“Scottish Haggis Are Practically Extinct”: 30 Interesting Facts About Countries Round The Globe
The world is wonderfully diverse. So many different countries and so many different cultures. Traveling can broaden our horizons, of course, but some things and experiences can still remain a mystery. That's why it's always interesting to hear from the locals: what they recommend, what they advise to avoid, and what fascinating facts we should know about their native place.
Someone was curious to know more about the latter, so they asked: "What are facts about your country, which foreigners do not usually know about?" People from all around the world started sharing their countries' wonderful secrets. From national animals to lesser-known achievements, all kinds of interesting facts came to light.
What about you, Pandas? Do you happen to know any strange facts about your homeland that you think foreigners should know, too? Let us know in the comments if you do!
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As a Canadian, I cannot stress this enough: DO NOT APPROACH THE GEESE IF YOU VALUE YOUR LIFE.
French here.
Parisian don't hate you in particular.
They hate everyone.
They hate each other.
And most of them are not even born in Paris in the first place.
wrong stereotype : actually parisians don't hate you, they just ignore you !
Scotland: National animal is the unicorn. Not joking.
The Lion and the Unicorn. Lion for England and Unicorn for Scotland. The ages old symbol for the United Kingdom. I may be a Yank but I know a few things.
Brazil: We have the biggest japanese community outside Japan.
The Italian national animal is the wolf, yes, but it's usually not specified that it's the *female* wolf.
The United States was formed by a bunch of aristocrats that didn’t want to pay their taxes.
Mexico is not yellow, and I'm tired of Hollywood always making Mexico yellow in their movies.
THANK YOU! I always thought that was weird. I think it's because of the Spaghetti Westerns of the 70s and 80s. So Italians making movies about the USA and making the South West look yellow and orange to make it look hot. That's my theory at least.
One fact not even people who were born and raised know about: During World War 2 the Netherlands had one of the worst survival rates for Jews in all of the German occupied territories; only 5,000 out 105,000 survived the war. The extensive Dutch civil administration is often cited as a cause of this; once German police had access to the public records they knew exactly who was Jewish, and where they lived. Once they had that information, it was easy for them to target and deport any Jewish people living in the Netherlands.
While that is true, what is not often talked about is how much of the work tracking down Jewish people was done by Dutch people, many of whom benefitted financially from their actions. Police and civil servants got paid bonuses if they found Jews in hiding, notaries public would make a hefty commission on the sale of confiscated Jewish properties, even the national rail company got their cut charging the Germans for use of their trains to transport captured Jews to concentration camps.
Education about this aspect of the German occupation has gotten much better over the past ten years or so, but when I was a kid we were taught none of this. We only heard about the how the heroic resistance would oppose the Germans and try to hide Jewish people, when in reality there were more collaborators than there were ever members of the resistance.
I am Dutch and when I was a kid in the eighties this was taught everywhere.
I feel like too few people are really prepared for how fast the Australian sun will burn them when they get off the plane...
If your SPF isn't 50+ it might as well go in the bin.
Retirement in Australia is basically skin cancer treatments.
Slip slip slap people.
We play a game here in Oz called "Spot the Brit". It involves keeping an eye out for lobster red people in public. You see one, you've found the Brit. For some reason, Brits are the absolute worst at underestimating just how badly and how quickly the sun will burn them here. If you're travelling to Oz, don't bring sunscreen from your country - it's not formulated for our country and is effectively worthless. Buy some that's made here the moment you get off the plane and slather yourself in it before you step out of the airport.
Iceland does not have a Mcdonalds. Not sure if this is a well known fact or not but I get asked by trourists sometimes.
🇮🇪
1. We're not all drunk alcoholics.
2. We're not British.
3. There is more food and drink in 🇮🇪 than your stereotypes of potatoes, Guinness.
4. We don't like it when you claim your Irish through a long line of relatives.
5. The people here are not leprechauns. Some are just small or ginger.
Most of the haggis sold for meat are farmed in Wales. Wild scottish haggis are practically extinct.
