75 Amazing Facts that will surprise you About USA | Amazing Facts 4U

1. The word “America” comes from the European explorer “Amerigo Vespucci.
2. Amazingly at their closest point, the Russian and U.S. borders are just less than two miles apart.
3. Denmark is the only other country in the world to celebrate the United States birthday, July 4th.
4. The amazing fact is that the USA spends more money on its military than the next thirteen countries on the list combined.
5. The fact is the largest air force in the world is the US Air Force. The second largest air force in the world is the US Navy.
6. The border between Canada and the U.S. is the world’s longest frontier. It stretches amazing 3,987 miles (6,416 km).
7. An amazing fact is the murder rate in the United States is 200 times greater than in Japan. In Japan, no private citizen can buy a handgun legally.
8. With 2.2 million people behind bars, the United States has 5% of the world’s population but 25% of the world’s prisoners. China comes a close second at 1.5 million while Russia comes third at 870,000.
9. Amazingly USA population in 1776 was just 2.5 million.
10. The fact is thousands of Americans migrated to the USSR in the 1930s during the Great Depression.
11. Four corners are the spot in the USA where a person can amazingly stand in four states at the same time.
12. Americans save less than 1 % of their income.
13. There are amazing 16 million inventions under active patent in the USA.
14. It’s estimated that Americans generate roughly 20 % of the World’s garbage.
15. The amazing fact is one American consumes as many resources as 32 Kenyans.
16. About 20 million Americans live in mobile homes.
17. It’s completely legal for minors to smoke cigarettes in the U.S. but they can’t purchase them.
18. Smoking causes 1 in every 5 deaths in the U.S. every year.
19. Amazingly every tweet Americans sent is being archived by the Library of Congress.
20. 7% of Americans claim they never bath.
21. Ho-Ho-Kus in New Jessey is the only town in the USA which has two dashes in its name.
22. In AspenColorado, you can have a maximum income of $104,000 and still receive government-subsidized housing.
23. The University of Alaska stretches over 4 time zones.
24. Americans take an average of just ten days per year vacation.
25. Do you know that the USA bought Alaska from Russia for amazing 2 cents an acre?
26. In 1819, the USA purchased Florida from Spain for the cancellation of a $5 million debt.
27. Maine is the only state in the lower 48 that touches only one other state.
28. Amazingly Point Roberts in Washington State is cut off from the rest of the state by British Columbia, Canada. If you wish to travel from Point Roberts to the rest of the state or vice versa, you must pass through Canada, including both Canadian and U.S. customs.
29. The exact geographic center of the United States (USA) is near Lebanon, Kansas.
30. The fact is before 1863, postal service in the United States (USA) was free.
31. When the U.S. War Department was established in 1789, there were just 840 soldiers in the regular army. Their job was to supervise public lands and guard the Indian frontier.
32. The amazing fact is that at the outbreak of World War I, the American air force consisted of only fifty men.
33. Amazingly the longest election in US history lasted over 315 days and was nearly won by just Two votes!
34. Workers at Ground Zero found an 18-century ship underneath the World Trade Center rubble.
35. The amazing fact is it used to be legal to send kids in the mail. When domestic parcel post service was introduced in the United States in 1913, Americans were finally able to send packages across the country at an affordable rate.  At least two people sent their stamp-covered children through the mail before this was banned.
36. There is no rule against distorting or falsifying the news in the United States!
37. Amazingly it’s OK for television companies to lie to their viewers.
38. The highest point in Pennsylvania is lower than the lowest point in Colorado.
39. The United States (USA) is the only country that has Exxon gas stations. They’re called Esso everywhere else.
40. It’s amazing that the average American family uses 35 times as much water as the average African family.
41. Florida has two rivers with the same name called  “Withlacoochee River.
42. The United States (USA) amazingly still does not have an official language. It is the de facto, official language because 82% of people claim it as their mother tongue.
43. The fact is the White House wasn’t called “the White House” until 1901 almost 100 years after it was built.
44. School buses in the US are yellow because our eyes pick up yellow faster than other colors. In fact, your ability to detect yellow is 1.24 times greater than red.
45. It’s amazing that 15 percent of Americans are living on food stamps!
46. In 1913 the US Postal Service began the parcel sending service. Soon after a businessman in Utah decided he would build a bank. A man mailed 80,000 bricks to build a bank 120 km away because it was the cheapest option at one-fourth cost! He had the bricks carefully wrapped in crates, each weighing less than 50 pounds for delivery.
47. Amazingly Manhattan had 47% more people in 1910 (About 2.3 million) than in 2014 (1.6 million)!
48. If you turn in a tax cheat, the IRS will give you at least 15% of what they collect!
49. Amazingly in 1962, the U.S. blew up a hydrogen bomb in space that was 100 times more powerful than Hiroshima.
50. Do you know that over 60 % of the US urban water consumption is used for watering lawns?
51. Amazingly there’s a salt mine 1,200 feet below the surface of Detroit, Michigan spread over 1,400 acres. They have over 50 miles of roads covering them. This is enough salt to last us for 70 million years!
52. The U.S. military uses secret Velcro that is 95 % quieter than all other Velcro!
53. The only state in the U.S that grows coffee beans is Hawaii in what’s known locally as the Kona district. Hawaiians usually call coffee Kope and Hawaiian coffee is some of the most expensive in the world.
54. Disneyland amazingly does not sell chewing gum as Walt Disney did not want guests inconvenienced by stepping on gum purchased in the park.
55. Amazingly the United States, Burma & Liberia are the only countries that haven’t yet adopted the Metric system as the standard of measurement.
56. The amazing fact is that the top richest 1% of Americans own 42% of the nation’s wealth, while the bottom 80% own just 7%.
57. The fact is if you have no debts and $10 in your pocket, you are wealthier than 25 % of the Americans.
58. Amazingly there are 5 times more vacant houses than homeless people in the United States.
59. In 1999, the U.S. government paid the Zapruder family $16 million for the film of JFK’s assassination.
60. In the White House, there are 13,092 knives, forks, and spoons.
61. North Dakota has never had an earthquake.
62. Today 2 out of 3 Americans are overweight.
63. Amazingly Alaska has a longer coastline than all of the other 49 U.S. states put together.
64. Montana has three times as many cows as it does people.
65. The United States has 850 motor vehicles for every 1,000 people which is the highest in the world.
66. The U.S. Government spends the US $1.8 billion per year printing documents.
67. The grizzly bear is the official state animal of California.  The amazing fact is that no grizzly bears have been seen there since 1922.
68. One out of every seven Americans has at least 10 credit cards.
69. The United States has a teen pregnancy rate of 22 percent – the highest in the world.  New Zealand is number two at 14 percent.
70. It took from the founding of the nation until 1981 for the U.S. national debt to cross the one trillion dollar mark.  Today, the national debt is well over 15 trillion dollars and more than a trillion dollars is added to debt every single year.
71. The United States (USA) had $ 0 debt only once in 1835 when president Andrew Jackson paid it all off.
72. Amazingly Philadelphia was the first capital of the United-States. Over the years the capital of this country has been through Philadelphia, New York to return to Philadelphia and then permanently to Washington DC.
73. The fact is there are no natural lakes in the state of Ohio, every one is man-made.
74. The fact is the USA has spent enough in Afghanistan and Iraq to wipe out world poverty for 10 years.
75. An unknownfact is that the U.S. government poisoned alcohol during Prohibition in the 20s and 30s, killing over 10,000 people.

