World Facts: INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT VARIOUS COUNTRIES*

by Patrick Kamotho Githinji

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“ While you may consider yourself to be a knowledgeable global citizen, and
we’re sure you are, *given the dynamic and complex nature of our planet

there are certain to be at least a couple facts on this list that you will find
surprising”

-Here are 25 things that you wouldn't believe about the countries-

25: Covers the most time zones: France
*If you count everything, including overseas territories, then France
claims the title by covering 12 time zones.*

*The United States would be the runner-up with 11 and then Russia with 9.*

24: Most likely to disappear beneath the waves - Maldives
*With all the talks of global warming and rising sea levels, it is the
residents of the Maldives that have the greatest reason to fear.

With an average height of around 1.8 meters above sea level their nation
is the lowest on Earth.*

23: Most overweight population - Nauru With over 95% of its population
being overweight, the small island nation of Nauru is by far
the fattest country on Earth. Its obesity epidemic is primarily attributed to

the importation of western fast food that coincided with an increased standard

of living in the 20th century due to the global popularity of its phosphate
exports. It’s almost n sequitur…almost.

22: Roads made of coral – Guam *Because Guam doesn’t have any

natural sand, but rather coral, the isla nation makes its asphalt using a

mix of ground coral and oil rather than importing sand from abroad.*

21: Has 350 sheep for every person – Falkland Islands (UK) With only about
3,000 people the Falkland Islands are home to approximately half-a
million-sheep. Not surprisingly wool is a major export.

20: Oldest sovereign state - Egypt This largely depends upon your
definition of a sovereign state but if you are going by first
acquisition of sovereignty then Egypt would be the first country

in the world to achieve sovereignty based upon the formation of the

first dynasty in 3100 BC.

19: Most lakes in the world - Canada with over three million lakes, 9%
of canadian territory is actually fresh water and over 60% of all the lakes

in the world are found within its borders.

18: Least likely place to meet your neighbor - Mongolia  At 4 people per
square mile Mongolia is the least densely populated country on Earth.Compare
this to the Mong Kok district of Hong Kong that has the highest population

density in the world with 340,000 people per square mile.

17: Largest number of tanks - Russia  It is a strange title to hold,
but Russia has by far the most tanks of any army in the world (21,000).
Unfortunately for the motherland most of these outdated machines are

tributes to its past, and although outnumbered (16,000), the United States

has a much more advanced tank inventory.

16: The land of no rivers – Saudi Arabia Sounds a bit strange doesn’t it?
For a country as big s Saudi Arabia there has to be at least
some sort of flowing water. Well, there isn’t. Most of their fresh water comes from
desalinization of plants or underground reservoirs.

15: Youngest population of any country - Niger Generally the world's youngest
country is determined by calculating the portion of the population
that is younger than 15. Presently it is Niger that holds this distinction

with roughly half of its population having barely reached puberty (49%).

14: Most diverse country in the world - India In almost every category –
culturally, economically, climatically, racially, linguistically,
ethnically, and religiously India is either the most diverse country in

the world, or the runner-up.

13: Fastest disappearing nation - Ukraine With a natural decrease in
population of .8% annually, between now and 2050 Ukraine is expected

to lose around 30% of its people.

12: Most of its citizens live abroad - Malta After some rough economic times
coupled with an increased birth rate, Malta experienced significant immigration.

It was so significant that there are now more Maltese living abroad than within

the country itself.

11: Smaller than Central Park in New York City - Monaco Although Vatican
City is smaller (.17 sq mi) than Monaco (.8 sq mi), unlike Monaco it
doesn’t have any permament residents which leaves Monaco as the smallest

permanently inhabited nation in the world…smaller than Centre Park.

10: Almost entirely covered in jungle - Suriname  With 91% of its land covered in
jungle Suriname’s half-a-million residents live primarily along the
coast near the capital. Only 5% of the population (mainly indigenous people) live inland.

*9: Almost entirely treeless - Haiti* On the opposite end of the
spectrum is Haiti, a country that has been so badly deforested
that you can tell where it borders the Dominican Republic by looking

at a satellite image

8: Largest country with NO farms - Singapore Although there are a number of
small nations in the world that show no hint of having an
agriculture based economy,(take Vatican City for
example) Singapore is the largest of these urban city-states.

7: Most languages spoken – Papua New Although English is its official
language, only 1-2% of the population actually speak it. As the most
linguistically diverse country in the world, over 820 languages are spoken
in Papua New Guinea, or 12% of the world’s total.

6: Most educated people- Canada  With 50% of its population

having been educated at the POST SECONDARY level,Canada

easily has the most educated populace in the world. It is

followed by Israel at 45% and Japan at 44%.

5:Libya the“country desert - With 99% of the country covered
in desert, Libya is one of the most arid places in the world
and in some regions, DECADES may go by
without a single drop of rain.

4: Least peaceful nation in the world - Somalia Although for the last three
years, IRAQ has been ranked as the least peaceful country in the
world, according to the 'Global Peace
Index,' Somalia overtook it this year for the top spot.

3: Produces most of the worlds’ oxygen – Russia. Siberia is home to approximately
25% of the worlds’ forests that span an area larger than the
continental United States, making Russia the largest
converter of CO2 into breathable compounds.

2: World’s largest opium producer - Producing a whopping 95 PERCENT
of the world’s opium, not even 10 years occupation by
American forces have slowed down the industry.

1: Most people behind bars – United States.
When it comes to incarcerating its population, the United States is
the WORLDS' UNCONTESTED LEADER. With 2.2
million people BEHIND BARS, it has 5% of the WORLD'S population, but 25%
of the WORLD'S INCARCERATED POPULATION. China comes in second place at 1.5
million and Russia comes third at 870,000.

Patrick Kamotho Githinji contesting for Nairobi Central Ward