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36 Unpopular Facts About Different Countries Earnestly Shared By Locals Themselves
With over 195 countries on our planet, the world is a pretty strange place if you think about it. Every country is vastly different, whether it be the geography, the culture, or just the people living in it. However, isn’t it this exact diversity that makes things appealing?
Speaking of interesting things about countries, netizens revealed some of the most random facts of their homelands, and boy, are they intriguing. While some are just hilariously bizarre, others might actually blow your mind. We have collected the best ones for you, so just scroll down to check them out!
More info: Reddit
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#1
Suriname
Suriname is the greenest country in the world, and one of just a handful of carbon-neutral countries. Approximately 95% of the country is Amazon rainforest.
RELATED:
#2
Scotland
William Wallace was a knight. An armour wearing, horse riding, sword wielding knight. He wasn't some woad wearing mud grubber who lived in a hut, he was a nobleman.
Almost nothing in Braveheart represents the historical figure accurately.
Norfolk and good 21 hours ago (edited)
Most historians agree that Braveheart is one of the most historically inaccurate movies ever. For one thing, the Battle of Stirling Bridge seems to be missing a bridge.
#3
United States Of America
There's a statue of George Washington in London's Trafaglar Square planted upon a mound of dirt imported from Washington's home state of Virginia due to his vow to "never again step foot on British soil" .
Pedantic Panda 21 hours ago
The JFK memorial in Runnymede, Surrey, is also technically US soil as it was given as a gift by Lizzy Windsor.
Lee Gilliland 17 hours ago
There's a statue of George in the Smithsonian in Roman robes. He looks like he just got out of the bath.
As you scroll through the list, you might be surprised by a few of them, but isn’t that the whole point of these “interesting facts?” After all, it's fun dropping random facts like this and increasing people's curiosity. Also, research shows that curiosity can spark dopamine within humans, giving them a little squirt when these facts are laid out.
Basically, our brains get a tiny happiness boost when we share information that surprises other people. Suddenly, you’re not just chatting, you’re the fun fact person, the cultural ambassador, the most interesting human in the room for five seconds. Moments like, “I’ve been waiting my whole life to tell someone this,” might not come too often, so when they do, obviously, anyone would seize it!
#4
Japan
Japan isn't some magical utopia like you see in your animes, nor is it some Madmax hellscape like people on Reddit would like you to believe. It's just like any country in the world with its own pros and cons.
#5
Australia
At the end of World War Two Australia had the 4th largest air force in the world.
Australia also had the largest total military strength during WW2 of the Allies.... as a % of population.
#6
Argentina
Legally, the president must be the godfather of the seventh son or daughter of a family, or else the child could become a werewolf or witch.
Not sure if this law is actually enforced lol.
Nicole Weymann 3 hours ago
FWIW: Germany has a similar, if less whimsical, tradition. Upon request the Federal President assumes the symbolic honorary role of godfather to a family's seventh child. It's limited to one event per family (with twins it's for both kids), and comes with a one-time gift of 500 €. No werewolves or witches involved.
A lot of these random country facts come from a place of cultural pride, even when they are framed as jokes. Sharing a quirky law, an unhinged food combo, or a hyper-specific tradition is a subtle way of stating where you come from. Experts call this identity signaling: we use small, memorable details to show people who we are and what shaped us.
Instead of giving a whole backstory or history lesson, people drop a fun fact and let it do the work. It’s also a shortcut to connection. When someone reacts with curiosity, disbelief, or laughter, it creates an instant bond. For people from smaller countries, these facts can feel like a way to put their home on the map for a few seconds. After all, these facts aren’t just about being interesting; they’re about being seen.
#7
United States Of America
The "Eagle" cry that is played on almost every sports network, animated graphic, etc. is not a real Bald Eagle Cry. Someone along the line decided that the Bald Eagle Cry. Just wasn't cool enough and had to be dubbed over with a Red Tailed Hawk cry instead. No idea why. It's really a dumb fact, also Benjamin Franklin wanted our national bird to be the Turkey, which, as of late, seems more fitting given how utterly cooked we are.
Huddo's sister 6 hours ago
Just like when tiger roars are used instead of lions in films, they sound more impressive
Auntriarch 3 hours ago
Reindeer noise tends to be the noise they make during the mating season, because that's the only time they make much noise
#8
Brazil
The longest border France shares with another country is with Brazil, through French Guiana, measuring 730 kilometers in length.
