 m.

3. Peru has more than 3700 species of butterflies, which is representing 20% of the world’s known butterfly species. (However, scientists believe that butterfly species in Peru are under-recorded, and that there may be as many as 4200 species.)

4. Also, Peru has more than 2,800 varieties of potatoes, which is more than any other country in the world.

5. Ethiopia follows a calendar, that is seven years behind the Gregorian calendar (the most widely used civil calendar in the world). So to them it is year 2011. And they celebrate New Year in September.

6. Canada has the most lakes on the planet. There are more lakes in Canada than in every other country in the world put together.

7. New Yorkers drink 7 times more coffee than people in the rest of America.

8. The largest city by area in the world is Nagqu, in China. It is larger than the whole Sweden, and it’s just a city!

9. The tiny island nation Niue is the world’s first and only WIFI nation with nationwide free access to WIFI provided by the government.

10. Australia has a smaller population (24.6 million people) than the Tokyo metro area (38.14 million). PS! Australia is more than 500 times bigger. 

11. Falkand Islands (UK) has the most sheep per capita. With only about 3000 people, the Falkland Islands are home to approximately half-a million-sheep.

12. Spanish is the official language of Guatemala. But in addition, there are 23 other languages spoken.

13. One of the official anthems of the micro-nation of Ladonia is the sound of a stone thrown into water.

14. All of China is on Beijing time despite geographically spanning over 5 time zones.

15. New Zealand was the first nation to give women the right to vote in 1893 - a move that was followed two years later by its neighbour Australia.

16. If you count overseas territories, then it is actually France, not Russia, that covers the most time zones (12).

17. Iceland has no army and is recognised as the world’s most peaceful country.

18. India & Fiji are the only countries, which have Hindi as an official language.

19. The longest town name in Europe is Lanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch in Wales.

20. Russia has over 13,000 uninhabited villages.

21. The airport in Brussels sells more chocolate than any other single location on Earth.

22. South Africa is also called the “Rainbow Nation” because it has eleven official languages.

23. 90% of the world’s fresh water is in Antarctica.

24. The most visited place in Europe is Disneyland, Paris.

25. The official animal of Scotland is the unicorn. No joke.

26. One third of all the airports in the world are located in the US.

27. Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world not to have any rivers.

28. It has been rumoured that the Great Wall can be seen from space, but in actual fact it cannot.

29. Switzerland eats the most chocolate equating to 10 kilos per person per year.

30. Brazil got its name from a tree called "pau-brasil" or Brazilwood in English. It's also the national tree of Brazil.

31. And Brazil covers 50% of the South American continent.

32. The New York public library has over 50 million books.

33. You can buy square watermelons in Japan, (developed to stack better in supermarkets).

34. Italy and France produce over 40% of all wine in the world.

35. Sweden has the largest number of islands in the world, more than 221 831.

36. People in Iceland read more books per capita than any other country.

37. The Taj Mahal in India is made entirely out of marble.

38. The happiest language in the world is Spanish - containing the largest number of positive words.

39. Monaco - the second smallest country in the world - is smaller than the Central Park in New York City (area of 2 square km).

40. Most spoken language in the world is Mandarin Chinese, with over 1.1 billion speakers.

41. The driest place on Earth is near Ross Island, Antarctica  it hasn’t rained there for millions of years.

42. The Great Banyan Tree in India is the widest tree in the world covering over 14 500 m2 of land (about the size of a Manhattan city block) with 3600 aerial roots. It’s 250 years old and looks like like an entire forest.

43. Greenland is the country that can’t join FIFA because of bad weather conditions and grass can not grow there.

44. Suriname, the northeast South American country, has the highest percentage of land covered by forest, at 94.6%.

45. In Bulgaria, nodding ones head means “no” and shaking ones head means “yes.”

46. Bangladesh has a higher population than Russia, although it’s 115 times smaller.

47. In New York, there are more Italian Americans than in Rome, more Irish Americans than in Dublin and more Jews than in Tel Aviv.

48. Iceland has no mosquitoes at all. Not even one.

49. With over 800 languages spoken by a significant portion of the population, New York City is the most linguistically diverse city in the world.