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30 Amazing Facts about Panama | Amazing Facts 4U

Land & Geography

• Panama is one of the largest countries in Central America. However amazingly Panama has the smallest population anywhere in Central America at about 3.2 million.
• Panama is one of the smallest countries in the world but the most advanced in Central America.
• Panama is in a unique position in Central America. From one side of Panama, you are on the Atlantic Ocean and you can watch the sunrise. Then with just a couple of hours of trip to the Pacific, you can watch the sunset.
• At its narrowest distance, only 80 kilometers is the land in Panama, which separates the Atlantic from the Pacific Ocean.
• With 5,637 kilometers of coastline and more than 1,518 islands, Panama has more beaches than one can imagine.
• The amazing fact is that Panama shelters more birds than the United States and Canada combined. It is one of the most diverse locations in the world for exotic wildlife. There are plants, animals, and other natural occurrences that only happen in Panama and nowhere else in the world.
• The amazing fact is that Panama houses over 10,000 different plant species, including 1,200 varieties of orchids, 678 ferns, and more than 1,500 varieties of trees.
• Panama is home to the second-largest rainforest in the Western Hemisphere located in Panama City. Amazingly the capital is the only one in the world to boast a rainforest within the city limits.

History

• Columbus did not stop at the Caribbean when he landed in the new world he went on to explore most of Central America and even Panama in 1502.
• Panama declared independence from Spain in 1903.