#9
Australia
Probably the most well known two for Australia:
We feel the need to tell every US Citizen here on holiday that Paul Hogan Lied to them about Fosters and Shrimp on the Barbecue.
Mentioning the line is also the fastest way to alienate yourself from Australians and be branded an absolute Nose Goblin by anyone unfortunate enough to be within earshot.
(for context for the younger generations, the main actor from Crocodile Dundee did a bunch of US-Focused ad campaigns for tourism to visit the land down under, where he frequently refers to drinking fosters brand beer (which is actually owned by the japanese company Asahi, not an australian distributor and is seen prompting the viewer to 'throw a shrimp on the barbie')
I have never met an Australian that drinks Fosters, nor have I ever found an Australian Pub that has Fosters on tap, secondly, in Australia shrimp generally refers to the freshwater variation - the saltwater variant that we all eat is very much called a "prawn" in Australia, no one refers to them as shrimp.
and a lesser known one:
We also lost a Prime Minister once upon a time who went swimming at the beach and disappeared one day,
Popular theories included a Communist submarine picking him up and kidnapping him - Though it is generally considered that he likely drowned for some reason or another - anyway in true Aussie fashion we named a public swimming pool after him.
You can read about it here:
The Curious Disappearance of Prime Minister Harold Holt
Huddo's sister 7 hours ago (edited)
I used to see Fosters consumed more in Australia, maybe 20 years ago. We do sell it here but even most bogans won't drink it now.
Also, don't you think that these interesting facts are actually tiny stories with lots of information? You don’t need context, expertise, or a long attention span to enjoy them. A single sentence like “In my country, this totally normal thing would get you arrested elsewhere” is enough to stop the scroll and spark curiosity.
Well, short-form storytelling plays a huge role here. Besides, knowing such facts and actually visiting a country to witness it sounds super exciting. In fact, I feel that these snippets of information are actually like verbal postcards that give us a tiny glimpse into what life is like in that country.
#10
Mexico
There is a church in the town of Santa Rosalía built entirely out of metal. It was designed by Gustave Eiffel, shown at the 1889 Paris world's fair, and then brought to Mexico.
pelemele 18 hours ago
With a bit of luck, the church should behave like a Faraday cage, so there is no risk ^^
Load More Replies... #11
New Zealand
If you look at the map of our North Island, you'll see a decent sized lake in the middle of our North Island - Lake Taupo.. that lake is actually the cauldron of a super volcano, and it's last eruption was the biggest eruption the world's seen in the last 5000 years.
Oh, and it's not extinct - just sleeping.
Huddo's sister 6 hours ago
If I ever get overseas again I want to go to New Zealand! My sister is going in November, but I will have a young baby by then so probably won't be up to it. If only her flight credits from way back in Covid times didn't expire after that, we could have gone together!
#12
Germany
University is not free, health care is not free, not everything is closed on sundays, you can get free water, you not always have to pay to pee on public toilets, THE AUTOBAHN IS NOT A RACE TRACK recommended speed is 130 kph when you are faster and cause an accident you have to pay out of your own wallet. And no, you are not Michael Schumacher if you drive your private car around 1 lap on the Nordschleife. You may become Youtube Famous on how you wreck your car and have to pay for every damage on the guard rail. 1 meter costs 70,- Euros. Aaaand yes, you have to speak German when you wanna work and live here.
Sally Moen 14 hours ago (edited)
I have ancestral roots in Germany, and I'd like to visit. Thanks for the real info
Huddo's sister 7 hours ago
So do I, though we don't really know much about that side of the family, except they originally settled in SA before moving to northern Victoria. When we were kids my brother was obsessed with Germany for a time and tried to teach himself German, but all I think he knows are the lyrics to 99 Luftballons.
Load More Replies... Daniela Keks 1 hour ago
The last one should be but isn't true. While we expect refugees to integrate via language, english is commonly accepted at the other end of the social spectrum of imigration. I have met numerous scientists who have been living in Germany for years but weren't even able to order a meal in German.
Rali Meyer 3 hours ago
University is very cheap, though. Just checked my old uni: give or take €500 per semester (half year). On the Autobahn you don't pay (all) out of your own pocket having an accident over 130 kph. You get partial blame. And if you have full comprehensive insurance, it's covered (minus your premium). Most of the Autobahn is restricted to 120 kph and less. Read the signs.
