Interesting Facts About Countries

Alaska



More than half of the coastline of the entire United States is in Alaska.

Amazon



The Amazon rainforest produces more than 20%
of the world's oxygen supply.

The Amazon River pushes so much water into the Atlantic Ocean that, more than one hundred miles at sea off the mouth of the river, one can dip fresh water out of the ocean. The volume ofwater in the Amazon river is greater than the next eight largest rivers in the world combined and three times the flow of all rivers in the United States.

Antarctica



Antarctica is the only land on our planet that is not owned by any country.
Ninety percent of the world's ice covers Antarctica.
This ice also represents seventy percent of all the fresh water in the world.
As strange as it sounds, however, Antarctica is essentially a desert;
the average yearly total precipitation is about two inches.
Although covered with ice (all but 0.4% of it, ice.),
Antarctica is the driest place on the planet,
with an absolute humidity lower than the Gobi desert.

Brazil



Brazil got its name from the nut, not the other way around.

Canada



Canada has more lakes than the rest of the world combined. Canada is an Indian word meaning 'Big Village'.

Chicago



Next to Warsaw, Chicago has the largest Polish population
in the world.

Detroit



Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan, carries the designation M-1,
so named because it was the first paved road anywhere.

Damascus, Syria



Damascus, Syria, was flourishing a couple of thousand years
before Rome was founded in 753 BC,
making it the oldest continuously inhabited city in existence.

Istanbul, Turkey



Istanbul, Turkey, is the only city in the world
located on two continents.

Los Angeles



Los Angeles' full name is:
El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula
-- and can be abbreviated to 3.63% of its size: L.A.

New York City



The term 'The Big Apple' was coined
by touring jazz musicians of the 1930s
who used the slang expression 'apple' for any town or city.
Therefore, to play New York City
is to play the big time - The Big Apple.

There are more Irish in New York City
than in Dublin, Ireland;
more Italians in New York City
than in Rome, Italy;
and more Jews in New York City
than in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Ohio



There are no natural lakes in the state of Ohio, every one is manmade.

Pitcairn Island



The smallest island with country status is Pitcairn
in Polynesia, at just 1.75 sq. miles/4,53 sq. km.

Rome



The first city to reach a population of 1 million people
was Rome, Italy in 133 B.C.
There is a city called Rome on every continent.

Siberia



Siberia contains more than 25% of the world's forests.

S.M.O.M.



The actual smallest sovereign entity in the world
is the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (S.M.O.M).
It is located in the city of Rome, Italy,
has an area of two tennis courts
and, as of 2001, has a population of 80
-- 20 less people than the Vatican.
It is a sovereign entity under international law,
just as the Vatican is.

Sahara Desert



In the Sahara Desert, there is a town named Tidikelt, Algeria,
which did not receive a drop of rain for ten years.
Technically though, the driest place on Earth
is in the valleys of the Antarctic near Ross Island.
There has been no rainfall there for two million years.

Spain



Spain literally means 'the land of rabbits'.

St. Paul, Minnesota



St. Paul, Minnesota, was originally called Pig's Eye
after a man named Pierre 'Pig's Eye' Parrant
who set up the first business there.

Roads



Chances that a road is unpaved:
in the U.S.A. = 1%;
in Canada = 75%

Russia



The deepest hole ever drilled by man is the
Kola Superdeep Borehole, in Russia.
It reached a depth of 12,261 meters
(about 40,226 feet or 7.62 miles).
It was drilled for scientific research
and gave up some unexpected discoveries,
one of which was a huge deposit of hydrogen
- so massive that the mud coming from the hole
was boiling with it.

United States



The Eisenhower interstate system requires
that one mile in every five must be straight.
These straight sections are usable as airstrips
in times of war or other emergencies.

Waterfalls



The water of Angel Falls (the world's highest) in Venezuela
drops 3,212 feet (979 meters).
They are 15 times higher than Niagara Falls.