Places / Architecture

• The Panama Canal is the most popular destination in Panama.
• One of the greatest man-made structures ever built in Central America is the amazing Panama Canal. It is now considered one of the world’s 7 modern wonders. The canal generates fully one-third of Panama’s entire economy.
• Amazingly work on the Panama Canal was started by the French in 1882 excavating 30 million cubic yards spending  $ 260 Million Dollars and losing 20,000 lives.
• The U.S. paid the French $ 40 million for the Panama Canal rights and paid $ 10 million to Panama for Canal Zone by a treaty in 1904. The Panama Canal was completed by the US Army Corps of Engineers between 1904 and 1914 excavating 232 million cubic yards at a cost of $ 375 million Dollars losing about 5600 lives.
• The U.S. paid $ 250,000 per annum as initial rent to Panama beginning in 1913.
• Panama Canal was officially opened on August 15, 1914. It was taken care of by the U.S. troops until December 1999 when Panama assumed full control of the Panama Canal.
• The Panama Canal is in fact one of mankind’s greatest feats.  Literally separating two continents, the canal allows ships voyaging between New York and San Francisco to save 7,872 miles of travel. The Canal stretches 80 kilometers from Panama City on the Pacific coast to Colón on the Atlantic side. Providing passage for nearly 14,000 ocean-going vessels per year.
• An amazing fact is the Panama Railroad was the most expensive railroad ever built, as it cost 9 million dollars and took 5 years to build and was completed in 1855, its length being 47 miles. More than 12000 people died in the construction of the railroad. It is the oldest operating railway in the world.
• Panama is the main location in Central America where you can experience the rich cultural, historical, and traditional experiences of the Mayan and Aztec cultures.
• Panama is one of the only locations in all of Central America with the richest and most historical cathedrals are located. Many bishops came to help with the construction of the first cathedrals in Central America and were there to advise the construction.

People Customs & Culture

• Nearly 85% of the people in the country are Catholics and the remaining 15% are Protestants.
• Panama has more United States Expats than any other country in the world.
• The Panama hat originated in Panama (Indiana Jones hat).

Politics/ Legal

• Panama has had a mainly male-dominated political system since its independence that all changed when in 1999 Panama named its first woman president, Mireya Moscoso.
• Amazingly Panama is one of only a few countries in the world that decided by constitution not to have a military force. Instead, Panama has Panamanian Public Forces that were created to police the country.
• Panama is one of the few countries in the world to use 2 different types of currency. The Currency used in Panama is the Balboa and Dollar.
• An amazing fact is the Panamanian constitution gives foreigners and citizens the same right to own property.
• Most of the land rights in Panama are protected rain forests instituted by the government in 1970.

Economy

• Panama has the second-largest duty-free zone in the world. It is also the second-largest registrant for offshore companies.

Sport

• Panama’s past time is soccer is has been the official sport of Panama since its inception in the early 1900s.

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30 Amazing Facts About Uruguay | Amazing Facts 4U

Land &  Geography

• The name of the country when translated means “river of painted birds”.
• It is a small, heart-shaped country sandwiched between Argentina to the west and south and Brazil to the north. The Atlantic Ocean forms its eastern border.
• The area of Uruguay is 176,215 square kilometers.
• Uruguay is one of the most cultured countries in South America with its high literacy rate, refined manners, and high quality of life.
• In English, the country name is unique in having the letter ‘U appear three times within the first five letters.
• About 4 million people live in Uruguay.
• Montevideo is the capital and also the chief port of the country with a population of 1.7 million. It is one of the largest capital in South America outside of Brazil.
• Montevideo was originally founded in the eighteenth century as a military stronghold by the Spanish colonizers.
• Uruguay has a coastline of about 500 kilometers, which offers some of the most beautiful and scenic beaches. Most of the good beaches are located on the Atlantic Ocean.
• Uruguay has over 400 medicinal herbs.

History

• Prior to colonization, the residents of Uruguay were the Charrua Indians. The Spanish entered Uruguay in search of gold and silver deposits.
• A staggering 88% of the people are from European descendants mainly immigrants from Spain and Italy during the 19th and 20th centuries. In fact, Uruguay is the only European-style nation in all of South America.

People Customs & Culture

• The official language of Uruguay is Spanish.
• The majority of people are Roman Catholic however there is no official religion in Uruguay.
• The life expectancy at birth is 75.2 years which is the highest in South America.
• Uruguay has one of the highest literary rates in the world hovering close to 98% of the population.
• The word for Uruguayan cowboys in Spanish is Gauchos.
• The national day is celebrated on August 25 as they gained their independence in 1825 on that day.
• Dueling was legalized in 1920 in a bid by the Government to control the bloodshed. Amazingly it was legal until 1992. The limited amount of gunpowder that could be used and the fact that contests involving swords must be stopped at first blood prevented any further deaths until it was banned.

Politics/ Legal

• Jose Gervasio Artigas was an Uruguayan hero because of his strong stance in the independence war against brazil after Portugal annexed it to them. Uruguay gained its independence from Brazil in 1825.
• When Uruguay established the first government after the civil war with Spain. It chose to become a constitutional republic modeled after the USA.
• Uruguay readjusted the Electoral College in the country in 1999. This helped the country establish new governing rules for elected presidents.
• There are two traditional national parties and branches in Uruguay the National (“Blanco”) and Colorado parties, which were founded in the early 19th century.
• The Uruguayan flag has nine strips and sun in the upper left-hand corner with a human face.
• Uruguay is rated as the least corrupt country in Latin America, along with Chile.
• In 2009, Uruguay became the first nation in the world to provide every school child with a free laptop and wireless internet.

