Twenty-two countries and cities beyond Europe, from Japan, China, India and Australia to Brazil, Mexico, Canada and Egypt, plus Sydney, Havana, Cartagena and Marrakech, with the customs, inventions and natural wonders that make each unique.
Travel beyond Europe and the world becomes even more varied. This collection visits eighteen countries across five continents, from the Americas (Canada, Mexico, Cuba, Brazil, Argentina and Ecuador) to Africa (Egypt and Madagascar), Asia (Japan, China, India, Iran, Mongolia, Thailand, Vietnam and North Korea) and Oceania (Australia and New Zealand), plus four unforgettable cities: Sydney, Havana, Cartagena and Marrakech.
Many familiar things have surprising origins in these places. Ketchup began as a Chinese fermented fish sauce, shampoo and snakes and ladders came from India, Hawaiian pizza was invented in Canada by a Greek immigrant, Panama hats are made in Ecuador, and the Granny Smith apple was born by accident in a Sydney suburb. Argentina made the world's first animated feature film, and Mexico gave us chocolate and an early colour television.
Each country also has its own extraordinary records and quirks. China runs on a single time zone, Canada keeps a strategic reserve of maple syrup and has more lakes than the rest of the world combined, Australia once lost a war against emus, and Mongolia has more horses than people. Ecuador's Mount Chimborazo is the closest point on Earth to the Sun, and a Japanese hotel has been operating since 705 AD.
From Cuba's 1950s cars to Thailand's 46-metre reclining Buddha and Madagascar's forests of stone needles, the articles below are full of surprises. Choose a destination to read fifteen facts.
Every item on this page, with the one fact most people get wrong about it.
| Name | Where you'll meet it | The fact worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Argentina | South America | The world's first animated feature film was made in Argentina. |
| Australia | Oceania | Australia once lost a war against emus. |
| Brazil | South America | Brasília was built from scratch in just 41 months. |
| Canada | North America | Canada keeps a strategic reserve of maple syrup. |
| China | East Asia | The whole country runs on a single official time zone. |
| Cuba | Caribbean | Cuba is home to the world's smallest bird. |
| Ecuador | South America | Mount Chimborazo is the closest point on Earth to the Sun. |
| Egypt | North Africa | The world's oldest woven garment was found in Egypt. |
| India | South Asia | Both shampoo and the word for it originated in India. |
| Iran | Western Asia | Iran is the last refuge of the Asiatic cheetah. |
| Japan | East Asia | A Japanese hotel has been operating since the year 705. |
| Mexico | North America | Mexico City is sinking into an ancient lakebed. |
| Mongolia | Central Asia | Horses outnumber people in Mongolia. |
| New Zealand | Oceania | It was the first country to give women the vote. |
| North Korea | East Asia | State media claimed Kim Jong Il shot 38 under par in golf. |
| Thailand | Southeast Asia | It is the only Southeast Asian country never colonised by a European power. |
| Vietnam | Southeast Asia | Son Doong Cave has its own weather system and rainforest. |
| Madagascar | Indian Ocean | Over 90 percent of its wildlife is found nowhere else. |
| Sydney | Australia | A secret lake lies beneath St James station. |
| Havana | Cuba | Britain once traded Havana back to Spain in exchange for Florida. |
| Cartagena | Colombia | Its city walls stretch for about 11 kilometres. |
| Marrakech | Morocco | You can ski and swim on the same day. |
Oldest Hotel
Since 705 AD
A Japanese hotel has been operating continuously since the year 705. Japan
Closest Point to the Sun
Mount Chimborazo
Because of Earth's bulge at the equator, Ecuador's Chimborazo is the closest point on the planet to the Sun. Ecuador
Fastest-Built Capital
41 months
Brazil built its new capital, Brasília, from scratch in just 41 months. Brazil
Most Chopsticks
80 billion a year
China manufactures more than 80 billion disposable chopsticks every year. China
South America
Argentina is the world's eighth-largest country, and its official national sport is pato, not football. Aconcagua is the highest peak outside Asia, and a Welsh-speaking community still lives in Patagonia. Ushuaia is the southernmost city on Earth.
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Oceania
Australia has more kangaroos than people, and wombats produce cube-shaped poop. The Dingo Fence is longer than the Great Wall of China, and Lake Hillier is naturally bright pink. Nobody has died from a spider bite since 1979.
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South America
Brazil is the only Portuguese-speaking country in the Americas and has the largest Japanese community outside Japan. It has been the world's coffee capital for 150 years, and Snake Island is off-limits to almost everyone. It is home to more uncontacted tribes than anywhere else.
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North America
In Canada an apology cannot be used as an admission of guilt in court, and Alberta has been rat-free since the 1950s. Churchill, Manitoba, has a jail for polar bears, and Hawaiian pizza was invented in Ontario. Canada has more lakes than all other countries combined.
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East Asia
Ketchup began as a Chinese fermented fish sauce, and paper money was invented in China centuries before Europe used it. Tens of millions of people live in modern cave homes, and rural police use geese as guards. China once had a traffic jam that lasted twelve days.