As a Norwegian, Norway likes the "we are forward thinking and accept all people" publicity, but in reality, Norway is incredibly racist and xenophobic.
A lot of Norwegians will get angry if you point it out too.
Many people in the US do not carry firearms.
MOST. In fact the vast majority of us do not. At this point there are about 80 million gun OWNERS in the USA but there are almost 400 million guns. Most of us don't own any guns but the ones who do, own on average five guns each. Think about that. 2/3 of us own zero guns but the ones who do own guns, own around five. YOU ONLY HAVE TWO HANDS FFS. Gun culture is out of control.
My father owns 7 guns and only bought one, the rest are his father's and grand father's hunting rifles. Many gun owners with multiple firearms are gifted or inherit them from family members. His brother and my two cousins hunt so they own about 20 different guns for different types of game. I don't see anything wrong with that, both of them have gun safes and don't carry. I personally don't own any, but will likely get a Permit soon in case my father passes so I can legal posses what he leaves to me. Don't forget the people with legit armories in their basement drive up the average, I'd say 75% gun owners have a hand gun and maybe a shotgun.
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Maybe it's because the media hypes up the danger or maybe it's because I'm not used to it but it's the fact that any random person *could* be carrying a gun that gives me a slightly terrified feeling every time I visit the US.
I live in the USA and that thought terrifies me.
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Owning a gun does not mean that you customarily carry it about with you.
We also have bread that is not white sandwich bread, cheese that is not Kraft, chocolate that is not Hershey's, and beer that is not Budweiser.
I know someone who legally carries concealed whenever he leaves the house. If pushed to a life-threatening situation, he would use his weapon. Just last week in our town we had a woman who was dancing with her 4YO granddaughter when a man fleeing from police busted in and threatened them. She retrieved her firearm and shot the guy. Yay Granny! The man was only injured, and recovered, but she effectively halted his hostage-taking attempts.
Statistics clearly show that incidents where a firearm is used in self defence are significantly more likely to end badly for the gun owner. You have just added a deadly weapon to the equation and caused the criminal to panic.
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As of 2023 42% of Americans own a gun. Thats still VERY high. Edit: I added the source https://www.statista.com/statistics/249740/percentage-of-households-in-the-united-states-owning-a-firearm/
If that number is correct, and I see no reason it shouldn't be based on the source and their methodology, it should indicate why strict gun control is such a hard sell in the US. And why gun control will have little success in reducing gun crime here. There are just too many guns already, and this is only counting the legal ones.
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Mass shootings because of lax gun laws and lack or resources for mental health makes us look ridiculous to the rest of the world (and the rest of the world is correct). OP is right, though, the vast, vast majority of Americans do not own, let alone carry guns. In my fifty years I have not been in a single situation where I felt I needed a gun for safety. Our streets are not the constant shooting gallery portrayed in the media.
And yet, gun crime is so common that your schools have active shooter drills now.
Load More Replies... But those who do are much louder and defensive when it comes to 'pro or against'-discussions.
If you hunt to provide for your family, you need at least 3 different guns. (Small game, big game, birds). But yeah, to many people put guns right between religion and nationalism.
Not sure what point you're trying to make? What percentage of Americans hunt to provide for their families?
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But a terrifyingly large amount of them do. And with little to no training or regard for the danger they pose.
Several states (North Dakota, Florida, Texas!) have passed laws where you don't need a concealed gun carry permit. So, an uneducated (someone who has never taken a gun safety or education class) person with an unlicensed gun can carry it in their purse, or pocket and you and the state and federal government will never know. Think about that when you get a tinge of road rage or bump into some at the grocery store with your kid in the cart.
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My dad owns a .22 rifle for venomous snake control where we live. That is all. I own more knives and swords than he has guns.