Economy & Corporates

• The official currency of Uruguay is the peso.
• The largest of its exports is agricultural products as which constitutes 70% of current exports.
• In Uruguay, there are 3 cows for every one person.

Sports

• The leading sport in Uruguay is football. Uruguay held its first FIFA world cup in 1930 Uruguay which Uruguay won. Uruguay is the smallest country in the world in terms of population to win a FIFA cup.

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55 Amazing and Interesting Facts about Nigeria | Amazing Facts 4U

Land &  Geography

• The official name of Nigeria is the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Nigeria derives its name from River Niger which is the longest and largest river in West Africa.
• Nigeria is located in West Africa, it shares a land border with Benin, Chad, Cameroon, and Niger.
• The total landmass of Nigeria is 923,768 km² (356,669 mi²). Nigeria’s north occupies 80% of Nigeria’s landmass. In size, it is four times the South.
• Nigeria has a population of nearly 178 million people making it the most populous country in Africa and the most populous black nation. Out of every seven Africans, one is Nigerian. Ethiopia is the next populous nation with a population of half of Nigeria.
• The largest city in Nigeria is Lagos with an estimated population of around 9 million people just behind Cairo. The population of Lagos’ metropolitan area is about 21,000,000 making Lagos the largest metropolitan area in the whole of Africa.
• The country is made up of 36 states and Abuja, the federal capital Territory. The capital city is of Nigeria is Abuja, which was planned out and then built in the 1980s, officially replacing Lagos as the capital in 1991.
• The highest point in Nigeria is the mountain Chappal Waddi at 2,419 m (7,936 ft).
• The Benue River and the Niger River are the largest rivers in Nigeria, they join and empty into the large Niger Delta.
• The Niger Delta is the second largest delta on the planet.
• Nigeria’s mangrove forests are the largest in Africa.

Flora & Fauna

• Nigeria is home to 4,715 different types of plant species, and over 550 species of breeding birds and mammals, making it one of the most ecologically vibrant places.
• The Jos Plateau Indigo bird, a small reddish-brown bird, is found nowhere else on the planet but Plateau state, Nigeria.
• The Anambra waxbill, a small bird of beautiful colors, is found only in Southern Nigeria.
• Nigeria also contains two species of the rarest animals in the world: the lowland Gorilla and the Drill monkey.
• Nigeria has the most diverse range of butterflies in the world.

History

• Nigeria has evidence of human existence dating back to 9000 B.C.
• Africa’s oldest known boat is The Dufuna canoe which was discovered in Dufuna village, Yobe state, in May 1987. Radio-carbon tests indicate that the canoe is over 8,000 years old, thus making it the oldest in Africa.
• Discovered in 1928, Nigeria’s North and North Central region hosts West Africa’s oldest civilization; the Nok, which flourished between 1000 BC and 300 BC.
• The capital city of Kanem-Borno, Ngazargamu, was one of the largest cities in 1658 AD; the metropolis housed “about a quarter of a million people” and had 660 well-planned, wide and unbending streets.
• Sarki Muhammad Kanta The Great of Kebbi, was the only ruler who resisted control by Songhai, West Africa’s greatest empire at that time. He founded and ruled the Hausa city-state of Kebbi around 1600 A.D and built Surame its capital, a planned city that was almost impossible to penetrate during the war. In fact, UNESCO describes Surame as “one of the wonders of human history, creativity and ingenuity”, and the most massive stone-walled constructions in West Africa.
• The Portuguese reached Nigeria in 1472. In 1880 the British began conquering Nigeria’s South. North Nigeria was conquered by 1903.
• Albert E. Kitson discovered coal in Enugu in 1909. This discovery led to the building of Port-Harcourt town in 1912.
• The Biafran Civil War started on July 6, 1967. After more than two million people were reportedly killed, the Biafran War came to an end on January 15, 1970.
• Nigeria has a long history of intermittent military coups after independence.
• Boko Haram, the fundamentalist Islamist sect in the North made a resurgence in 2011 possibly linked to al-Qaeda in 2011. It launched nearly daily deadly attacks in 2011, including one on the UN headquarters in August in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, that killed 24 people. In April 2014, the group kidnapped about 280 girls from a school who haven’t been rescued yet. Fights continue to date.

Places / Architecture

• The Walls of Benin (800-1400AD) or moat, in present-day Edo State, are the longest ancient earthworks wonder in the world. They enclose 6500 square kilometers of community lands that connected about 500 communities. At some places, walls are as high as 18 meters. It is over 16000 km long, compared to the Great Wall of China which is 21,000 Km.