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Caribbean
Cuba's streets are a rolling museum of 1950s American cars, and official Coca-Cola sales are banned. Government vehicles must pick up hitchhikers, and snow has fallen on the island only once. Ernest Hemingway gave his Nobel Prize to the Cuban people.
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South America
Ecuador is the only country named after a geographical feature, and Panama hats are actually Ecuadorian. Quito is the world's highest official capital, and Ecuador was the first country to give legal rights to nature. It is the world's top banana exporter.
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North Africa
Ancient Egyptians signed the oldest recorded peace treaty, invented early toothpaste and created a 365-day calendar. Cleopatra was Greek rather than Egyptian, and the Nile flows north. The Great Pyramid was the world's tallest structure for more than 3,800 years.
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South Asia
India has a floating post office on Dal Lake, and the Kumbh Mela is visible from space. Snakes and ladders began as a lesson about karma, and Freddie Mercury formed his first band in India. For millennia India was the world's only source of diamonds.
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Western Asia
Iran produces most of the world's saffron, and polo was born in ancient Persia. Windcatchers cooled desert homes long before air conditioning, and Persian rugs contain deliberate imperfections. A complex politeness ritual called taarof shapes daily life.
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East Asia
Japan is made up of more than 14,000 islands and welcomed almost 37 million visitors in 2024. The Shinkansen bullet train began running in 1964, and Greater Tokyo is the most populous metropolitan area on Earth. Deer roam freely in Nara.
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North America
A Mexican engineer invented an early colour television, and the country recognises 68 indigenous languages. Chocolate was first cultivated in Mesoamerica, and millions of monarch butterflies migrate to Mexico every year. The Copper Canyon is four times larger than the Grand Canyon.
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Central Asia
Mongolia is the most sparsely populated nation on Earth, and Ulaanbaatar is the coldest capital. The first dinosaur eggs were discovered in its desert, and it has the world's oldest official nature reserve. Its medieval postal relay, the Örtöö, was an ancient express service.
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Oceania
New Zealand was among the last major lands to be settled, and bats are its only native land mammals. It sits on a largely sunken continent, Zealandia, and has the world's southernmost capital. The kiwi lays an enormous egg for its size.
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East Asia
North Korea punishes three generations of a family for one person's crimes and has its own calendar based on Kim Il Sung's birth. Blue jeans are banned, citizens use a closed intranet, and a "peace village" on the border is uninhabited. The giant Ryugyong Hotel stood unfinished for decades.
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Southeast Asia
Thailand took its name in 1939, and Bangkok's full name is one of the longest place names in the world. Wat Pho's Reclining Buddha is 46 metres long, and the term "Siamese twins" comes from Siam. Maya Bay was closed so nature could recover.
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Southeast Asia
Nearly 40 percent of Vietnamese share the surname Nguyen, and the language has six tones. Narrow "tube houses" were shaped by taxes on building frontage, and water puppetry was invented in flooded rice paddies. Vietnam is the world's top cashew exporter.
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Indian Ocean
Madagascar is the world's fourth-largest island, nicknamed the Great Red Island for its soil. Tsingy de Bemaraha is a forest of stone needles, and six baobab species grow only there. Its people have Austronesian roots.
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Australia
The Sydney Opera House took 14 years to build and is covered in over a million Swedish tiles. Paul Hogan worked as a rigger on the Harbour Bridge, whose granite pylons are purely decorative. The Granny Smith apple was born by accident in a Sydney suburb.
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Cuba
Havana's Malecón seawall is the city's five-mile living room, and a nightly cannon shot keeps an old tradition alive. Old Havana preserves more than 900 historic buildings, and Hemingway lived there for two decades. A huge marble Christ overlooking the city was carved by a woman.
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Colombia
Cartagena was a gateway to the Spanish Empire, guarded by the Castillo San Felipe de Barajas. In 1741 it inflicted a shocking defeat on British admiral Edward Vernon. Gabriel García Márquez called it home.
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Morocco
Marrakech gets its red colour from local clay, and no building may be taller than the Koutoubia minaret. Yves Saint Laurent rescued the Majorelle Garden, and Winston Churchill called the city "the Paris of the Sahara". Its Saadian Tombs were sealed and hidden for centuries.
Read the full article →8 questions, every answer is somewhere above.
1. What is Argentina's official national sport?
2. What shape is wombat poop?
3. What does Canada keep a strategic reserve of?
4. What did ketchup originally start as in China?
5. Where do Panama hats actually come from?
6. Which rock star formed his first band in India?
7. Which country has more horses than people?
8. What were Sydney Opera House's roof tiles made in?
Thailand. It took its current name in 1939, and Bangkok's full ceremonial name is one of the longest place names in the world.
Although China spans five geographical time zones, the whole country officially runs on Beijing time, so in the far west the sun can rise very late in the morning.
Mongolia, where horses outnumber people. Its capital, Ulaanbaatar, is the coldest capital city on Earth, yet street vendors still sell ice cream outdoors in winter.
She ruled Egypt but was of Greek descent, from the Ptolemaic dynasty founded by one of Alexander the Great's generals. The Ptolemaic dynasty ruled Egypt for nearly three centuries.
Decades of trade embargo meant few new cars reached the island, so Cubans kept 1950s American models running, turning Havana into a rolling museum.
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