My favorite part of such facts is looking at the ones that sound fake but are actually a hundred percent true. Research shows that we live in an internet era flooded with misinformation, satire, and fake trivia accounts. That's why people have become skeptical, especially when a fact sounds too weird, specific, or inconvenient to believe.
Due to this, genuinely true cultural practices, laws, or traditions are often dismissed as myths, exaggerations, or jokes. This disbelief hits people from smaller or lesser-known countries especially hard. When your country doesn’t show up often in global media, pop culture, or school textbooks, your lived experience is already unfamiliar to most people.
I mean, I would be so disappointed if I shared an interesting fact about my country and people said it's fake, wouldn't you?
#13
United States Of America
Our state and national parks are why you should visit us, not our cities. We have a very robust park system in pretty much every biome. You can hike and camp in almost every one. Please, take a day outside of LA or NYC and visit a nearby state/National park for a day. You won't regret it. .
Bored Retsuko 14 hours ago
Like so many other places in the world - beautiful but unsafe to visit.
Sally Moen 14 hours ago
My state has a rather large rainforest with large old-growth cedar trees. Also Bigfoot, if you believe in that
#14
Canada
Most of Canada’s population lives south of Seattle.
#15
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan is the largest double landlocked country, other one being Liechtenstein, biggest of only 2 countries with such geographic location.
Rali Meyer 3 hours ago
is there a triple landlocked country? Asking for a friend. Is there nothing more worthwhile to mention about Uzbekistan? Really?
Nicole Weymann 2 hours ago (edited)
*Double* landlocked. The countries they border would have to be landlocked, too. Austria and Switzerland border Italy and Germany (plus a dozen more), which have access to the Mediterranean, Baltic, and North Sea, plus Atlantic in general.
Load More Replies...Well, dear readers, these facts have already worked their charm on me, and I hope they did the same for you. My favorite one was definitely about Suriname, and it's going into my list of places to visit for sure! What about you? Did any fact intrigue you so much that you are tempted to travel to the country? We would love to hear your thoughts, so drop them in the comments below!
#16
Switzerland
"Our country is better than yours."
But that one usually results in a smack or two, so I prefer to stick to: There’s a mountain pass in Switzerland where rain can end up in three different seas. At the lunghin pass, a single raindrop can flow into the north sea via the rhine, the adiatic sea via the po, and the black sea via the danube.
Norfolk and good 21 hours ago
Switzerland is a beautiful country, but you'd need to be rich to live there comfortably as it has one of the highest costs of living in the world.
#17
United Kingdom
Glastonbury festival is *not* held in Glastonbury and I cannot forgive them for diminishing the one interesting thing about my hometown.
SomeFaustkateer 15 hours ago
Welcome to Woodstock, NY, where the famous 1969 concert was not held.
Norfolk and good 21 hours ago (edited)
Yeah, but Pilton Festival doesn't have the same ring to it. 🤘🎸
Michael Largey 17 hours ago
Unless the Pilton Man makes a special appearance.
Load More Replies... #18
Serbia
Our hyperinflation (1992-1994) peaked at 116.545.906.563.330%. Daily inflation was 62% and hourly was 2.03%
Dad would receive his salary and immediately run to convert as much as possible into a foreign currency. At one point A PENCIL cost more than average monthly salary.
Sally Moen 14 hours ago
Funny how different a kid's experiences are living there would be compared to an American kid
#19
New Zealand And Scotland
I'll do a little combo of my two homes for mine: The original (Gaelic) name of Scotland's capital, Edinburgh, was Dùn Èidean.
When the Scottish colonists landed in New Zealand's South Island, they named their settlement Dunedin, which is the Anglicised equivalent.
If you look at the maps of the two cities, you'll find it didn't end there: They share a large number of road names, hill names etc and in some cases they are even in the "right order" as you watch the road names pass you by.
#20
India
We have a really advanced nuclear and space program.
India is one of only a few nations worldwide and the only developing one that possesses
Complete nuclear fuel cycle from uranium mining → fuel fabrication → power generation → reprocessing → waste management.
Three-stage civilian strategy (PHWR → FBR → Thorium reactors) is also unmatched in long-term vision.
No other developing country has achieved that level of *technological sovereignty. (*Our nuclear program was primarily developed indigenously due to us facing severe restrictions from test nuclear wmds)
We developed Asia's first nuclear research reactor and the world's first nuclear reactor to use U 233 as fuel. We also are developing AWHR ,world’s first reactor concept centered on thorium utilization and passive safety. BARC also finished fuelling a sodium cooled fast breeder reactor which has set us on a path to be the 2nd nation to fully develop a FBR.