People Customs & Culture

• English is the official language of Nigeria and is used in education, business, and for official purposes. Apart from this, over 30 other languages are spoken in the country.
• Amazingly Nigeria has 250 ethnic groups and tribes.
• Major tribes in Nigeria are Hausa-Fulani (29%), Yoruba (21%), Igbo (18%), Ijaw (10%) , Kanuri (4%) ,Ibibio (3.5%) and Tiv (2.5%).
• Most of northern Nigeria is Muslim while South Nigeria is Christian.
• There are more Muslims in Nigeria (60 million) than there are in Saudi Arabia (20 million), Syria, and Afghanistan combined!. The country also has the largest Muslim population in Africa.
• Amazingly Nigeria has more English speakers than England.
• Today, only Nigeria has a larger black population than Brazil. More than 3.5 million black Africans were captured, enslaved, and transported to Brazil.
• Nigeria’s population was just 16 million in 1911. It is projected to hit 444 million by 2050, surpassing the US.
• Nigeria has the 4th highest number of poor, living under a dollar a day in the entire world. 100 million are ‘destitute’.
• The Yoruba tribe has the highest rate of twin births in the world. Igbo-Ora, a little town in Oyo state, has been nicknamed the Twin capital of the World because of its unusually high rate of twins that is put as high as 160 twins per 1000 births.
• Nigeria has the highest number of musicians in the world.
• Nigeria has the highest number of police officers in Africa.
• According to old superstitions, you should not get married in May: “Marry in May and you’ll rue the day”.
• Nigeria’s Igbo tribe believes that they are descended from the lost tribes of Israel. In the eighth century B.C., Israel’s northern kingdom was invaded by Assyrians who forced the 10 tribes of Israel into exile migrating to West Africa. These ‘Jews’ of Nigeria are highly entrepreneurial and have built indigenous tanks and other weaponry.
• Amazingly the cost of living in Abuja is more expensive than the cost of living in London.
• Nigeria has more billionaires than any other country in Africa.

Politics/ Legal

• Nigeria gained independence from British in 1960.
• Nnamdi Azikwe was the first President of the Republic of Nigeria.
• Nigeria has the highest paid legislators in the entire world.
• Nigeria’s president has the highest vehicle convoy in the world.
• Based on amount squandered, of an income of $81 billion per year, Nigeria is regarded as the most corrupt nation in the world.

Economy & Corporates

• Nigeria has ancient trade history. Kano city in 1851, one of the largest in Africa, made 10 million sandal pairs and 5 million hides for export every year.
• The currency of Nigeria is called the Naira.
• Nigeria has high levels of oil reserves. Oil was discovered in the state of Bayesla in the year 1956. Port court on the Niger delta is recognized as the center of the oil industry.
• It relies a lot on crude oil exports as 90% of the export income is obtained by it’s export.
• The Nigerian film industry, dubbed Nollywood, is the 2^nd largest in the world in terms of output, producing between 1000 to 2000 films annually with an annual turnover of around $250million.
• The second-largest deposit of bitumen can be found in Nigeria.

Sports

• Football is very popular in Nigeria, the national team known as the “Super Eagles” have made 5 appearances at the World Cup.

Famous People

• With a net worth of $16 billion, Nigeria’s Aliko Dangote from Kano State in northern Nigeria is the richest Black person in the world.

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50 Amazing and Interesting Facts about Philippines | Amazing Facts 4U

Land &  Geography

• The Philippines are named after King Philip II of Spain. Explorer Ruy López de Villalobos named the Eastern Visayas Felipenas first, and then the name was applied to the whole country. The country’s official name is the Republic of the Philippines.
• The Philippines consists of 2,100 islands. The Philippines is the second-largest archipelago (an extensive group of islands) in the world after Indonesia and is made up of 7,107 islands located in the South China Sea, Philippine Sea, Sulu Sea, Celebes Sea, and the Luzon Strait.
• The Philippines has a population of more than 100 million people having annual growth of about 2% making it one of the fastest-growing countries in the world.
• Manila is considered to be the world’s most densely populated city with a population of 1.7 million with a population density of 43,000 per square km.
• The Conus gloriamus, the rarest and most expensive seashell in the world, is one of the 12,000 species of seashells found in the Philippines. The first of these shells sold at auction for about US$5,000.