I think your definition of many is colored by your narrow bias, while 80 million gun owners might not be most people, technically speaking and most of those might not "carry" those numbers are kind of still obscene compared to most of the world. Which I would definitely say qualifies as "many" given how weird a fascination gun ownership is. if we were talking about cake eaters I would say yeah 80milllion is not many for a country of 300m but for guns that is a s**t load of people.
I always figured the right to bear arms would be limited to those firearms available at the time the second amendment was ratified; i.e. flintlock pistols and muskets.
Just to clarify some confusion I have seen in other posts: The overwhelming gun crime in the large cities in the US are carried out by gangs - criminals who maybe have a legally obtained gun, but most likely do not. I'm all for strict gun laws nationwide - this will go far in preventing the mass shootings, which seem to be carried out by a person with legally obtained guns. However, no matter how strict the gun laws are, the multiple people killed daily in my city (Chicago) by gang violence isn't going to change much - it is a completely separate issue.
Gosh, those few bad apples are giving the rest of you a REALLY bad reputation!
Problem is not "having" the gun, but too easy access. It shouldn't be sold in the same mall as a swimsuit. It should have special requirements to get the gun.You are not old enough to drink? Then you are certainly not old enough to own a gun. It is different to own something that you inherited from your grandparents or someone else - but if you are not about to use it - ypu should secure them so no one could use them. My ex had 6 hunting rifles from his grandfather. He himself was sport shooter. But all the inherited rifles were brought every year to police station for check up and once he decided they are too old anyway and no one takes enough care of them - he had them filled and blinded, so they couldn't be used anymore, but still looked right. But couldn't hurt anyone.
I do not own, do not carry, have never even held or shot a gun in my life. And I've lived in Michigan and Virginia in particularly gun-heavy areas (gun heavy for far different reasons though).
I don't own a gun...but I thought about it and almost ALL my relatives do. My father, uncle, cousin's husband, nephew, cousin's son, my sister and step dad. 95% of those guns are for hunting though.
true - and unfortunately those who do have them do NOT seem to grasp how to keep them locked up or care if unhinged people get them.
REALLY?????????? That does not make me feel better about coming to visit.
Yeah, surprising as it may seem, a few actually don't. //sarcastic font off//
Most people I know who are paranoid and insist on having a gun when going out have zero training whatsoever. My hubby is a war vet and doesn't even have a gun that works. The only guns he owns are old memorabilia he inherited from his grandpa and the firing pins were removed. He said if you don't know how to disarm someone with your bare hands, you don't have any business carrying a gun.
Some people own more cars than the number of people in their house and cars cause more deaths than guns. Not pro or against guns but cars are SUPER dangerous, so should we ban them too? I am not trying to start an argument about it, just stating a fact.
I actually think that is more appropriate of a comparison as you meant. leaving aside feasibility, yes, we could use with less private cars, much like with guns, most people don't actually need a car, we need cars to transport merchandise, some people need them to perform their jobs, but most private cars are just used to drive a single person to their office job where they spend all day parked too, honestly this could be accomplished with many other means if transport, baning private cars that are not essential, (much like Is proposed with guns ) is not a bad idea really.
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This is a lie. Don’t believe everything you read on the internet, ffs. All Americans are 400 pounds, open carry, and eat nothing but McDonald’s.
i had the option to carry a weapon when i was working. i usually didn't and when i did feel the need of the situation i was walking into may need a little 'backup' i didn't carry a side arm or anything that was obvious. i used an ankle holster. i needed cooperation in my work and to come in to some people obviously armed immediately put people on the defensive. after retirement i resorted back to what i believe, for me at least, a better form of protection: big dogs. not mean dogs or agressive dogs. dogs that would protect but not maim. always had more than one because there is always a chance that one could get hurt and not be able to resist with me. even used to camp in the deep mountains with them and on the rare occasion someone came into my camp and made it obvious that they liked seeing a woman alone i would call them out of the tent. never a problem
Yes but the claim of the OP was not if "most" Americans own guns, it was that "many" Americans don't, it is a hard distinction but 80million Americans owning a gun Is many considering is a tool design to injure and kill, that has no other use. I think within the context of what we are talking about that qualifies as many, if we were talking about dishwashers that might not be many, but we are not.