Siegfried Heckler a former director of Las Alamos laboratory after visiting Indian nuclear facilities said that "Indian nuclear facilities are one of the most advanced in the world , more advanced than anything in the US and only matched by facilities present in Russia"
Our Space Program is really advanced too -
Discovered water molecules on the Moon (Chandrayaan-1, 2008)
First Mars mission to succeed on its maiden attempt (Mangalyaan, 2014)
Least expensive interplanetary mission ever (Mangalyaan, 2014)
Record launch of 104 satellites in a single mission (PSLV-C37, 2017)
The most power earth imaging satellite (a collab with NASA and ISRO)
First landing near the lunar south pole (Chandrayaan-3, 2023)
The most powerful satellite imager on lunar orbit (Chandrayaan-2)
First solar mission to the L1 point from Asia (Aditya-L1, 2023).
Rick Murray 15 hours ago
This is a lesson the west is going to learn the hard way. Saying "no, this is ours, you can't" doesn't mean the one denied goes without, it means the one denied is going to develop their own, which may end up being something better as the west sits on their årse smug about being the best until suddenly they find they aren't any longer. Doesn't India also have a pretty vibrant mobile phone ecosystem that is nothing to do with Android or Apple?
#21
Chile
My country has the biggest earthquake ever recorded, tilting the Earth axis, and causing tsunami waves all the way to Hawaii.
#22
Germany
Its legal to break out of prison .
Ace 22 hours ago
Not as such. It's just not regarded as an offence in its own right, whereas in some/most places a prison break will bring extra charges.
WindySwede 18 hours ago
same here, but I think they talk about fixing that??
Load More Replies... #23
Bangladesh
We rejected Israel's recognition of us as an independent state
#24
United States Of America
My state is home to a real live gun worshiping cult. As in, they worship AR-15s. Rod of Iron Ministries. They've been buying up land too, and say they're planning to have their own town. They are an offshoot of the Unification Church I believe, and they have mass weddings I think once a year.
Vice did a video on them.
I just think this is crazy. I mean we have plenty gun culture here, but they are a whole nother level.
Onan Hag All 1 hour ago (edited)
Blimey, just when you thought your opinion of the US couldn't sink any lower.
#25
Colombia
Colombia 🇨🇴:
We had the longest internal armed conflict in the western hemisphere, lasting more than 60+ years, some documents argue that it started as early as in the 1910 with the banana wars. And that conflict left also the second biggest amount of displaced people IN THE WORLD out of the violence, being more than 8 million people displaced. Literally just surpassed by the displaced population result of the civil war in Syria.
Colombia has a really, really sad story that unfortunately not many people remember and commemorate, reason why today's population still elects governors that are active denials of the conflict, and even worst, of the participation of the state in that conflict, and EVEN worst, by diminishing the participation of the paramilitary and narcotrafic* groups.
Colombia 🇨🇴, also, despite not being the top 10 largest countries in the world by mass, has the biggest concentration and variety of birds 🐦 than any other country, even more than Brazil 🇧🇷.
Also, Colombia 🇨🇴 has the biggest concentration of Paramos compared to any other country in the world. Paramos are a very specific ecosystem that could be described as a high altitude forest, reaching normal temperatures of 0°. Evolution and adaptation let to the vegetation of these plans to capture particles of water from the air. So yes, Paramos are IN FACT factories of water, the purest water possible.
-Surprisingly there are mining projects from 🇨🇦 Canadian companies and some Middle Eastern countries in those Paramos, reason why a lot of colombians have somehow a resentment towards 🇨🇦 Canada (because a lot of massive mining companies that are literally poisoning virgin areas and highly important areas of the country, are canadian)
Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela and Panama, some parts of the north of Peru and the north west of brasil used to be one country like 250 years ago, it was named The Great Colombia (La gran Colombia), but emotionally unstable and immature mfs "leaders" let to everyone to run their own country somehow (Panama was kind of different and of course the U.S. help a lot to the separation).
The Andes cordillera, that goes along all the best of south America, decides and splits in 2 when it gets to continental Colombia, so we call that the 3 cordilleras. That created some really beautiful geography, and kind of somehow contributed to some regions of the same country to develop a culture very different to other, because they were separated by massive mountains.