Flora & Fauna

• The Philippine, or monkey-eating, eagle is the largest of all eagles and was declared the national bird of the Philippines. It is the largest of all eagles having a wingspan of almost 7 feet (2 m). It is critically endangered with only about 500 left.
• The Philippines is home to the world’s longest snake, the Reticulated Python which also happens to be the world’s longest reptile. It can grow to 28.5 feet (8.7 m) in length.
• Jellyfish Lake in the Philippines contains more than 13 million jellyfish.
• The Philippine capital city of Manila was named after the white-flowered mangrove plant, the Nilad. It is a tree with white, star-shaped flowers yielding dark blue dye. It is called the Indigo tree by other countries.
• Of the eight known species of giant clams (the largest living bivalve mollusk), seven are found in the Philippines.
• The Philippines is home to the world’s smallest hoofed animal, the Philippine mouse-deer standing about 15.8 inches (40 cm) tall at the shoulder level.
• The Philippines has the highest rate of discovery of new animal species with 16 new species of mammals discovered just in the last 10 years.

History

• After Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos and his wife Imelda fled the Malacañang Palace in 1986 after 20-year rule, she famously left behind 15 mink coats, 508 gowns, 1,000 handbags, and 1,060 pairs of shoes from a collection rumored to contain around 3,000 pairs.

Places / Architecture

• The University of Santo Tomas was founded in Manila, Philippines, by Dominican monks in 1611. It is the world’s largest Catholic university in terms of population. Later the University of San Carlos in Cebu City was founded in 1595. Both these are older than the Harvard University founded in 1636.
• The Mindanao Trench near the Philippines in the Pacific Ocean is the second deepest spot under the world’s oceans at 34,440 feet (10,497 m) explored by the German ship Emden in 1927.
• In the Philippine island province of Camiguin, there are more volcanoes (7) than towns (5) though there hasn’t been an eruption since the mid-1950s. The island has the most number of volcanoes per square km in the world.
• Mt. Pinatubo on the Philippine island of Luzon erupted on June 15, 1991, and created the largest mushroom cloud in the world. Its eruption ejected 10 billion metric tons of magma and 20 million tons of Sulphur dioxide into the stratosphere.
• The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River in Palawan, Philippines, is 5 miles (8.2 km) long. Until the discovery of a 6.2 mile (10 km) underground river in Mexico, it was the longest subterranean waterway in the world.
• The Philippines is prone to earthquakes experiencing one large magnitude earthquake (7.75 or higher on the Richter scale) every 10 years, seven earthquakes of major magnitude (7.0 to 7.4) every 10 years, and five earthquakes of moderate magnitude (6.0 to 6.9) every year.
• The largest school in the World is K-12 in Philippines with an enrollment of 25000 students.
• Of the top 10 largest shopping malls in the world, three are found in the Philippines: SM Megamall, SM North Edsa, and SM Mall of Asia.

People Customs & Culture

• The Philippines is the only majority Christian nation in Asia having 80% Roman Catholic population.
• There are about 175 individual languages spoken in the Philippines, 171 of which are living while the other 4 have no speaker left.
• English and Filipino, based on Tagalog, are the country’s two officially recognized languages. The Philippines has more than 1,000 regional dialects.
• Over 11 million Filipinos work overseas constituting about 11% of the entire population of the Philippines making them the second-largest Asian group in the United States, next to the Chinese.
• Filipinos observe the world’s longest Christmas season beginning in September and officially ends in January. As part of the festivities, they celebrate Simbang Gabi, or Night Mass where Catholics attend nine services in a row leading up to Christmas Eve. If a person attends all nine masses, it is said their wish will be granted.
• San Fernando, Philippines, is known as the “Christmas Capital of the Philippines” most famous for its parols (giant Christmas lanterns) which can rise 20 feet (6 m) in the air. Only about 10 giant parols are made each year produced each year for competition costing around US$15,000 each.
• Some Filipinos are wary of the number 13 and will avoid having 13 people at a table. Also steps to the main entrance of a house should not fall on a number divisible by three.
• Superstitious Filipinos will not travel or bathe on Holy Thursday or Good Friday during Holy Week, the week before Easter.
• According to Filipino custom, it is considered rude to open gifts immediately after they are given.
• The traditional embroidered Filipino male garment, the barong Tagalog or baro, is woven from piña, pineapple plant fibers, or jusi, banana tree fibers, and worn on formal occasions.
• In the rural Philippines, most women give birth at home and then have the baby’s placenta buried beneath the house, often with an object symbolizing what the parents hope the child will grow up to be. In the cities, this practice is prohibited.
• The Philippines is considered the text capital of the world as every day 35 million Filipinos send about 450 millions SMS messages more than the total number of daily text messages sent in the U.S. and Europe combined.

Politics/ Legal

• The Philippines was the first country in Southeast Asia to gain independence after World War II, in 1946.
• The Philippines is the only country in the world whose flag is hoisted upside down when the country is at war.
• Philippines has a problem of human trafficking with about 375,000 girls in the sex trades, mostly between the ages of 12 and 20.
• Even though the first elected Filipino president, Ferdinand Marcos, has been dead for more than two decades, his body has never been properly buried and it remains “on ice” while officials quibble about whether he should buried in the cemetery reserved for Filipino heroes and past presidents as his regime was riddled with corruption.