Load More Replies... The vast majority don't. It's a small percentage of citizens that think they "have to" out in public going about their daily lives.
yes but many own guns : " There are about 393 million privately owned firearms in the US, or in other words, 120 guns for every 100 Americans. That’s the highest rate of any country in the world. "
Just because 393 million guns are owned doesn't mean there are 393 million gun owners. Read Ray's comment.
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it is "most" people do not carry firearms. we have a lot of guns - i got guns - everybody i know [almost] has guns. i know nobody that carries one around with them.
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What does being Aussie or reptiles have to do with it?
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American here, and RayCeeYa got that spot on and let’s go a step further .. by Far MOST of us also support gun control laws too, it’s crazy to most of us that some greedy special interests are “calling the shots” (yeah that’s a saying here). We’re like a country run by dumb bullies getting rich off of even dumber peoples fear . I mean, seriously ?! It makes no sense, kids here have fire drills and also “active shooter” drills … wtf?!
A few do great harm. Most never harm anyone. Most people who own guns use them for target shooting and hunting.
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In World War II Canada interned Japanese people.
Many people don't know this but what is now Strathcona and East Vancouver used to be Japantown which was a bustling Japanese community. They were taken from their homes and businesses. In fact if you visit some of the buildings in Vancouver's Pacific National Exhibition (PNE), you're visiting the very buildings they slept in; hundreds of cots, lined up with no privacy.
pierogi is already plural , no knead to call them pierogies.
Our elderly care is abysmal. Nursing homes in US costs $8-15k a month and most insurance companies don't cover it. Don't be old, kids!
Germany: The autobahn is just a mundane part of everyday life many of us don't really think about, and speed limits do exist.
It's technically true that there's no speed limit, as in there is no general speed limits like on every other type of road. However, authorities can and do enact speed limits if road conditions make one necessary. So don't expect to go blasting over the A43 at 300 kp/h for an hour or so. You'll likely be stuck in a traffic jam for that time.
There are actually more than 3 Pyramids in Egypt.
There are more pyramids in Sudan than in Egypt. Over 200 in Sudan vs 118 In Egypt
Brazil actually have strong laws against crime. We are just incapable of enforcing them. I think most Brazilians don't know this either.
Canada is a well known place for animation. A lot of US studios farm out work here and it's subsidized by the provincial governments. The standards for children's animation is high and is easily exportable to other countries.
When it comes to Dubai, 99% of people seem to be of the opinion that Dubai has no culture and little history.
Not so. When i moved there in the 80s (before it became a behemoth), the culture was very much evident.
Fishing from dhous, trading along the river, ancient traditions such as camel racing, falconry and, most impressively, creating successful nomadic communities that thrived for thousands of years in some of the most desolate areas on the globe.
And then oil was discovered.
Yeah, nowadays it's a sterile land full of influencers and luxury shops
Good Filipino hospitality only works for foreigners. Towards fellow countrymen, most Filipinos are pretty selfish.
You could say that about numerous places around the world, tbf.
Australia - has 15 ski resorts, though by international standards they're pretty lame...and expensive.
Rick and morty is animated in ireland.
like... everything about that seems wrong.
Lot of good animation studios in Ireland. Always has been going back to the 60s.
Singapore has entire clusters of crammed foreign worker housing out in the fringes of the city in industrial areas, at the edge of forests, and along the sea.
South Africa, First human heart transplant took place here. Also, the Kreepy Krauly and cat's eyes were invented here.
Note: this post originally had 40 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
Yay BP. Learned some new things from this list, and it wasn't repeating frequently featured facts.
Yeah, it was a nice surprise. I was expecting the see the inevitable "people don't get how just huge the USA is", but it didn't appear this time.