50. The Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona is taking longer to build than the pyramids. It was started in 1882 and no, it is not done yet.

51. Alaska is the most Northern, Eastern, and Western state in all of America.

52. The country of Nauru does not have a capital city.

53. While Sri Lanka has 2 official capitals - Colombo & Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte.

54. And South Africa has 3 - Cape Town, Pretoria, and Bloemfontein.

55. The world’s longest place name is Taumatawhakatangi­hangakoauauotamatea­turipukakapikimaunga­horonukupokaiwhen­uakitanatahu in New Zealand.

56. No country begins with the letter W.

57. Kiribati is the only country in the world to fall into all four hemispheres.

58. Australia is wider than the moon. The moon sits at 3400 km in diameter, while Australia’s diameter from east to west is almost 4000 km. The moon, as a sphere, has more surface size, but it’s still pretty amazing.

59. In the Philippines, there’s an island in a lake in an island in a lake in an island… That’s called the Vulcan Point Island.

60. Even though Russia and the US are only 4km apart geographically, there’s a 21-hour time difference between them.

61. You only have to cross one country on land to get from North Korea to Norway. And that country is Russia.

62. The ice cream cone was all invented in New York City.

63. Outside of Antarctica, there’s only one other area considered to be “nobody’s land”. The area is Bir Tawil, a 2060-square-kilometre patch of land along the border of Egypt and Sudan, which is uninhabited and claimed by neither country. Apparently neither nation is interested in Bir Tawil simply because there’s nothing there; land between the borders is mostly sand and sparse dry mountains.

64. In 2014, an American man tried to claim property of Bir Tawil so that his daughter could become a real life princess.

65. The shortest scheduled passenger flight in the world is only 2.7 km and takes 1.5 minutes. The route is from the Loganair Westray to Papa Westray in the UK. It is flown by Loganair and the record time for fastest flight is 53 seconds.

66. The longest non-stop scheduled airline flight is 15,344 km between Singapore's Changi Airport and Newark Liberty Airport (which serves New York City). This route is flown by Singapore Airlines and it takes about 19 hours.

67. Libya has the highest percentage of desert in the world. With 99% of the land being desert, some regions don't get a single drop of rain for decades.

68. There are more than 7000 Caribbean islands and less than 1% of them are inhabited.

69. The longest tunnel in the world is in Switzerland, with the total lenght of 57.1 km.

70. Sunsets on Mars are blue.

71. Big Ben in London is leaning over so much it can now be seen with the naked eye. In 4,000 years it will be at the same angle as the tower in Pisa is now.

72. Russia produces more oxygen than any other country in the world. Siberia is home to approximately 25% of the world’s forests, which covers more land than the continental United States

73. Suriname has the highest percentage of land covered in jungle - 91%. Most people live along the coast and only 5% of the population lives inland.

74. Powerful earthquakes can permanently shorten the length of Earth's day, by moving the spin of the Earth's axis. The 2011 Japan earthquake knocked 1.8 microseconds off our days. The 2004 Sumatra quake cost us around 6.8 microseconds.

75. ‘Digging a hole to China’ is theoretically possible if you start in Argentina.

76. Although Australia is home to the largest number of venomous snakes in the world, it averages only one fatal snake bite per year.

77. There is a glacier called "Blood Falls" in Antarctica that regularly pours out red liquid, making it look like the ice is bleeding. (It's actually oxidised salty water.)

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

79. One third of all the cows in the world (which is 330 million) live in India.

80. Antarctica is the only continent without reptiles or snakes.

81. Eight of the ten largest statues in the world are of Buddhas.

82. The highest mountain on the island of Antigua is called mount Obama. It’s named after the former U.S president on his birthday in 2009.

83. The Empire State Building in New York has its own ZIP code. It’s home to 10118.

84. There is a McDonald’s in every continent except Antartica.

85. There's an opera house on the U.S.–Canada border where the stage is in one country and half the audience is in another.

86. Maldives has an average height of only about 1.8 meters above sea level, which makes it the first country at the risk of disappearing underwater because of the rising sea level due to global warming.