Economy & Corporates

• The Philippines is the world’s largest exporter of coconuts and tropical fruits, such as papaya.
• The Philippines is the world’s largest supplier of nurses, supplying roughly 25% of all overseas nurses worldwide.
• The Philippines is the world’s second biggest geothermal producer after the USA with 18% of the country’s electricity needs being met by geothermal power.
• The anti-lock braking systems (ABS) used in Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Volvo cars are made in the Philippines. Ford, Toyota, and Nissan are the most prominent automakers manufacturing cars in the country.

Sports

• Cockfighting is a centuries old blood sport still very popular, and the country has hosted several events in Manila’s Araneta Coliseum twice a year.
• Basketball is the most popular sport in the Philippines and the Phillipines Basketball Association is the first and oldest basketball in Asia and second oldest after USA.
• Manny Pacquiao is one of the best boxers having four major titles under his belt: the WBC International Super Featherweight Title, the RING Featherweight Title, the IBF Super Bantamweight Title, and the WBC Flyweight Title.
• The world record for most women breastfeeding simultaneously was 3,541, set in Manila, Philippines, on May 4, 2006.

Inventions

• The antibiotic erythromycin was invented by Filipino Dr. Abelardo Aguilar in 1949 for his company the Eli Lilly. Erythromycin is used for people who are allergic to penicillin.
• A Filipino named Roberto del Rosario patented the first working karaoke machine in 1975 meaning “singing without accompaniment” which was later made famous by Japanese.
• The world’s biggest pair of shoes was made in Marikina City, Philippines, in 2002 which measured 17.4 feet (5.3 m) in length, 7.9 feet (2.4 m) in width, and almost 6.6 feet (2 m) in height costing 2 million Philippine pesos.
• The world’s largest pearl was discovered by a Filipino diver in the Palawan Sea in 1934. Known as the “Pearl of Lao Tzu,” the gem weighs 6.35 kg and measures 9.5 inches long and 5.5 inches in diameter valuing over US$40 million.

Famous People

• War journalist Carlos Peňa Rómulo was the first Asian to win the American Pulitzer Prize for Correspondence in 1942. He was also the first Asian to become president of the United Nations.

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~ By Amazing Facts 4U Team

50 Amazing and Interesting Facts about Spain  (Part II) | Amazing Facts 4U

People Customs & Culture

• Not all Spaniards are native speakers of (Castilian) “Spanish”. There are in fact four official languages in Spain (Castilian (74%), Catalan (17%), Basque (2%), and Galician(7%)). Almost all Spaniards can speak Castilian Spanish though.
• The second most spoken language in the world is Spanish besides English.
• Spanish empire expanded in the world in the 16th century. Result is that now, more than 400 million people speak Spanish in 22 countries, including 35 million who speak it in the United States. In fact the U.S. has more Spanish speakers than Spain.
• Euskera, spoken by the Basque population in northern Spain and southern France, is one of the oldest living languages in the world.
• Traditionally, you have two surnames in Spain, the first surname from your father, and the second from your mother.
• For nearly 500 years Roman Catholicism was the official religion of Spain. It ceased to be the official religion of Spain in 1977. Around 85% of Spanish consider themselves Catholic and 40% go to church regularly. There are around 350,000 Protestants, 400,000 Muslims, and 15,000 Jews.
• Owning one’s home is very important to Spanish people, and indeed some 80% of Spanish households do. Spaniards also have the EU’s highest level of second home ownership. Spain has the third lowest overcrowding rate in the EU after the Netherlands and Cyprus.
• Spain has the second highest number of bars per inhabitants, the only country that has more bars than Spain is Cyprus.
• It’s amazing to find that 40% of Spanish people between 17-24 smoke.
• There’s a town in Spain where 700 people share the surname “Japon” as they are descendants of 17th-century samurais who stayed there after an embassy returned to Japan.
• Generally, the Spanish are not big fans of obeying the laws of traffic. The option of indicating the direction you are about to go in seems widely unknown. Be aware and take precautions while crossing the street.
• The Spaniards have a completely different life routine from other Europeans. They typically have lunch between 1 and 3 pm, dinner around 10 pm, and rarely sleep before the early hours of the night.
• Amazing fact is that Spaniards own more cars than cell phones.
• Spain had one of the fastest-growing populations in Europe in the early 1980s. In 2000, Spain had the lowest average birth rate of any country in the world, at just 1.2 children per woman. It is predicted that around 300,000 immigrants need to enter Spain each year to balance the declining number of young people.
• On May 15th all the single women in Madrid visit the chapel called Ermita de San Isidro to prick their fingers with pins and put it in a vessel, in order to find a husband.
• There are fewer marriages in Spain than in any other EU country except Sweden.
• Spain has a very low divorce rate (17%) , and few children are born outside of marriage. Just 5% of children are born to couples that are not married in Spain. In contrast, the number is 50% in Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.
• Spain is the number one country in regards to organ donations in the world.
• Spanish-speaking cultures have been known for the development of new dance styles, such as Flamenco, Merengue, Salsa, Mambo and Cha-cha-cha and Rumba, etc.
• Spain has more festivals than there are days in the year.
• Amazingly Spaniards rub garlic and tomato on their bread in the morning instead of butter or margarine.
• Running with the bulls is a Spanish festival that has been celebrated for over 300 years. Every year there are people killed while running with the bulls. However, it is still enjoyed by thousands every year as they line the streets.
• La Tomatina, or “The World’s Biggest Food Fight,” is held every year on the last Wednesday of August in the town of Buñol, outside of Valencia. Over 150,000 tomatoes are thrown.
• It is not uncommon to find men in their forties still living with their parents.
• It is common practice to cheek kiss anybody you know, even new acquaintances.
• In business, face-to-face contact is preferred to written or telephone communication.
• Don’t be surprised if you find banks closing after 2 pm.
• There are over 500,000 Gypsies currently living in Spain, with nearly half of them living in the south. Gypsies are thought to have originated in India in the 15th century.  Many Gypsies have moved to urban Spanish areas, though a large number still follow the Gypsy tradition of traveling constantly.