Load More Replies... The UK has a wide range of accents and dialects. Considering its small area size people are often suprised as how diverse the UK sounds. Usually when non Brits talk about a 'British' accent they are thinking of the recieved pronunciation accent that you hear many famous British people speaking in the media, such as the Royal Family, David Attenborough, Benedict Cumberbatch, Judi Dench, Jeremy Irons etc. Most of the UK does not speak with a RP accent as it's usually a sign of a private school education, which very few Brits have had given the cost of private schools. (To clear up another British sterotype I've come across: less than 1% of us went to boarding school). I think it's often taught at drama schools such as RADA and the Guildhall as well which is why so many British actors speak it. Scouse, Brummie, Geordie, Mancunaian, Cockney, Yorkshire to name just a few, all sound very different from each other and that's just in England. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have several different accents of their own as well. They are all British accents. If you tell us you love the British accent, we'll ask you which one?
To further complicate things, accents can differ in a very small distance, within cities and towns, and even from village to village, for example. Sadly, regional and local accents are becoming less distinct because of the influence of media and increased social mobility.
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Late to the party, but another Netherlands factoid: our country really is "nether", much more than you might think. 40% or so is below sea level, mostly West and North. So if you're in Amsterdam or the tulip fields, you might actually be several meters under. Which is why we have dykes and windmills.
Son: "So what's a Frisian?" Me: "It's someone from one of the regions that made up what was known as the Netherlands, before the Netherlands became the name of just one country." Son: "So one of the nether regions?" Oh, he was perfectly deadpan, but he knew, he knew...
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Canada has sales tax that's calculated at the till, not in the price on the shelf. The amount varies by province because provincial sales tax (PST) is set by the provincial government (in all provinces except Alberta and the three territories, which don't have PST). There is also goods and services tax (GST) which is country-wide. I tend to forget this when I visit now, and get confused as to why things are suddenly costing more than they were advertised.
Also, the elk are not nice and will hurt you. Do not go near them.
Load More Replies... Same with the firearms post in the US but with cars - many people don't own either, but if you are an owner you likely own multiple, especially if you're counting by households - if you're middle-class and don't live in a big city you usually own at least one car per person over 15 years old living there (it's the standard 15/16 birthday gift). If you're doing well you often own a "daily driver" and at least one "fun" car (again, assuming you like cars).
The Okanagan Valley in British Columbia is a desert, will all the fauna you'd expect, including turtles, reptiles, and rattlesnakes. [ https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/okanagan-snake-varieties-tips-1.6848623 ]
Might have heard it before, but in case you haven't. Australia actually exports both sand and camels to the middle east. Camels were imported here way back when, some got free (or were deliberately released) now we have a sizeable feral camel population.
Italian food isn’t just pizza and spaghetti. We actually have probably the most complicated food policy, with strict rules we must observe when it comes to eat (in a house seat at a table with your family) with regards to kind of food, the way it’s cooked, the way it’s served and the order it’s eat, which varies depending the time of the day and even more severe some food might be eat togheter while some other can’t. Much more complicated than any other fashion wherever.
Haggis are not real animals. This is a joke that has been around forever. Why is Buzzfeed presenting it as a "fact"?
Playing rather fast and loose with the term "facts" here, aren't we, BP? Some of these "facts" are just personal opinion, other are complete myth! I expected better of you, but BP has definitely gone downhill recently, very few of the truly fascinating articles I liked so much when I joined a few years back, and a lot more nonsense like this or just gossip and crass materialism than before. Pity, BP was my go-to site when I wanted something engaging and informative to read, but that's just not the case anymore.
How impatient are you that you honk at a driver for stopping at a yield (a 'give way' in the UK)? It may have been a new or cautious driver or one who was unfamiliar with the area. There are many reasons that a driver might make a seemingly unnecessary stop, and if they are anything like me I can understand why they'd be annoyed at someone honking away because I delayed them by a couple of precious seconds.
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Yay BP. Learned some new things from this list, and it wasn't repeating frequently featured facts.
Yeah, it was a nice surprise. I was expecting the see the inevitable "people don't get how just huge the USA is", but it didn't appear this time.