87. Bosnia Herzegovina is home to Europe’s only remaining jungle.

88. Botswana produces the most diamonds in the world in terms of value, and is the second in terms of volume.

89. In Bulgaria, nodding ones head means “no” and shaking ones head means “yes.”

90. Fijians raise their eyebrows as a way of saying yes.

91. Gambia is about 50 km across at its widest and is the smallest country on the African mainland.

92. India is home to North Sentinel Island, whose inhabitants are some of the last known peoples with no contact with outside civilisation.

93. In Japanese culture, blue and green are considered different shades of the same color. Traffic lights there have blue instead of green for “go.”

94. New Zealand is the only country who’s government has had the honour of being sued by Eminem.

95. North Korea claims to have a 100% literacy rate.

96. Papua New Guinea was still using sea shells as it’s currency when Hitler came to power.

97. Sri Lanka was connected to mainland India by a thin land bridge until 1480, making it one of the world’s youngest islands.

98. Uganda is home to 11% of the world’s bird population.

99. Vatican City is home to the highest percentage of art per capita.

100. The world’s largest cave is located in Vietnam.

101. Zimbabwe has the highest literacy rate in Africa.

102. Television was illegal in Bhutan until 1999.

103. Our homeland Estonia is actually one of the greenest countries in Europe, with 52% of the land covered in forest.

104. All countries in Africa are part of the African Union, except for Sudan, which was suspended in June 2019 because of the killings of protestors.

105. The moon is moving away from the Earth at a tiny, although measurable, rate of 4 cm (1.6 inches) every year.

106. Armenia was the first country to make Christianity it’s official religion.

107. The world's deadliest lakeis in Cameroon, Africa. An explosion of carbon dioxide gas from the Lake Nyos killed 1,700 people in 1986.

108. Elon Musk and J.R.R Tolkien were both born in South Africa.

109. Qatar is the world’s richest country according to GDP per capita. Their GNI (gross national income) per capita is $128 060.

110. In 2008 Norway knighted a pengiun.

111. China manufactures 70% of the world toys.

112. More than 60,000 people are traveling on a plane somewhere over the United States at any time of the day.

113. The largest museum in the world in terms of objects displayed is the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. If you spent a minute on every piece, it would take you 11 years to look at everything the museum has to offer.

114. The Arctic Ocean is surrounded by six countries: Canada, the United States (Alaska), Denmark (Greenland), Russia, Norway, and Iceland.

115. Afghanistan and Cambodia are two countries that display buildings on their flags.

116. The highest waterfall in the world - Angel Falls- is in Venezuela. And it's 918 m (3011 ft.) high.  

117. Every year, 8 million people see the Mona Lisa at the Musée du Louvre in Paris, France.

118. The highest drivable road in the world is Khardung La in Tibet. The elevation of Khardung La is 5,359 m (17,582 ft).

119. Brazil is the world’s largest coffee producer with about 35% of global production.

120. About 70% of lightning bolts occur in the tropics. Lightning almost never strikes the north or south poles.

121. The Marianas Trench in the Pacific Ocean is  the lowest point on Earth with a depth of 11,034 m (36,200 ft.) By comparison, Mount Everest measures 8848 m (29,028 ft.) in height. The Marianas Trench is therefore deeper than Everest is tall.

122. Germany shares borders with 9 countries. Denmark in the north, Poland and the Czech Republic in the east, Switzerland and Austria in the south, France in the southwest and Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands in the west.

123. The Sahara is larger than the Antarctica. Antarctica is a cold desert that covers an area of about 14,000,000 sq. km (5,400,000 sq. mi.), making it the largest desert in the world. The Sahara stretches 8,600,00 sq. km (3,300,000 sq. mi.) and is the largest hot desert in the world.

124. More than 75% of all countries are located north of the equator.

125. Apart from their dimensions, the flag of Indonesia is the same as the flag of Poland but reversed. The flag of Poland is also made of two red and white horizontal bands, but they are the opposite of the Indonesian flag.

126. Oceans cover more than 70% of Earth’s surface, namely 140 million sq. mi. of the 197 million sq. mi. (361 million km² of the 510 million km²) of Earth’s entire surface.