Economy

• 60 million tourists go to Spain every year, making it the fourth most visited country in the world.
• While Spain relies on imports for most of its oil and for 50% of its coal, the country has uranium deposits, and nuclear power accounted for 30% of the country’s electricity. It also is investing in sustainable forms of energy such as solar and wind. Spain is one of the most advanced countries in Europe in developing wind farms.
• Spain produces over 260 olive varieties. The largest producer of olive oil, Spain accounts for 45% of the world’s total olive oil production. The production is more than twice that of Italy and four times that of Greece.
• Amazingly Spain is the only country in Europe that produces bananas , besides a few small Portuguese islands.
• Spain sells over 3 billion corks per year. Spain and Portugal provide most of the world’s cork. Cork trees flourish in the dry Meseta region in Spain.
• The Madrid-Barcelona is one of the city pairs with most flights per week in the world!
• The Port of Barcelona is Europe’s largest cruise port, with approximately 3.6 million cruisers passing through the port each year.
• Spain has some of the largest gold deposits in Europe. It is also one of the world’s biggest producers of granite and marble.

Sports

• The Real Madrid and FC Barcelona have been ranked as the world’s two richest football clubs but are fierce competitors. The rivalry stems from Franco’s dictatorship; Barcelona represented an opposition to Franco while Real Madrid was favored by the regime and Franco.
• Real Madrid is the most popular club in the world with amazing over 228 million supporters.
• FC Barcelona is the biggest privately owned stadium in the world having seating capacity of 100,000 people.
• Spaniards have dominated in motor sports, football, basketball & road bicycle race. Rafael Nadal is a top ranked tennis player.
• Contrary to the popular image abroad, the majority of contemporary Spaniards does not approve of bullfighting. The practice has even been banned in the Canaries (since 1991) and in Catalonia (since 2009). The heartland of bullfighting is essentially Andalusia and Castille (mostly in and around Madrid).
• Amazing fact is that in 2000, Spain’s Paralympic basketball team had to return their gold medals  after nearly all of their players were found to have no disability.

Inventions

• Spanish surgeon and scientist Miguel Servet (1511-1553) was the first European to describe pulmonary circulation.
• The first known stapler was made in the 18th century in the Basque country for the French King Louis XV and every single staple was engraved with the royal emblem.
• Spanish sailor and engineer Isaac Peral (1851-1895) designed the first fully operative military submarine.
• Spain has also given the world the mop and bucket (1956) and the forerunner of the modern cigarette (17th century) and lollipops.
• Emilio Herrera Linares of Spain invented the space suit in 1935, originally designed for high altitude balloon flights.

Literature

• The first novel, Tirant lo Blanc (1490), was written by Spanish author Joanot Martorell (1413-1468). Translated as Tirant the White, it played an important role in the development of the Western novel.

Famous People

• Spanish culture was greatly influenced by modern art from the late 1800’s, with artists like Antoni Gaudí, Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, and Salvador Dalí.
• Spanish double agent Joan Pujol Garcia is perhaps the only person ever to receive an Iron Cross from both the British and the Germans. Code named Garbo played an important role in the success of D-Day at the end of WWII.

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~ By Amazing Facts 4U Team