🇨🇴 Colombia and Venezuela 🇻🇪 are very sinilar as well in population origins, but Venezuelans are more Caribbean, as most of the big cities are long the Caribbean coast; and Colombia is more Andes, as a great great part of the population, also some of the biggest cities, are far from the sea and in high altitude mountains, contributing to a more tempered and chilly weather.
Julio Garavito, who is the man that shows up in the previous 20k note, was a recognised scientist and contri it3d a lot to astronomy back then and science in general, and he was Colombian.
#26
United Kingdom
It is illegal to handle salmon in suspicious circumstances.
Norfolk and good 21 hours ago
Salmon Act 1986. It means it's illegal to buy and sell salmon if you know it was illegally caught. Illegal salmon fishing was a problem in the UK, especially Scotland, in the 80s.
#27
Canada
Did you know that we didn’t really have our current flag until 1965?
Tucker Cahooter 10 hours ago
And it is so distinctive, unlike so many others that are just three horizontal stripes or three vertical stripes
Michael Largey 17 hours ago
The US didn't have our current flag until 1959, when Hawaii was admitted as a state.
#28
Sweden
You know how people always tell others on reddit that Japan isn’t a magical utopia. The same needs to be said about Sweden.
Unemployment is a nightmare, way worse than most western countries, it’s cold, dark and lonely. Lots of immigrants and expats struggle building new lives despite trying to fit in etc.
If you still insist it’s the best place on earth, then at least consider Norway, since it’s a better version across the board.
#29
Hungary
A hungarian doctor figured out that washing hands might actually be pretty important.
Pedantic Panda 20 hours ago
Horrific what happened to him, probably died as a result of what happened to him in the two weeks he was locked up
Load More Replies... #30
China
In 2017, we fell out with North Korea over the nuclear issue. KCNA openly accused China of “going with the flow of the United States,” and we responded by saying, “KCNA, your criticism of China is unreasonable.”.
#31
United States Of America
The Sixth Largest Pyramid in the world is also a Bass Pro Shop, it is what we refer to as “Redneck Mecca”.
Edit: It's the seventh largest pyramid in the world.
#32
Canada
Canada is the only G7 country with no strategic gold reserves.
Ghostchaplain16 10 hours ago
Michael, you appear to be on a roll today! :)
Load More Replies... #33
Canada
We invented peanut butter, basketball, and insulin.
Bi.Felicia 17 hours ago
Well, technically a Canadian-American physical education teacher, Dr. James Naismith invented basketball at an international YMCA training school in Springfield, MA in 1891. In MA, where I'm from, we have a special license plate option, that states that we are the birthplace of basketball.
#34
Lithuania
Lithuania was the biggest European country for around 300 years.
Unicorn 22 hours ago
That's highly suspect. Just look at how much of Russia is west of the Urals.
Ace 21 hours ago
It was the joint Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, also incorporated Latvia and most of what is now Belarus and Ukraine, as well as a fair amount of modern-day Russia.
Load More Replies... #35
India
During our independence on 15th August 1947, none of our leaders were aware of what Indian border will look like. Cyril Radcliffe a British civil servant was responsible for drawing borders and the result was not made available to both India and Pakistan leaders on our Independence Day. So both side celebrated Independence Day not knowing how there borders will look like.
British did that on purpose to not drag on independence for long as they know that both side won’t be happy with borders. To till this day we are suffering due to illogical borders drawn by British.
Michael Largey 17 hours ago
The West didn't do such a hot job drawing borders in the Mideast or Africa, either.
#36
Reunion Island
Reunion Island 🇷🇪 have the most active volcano of the world
And a cult leader escape prison with a stolen helicopter
Michael Largey 17 hours ago (edited)
He had to steal a helicopter? In our country, pedophiliac cult leaders have them provided by the government.
Explore more of these tags
What do you think ?
Tim Fawcett 22 hours ago
I know ir is an almost unknown fact to the non-British - but most of the UK actually exists outside of London.
Lee Gilliland 17 hours ago
And it's beautiful. Wonderful castles and houses. Pub food is wonderful. The only problem is the weather.
Load More Replies...
Tim Fawcett 22 hours ago
I know ir is an almost unknown fact to the non-British - but most of the UK actually exists outside of London.
Lee Gilliland 17 hours ago
And it's beautiful. Wonderful castles and houses. Pub food is wonderful. The only problem is the weather.
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