127. The Most Instagrammed Cities in the World is london.

128. Monaco has the highest life expectancy in the world (with the average of 89.52 years).

129. Turns out that gray whales are #travelholics as well - they travel more than 20,000 km (12,500 mi.) per year.

130. The Niagara Falls flow is 2,800,000 litres per second. (740,000 US gallons)

131. Tasmania has the cleanest air in the world.

132. Rwanda has the world’s highest representation of women in the parliament (61.3%).

133. No one is a born as a citizen of Vatican City. It takes more than being born in Vatican City (or having parents that were born here) to become a citizen. You (quite literally) have to work for it.

134. Talking about Vatican City...the ATMs there speak in Latin. The Vatican Bank is the only one in the world to offer ATMs that address customers in the language.

135. There are approximately 350 different types of pasta around the world — and about four times that many names for them!

136. In Australia, there are more kangaroos than there are people.

137. The baby of the blue whale is as large as an adult elephant. It’s actually the largest animal ever known to have lived on Earth.

138. Vatican City is the only country on the UNESCO World Heritage site list.

139. More than 85% of all Australians live within 50km of the coast.

140. The oldest living person is a Japanese woman named Kane Tanaka, who at the moment is 116 years and 254 days old.

141. The national anthem of Spain has no words.

142. In South Korea the number four is considered unlucky.

143. Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the world with more than 18,000 islands.

144. Norway has a land border with Russia and it is 193 km (120 miles) long.

145. In Italy, there's a fountain that flows red wine24 hours a day. Anybody can drink from the wine fountain, but it is primarily to quench the thirst of those taking the Camino di San Tommaso pilgrimage.

146. New Yorkers bite 10 times more people than sharks do worldwide each year.

147. Peru holds the world records for the maximum number of birds sighted in one place and the greatest number of bird species seen in a single day (331).

148. Antarctica is roughly the size of the United States and Mexico combined.

149. Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world.

150. When taking a photo, South Koreans say “kimchi” instead of “cheese.

151. South Africa has 11 official languages, and many more are spoken on a daily basis. The official languages are Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans, English, Northern Sotho, Tswana, Southern Sotho, Tsonga, Swazi, Venda, Southern Ndebele.

152. The world's longest road tunnel is in Norway and it's 24.5 km (15 miles) long.

153. In North Korea there are only 15 approved haircuts.

154. Although Laos is a landlocked country, it has thousands of islands. The Si Phan Don area (literally means “4,000 islands) lies on the Mekong River and is a relaxing place.

155. 80% of the animals in Australia are unique to Australia. The animals are some of the most interesting in the world, from koalas to cuddly marsupials to a huge variety of birds.

156. PS! On the same subject: there are over 60 different species of kangaroos in Australia.

157. Brazil has over 4000 airports, which is more than any other country in the world (except for the USA, which has more than 13 500.)

158. Norway owns the world's most remote island, on the other side of the world. It is located approximately 1,700 km north of the coastline of Antarctica and 2,600 km away from the South African coast. The closest inhabited land is the British overseas territory of Tristan da Cunha, more than 2,000 km away. While no-one lives on the island, Norwegian authorities do maintain a weather station there.

159. Indonesia covers a lot of ground. This vast place extends 5,120 kilometres from east to west. That's longer than the distance from London to Tehran (4,403km).

160. Americans consume 3 billion pizzas per year.

161. Portuguese is the official language of nine countries. The language is spoken by over 236 million people worldwide including 210 million natives.

162. Canada has the longest coastline in the world - 202 080 km (125 567 miles).

163. The North Korean calendar counts the year after its founder, Kim II-Sung’s birthday in 1912. So, while we’re living in 2019, over there it’s still year 107.

164. The Great Victoria Desert, just ONE of Australia’s barren areas is larger than the United Kingdom.

165. The current flag of the USA was designed by a 17 year old.

166. Indonesia’s capital Jakarta is the most Instagram-Story'd city on Earth.

167. Portugal is known to have the highest number of sunshine hours in Europe. With some parts having almost 300 sunny days a year, you can enjoy over 3000 sunshine hours per year.

To be continued...

PS! When you need a place to mark all your visited countries, check our maps and posters collection here.