Load More Replies... The UK has a wide range of accents and dialects. Considering its small area size people are often suprised as how diverse the UK sounds. Usually when non Brits talk about a 'British' accent they are thinking of the recieved pronunciation accent that you hear many famous British people speaking in the media, such as the Royal Family, David Attenborough, Benedict Cumberbatch, Judi Dench, Jeremy Irons etc. Most of the UK does not speak with a RP accent as it's usually a sign of a private school education, which very few Brits have had given the cost of private schools. (To clear up another British sterotype I've come across: less than 1% of us went to boarding school). I think it's often taught at drama schools such as RADA and the Guildhall as well which is why so many British actors speak it. Scouse, Brummie, Geordie, Mancunaian, Cockney, Yorkshire to name just a few, all sound very different from each other and that's just in England. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have several different accents of their own as well. They are all British accents. If you tell us you love the British accent, we'll ask you which one?
To further complicate things, accents can differ in a very small distance, within cities and towns, and even from village to village, for example. Sadly, regional and local accents are becoming less distinct because of the influence of media and increased social mobility.
Load More Replies... Late to the party, but another Netherlands factoid: our country really is "nether", much more than you might think. 40% or so is below sea level, mostly West and North. So if you're in Amsterdam or the tulip fields, you might actually be several meters under. Which is why we have dykes and windmills.
Son: "So what's a Frisian?" Me: "It's someone from one of the regions that made up what was known as the Netherlands, before the Netherlands became the name of just one country." Son: "So one of the nether regions?" Oh, he was perfectly deadpan, but he knew, he knew...
Load More Replies... Canada has sales tax that's calculated at the till, not in the price on the shelf. The amount varies by province because provincial sales tax (PST) is set by the provincial government (in all provinces except Alberta and the three territories, which don't have PST). There is also goods and services tax (GST) which is country-wide. I tend to forget this when I visit now, and get confused as to why things are suddenly costing more than they were advertised.
Also, the elk are not nice and will hurt you. Do not go near them.
Load More Replies... Same with the firearms post in the US but with cars - many people don't own either, but if you are an owner you likely own multiple, especially if you're counting by households - if you're middle-class and don't live in a big city you usually own at least one car per person over 15 years old living there (it's the standard 15/16 birthday gift). If you're doing well you often own a "daily driver" and at least one "fun" car (again, assuming you like cars).
The Okanagan Valley in British Columbia is a desert, will all the fauna you'd expect, including turtles, reptiles, and rattlesnakes. [ https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/okanagan-snake-varieties-tips-1.6848623 ]
Might have heard it before, but in case you haven't. Australia actually exports both sand and camels to the middle east. Camels were imported here way back when, some got free (or were deliberately released) now we have a sizeable feral camel population.
Italian food isn’t just pizza and spaghetti. We actually have probably the most complicated food policy, with strict rules we must observe when it comes to eat (in a house seat at a table with your family) with regards to kind of food, the way it’s cooked, the way it’s served and the order it’s eat, which varies depending the time of the day and even more severe some food might be eat togheter while some other can’t. Much more complicated than any other fashion wherever.
Haggis are not real animals. This is a joke that has been around forever. Why is Buzzfeed presenting it as a "fact"?
Playing rather fast and loose with the term "facts" here, aren't we, BP? Some of these "facts" are just personal opinion, other are complete myth! I expected better of you, but BP has definitely gone downhill recently, very few of the truly fascinating articles I liked so much when I joined a few years back, and a lot more nonsense like this or just gossip and crass materialism than before. Pity, BP was my go-to site when I wanted something engaging and informative to read, but that's just not the case anymore.
How impatient are you that you honk at a driver for stopping at a yield (a 'give way' in the UK)? It may have been a new or cautious driver or one who was unfamiliar with the area. There are many reasons that a driver might make a seemingly unnecessary stop, and if they are anything like me I can understand why they'd be annoyed at someone honking away because I delayed them by a couple of precious seconds.
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