Trivias about Countries

West Virginia is the only state in the Union without a natural lake.

The westernmost point in the contiguous United States is Cape Alava, Washington.

Tennessee and Missouri are bordered by more states than any other. Tennesee is bordered by eight states are Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia. Missouri is bordered by Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennesee, Kentucky and Illinois.

Lake Baikal is the deepest lake in the world.

Grand Rapids, Michigan was the first city in the US to put flouride in their water.

Only two countries border three oceans — the United States & Canada.

The only country whose name begins with an “A”, but doesn’t end in an “A” is Afghanastan.

Shortest Intercontinental Commercial Flight in the world is from Gibraltar (Europe) to Tangier (Africa.) Distance 34 miles, flight time 20 minutes.

Texas is also the only state that is allowed to fly its state flag at the same height as the U.S. flag.

Every Swiss citizen is required by law to have a bomb shelter or access to a bomb shelter.

49.6% of US residents live in Eastern time zone, 29.3% live in the Central time zone, 5.3% live in the Mountain time zone, 15.0% live in the Pacific time zone and .8% live in any other time zone.

Alaska could hold the 21 smallest States

Santa Fe, New Mexico is the highest state capital at 7,000 feet above sea level.

Sante Fe is also the only State Capital with no regularly scheduled commercial airline service.

Santa Fe was founded in 1607 making it the oldest continuously occupied state capital.

Hudson Bay is the largest bay in the world, (larger than England) bordering only one country Canada, and only two provinces and a territory.

There is a city called Rome on every continent. Source: David Katz-Doft

New York City is nicknamed the Big Apple after an early swing dance that originated in a South Carolina club (actually a converted church) called The Big Apple.

Devon is the only county in Great Britain to have two coasts.

There are four Commonwealths in the United States: Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Virginia — the rest are states.

Gilroy, California in Monterey County claims to be the “Garlic Capital of the World,” but Fresno County now produces more Garlic. Fresno County is the largest agriculture producing county in the United States. Source: J.B. Seibert

Illinois has the most personalized liscense plates of any state. Source: Steven Turano

Ohio is the only state not to have a rectangular flag. It’s a pennant.

Dominica, Mexico, Zambia, Spain, Kiribati, Fiji and Egypt all have birds on their flags.

The Dominican Republic has the only national flag with a bible in it.

Cyprus has a map on it’s flag.

Nepal is the only country without a rectangular flag (it looks like two pennants glued on on top of the other).

Libya has the only flag which is all one color with no writing or decoration on it.

Australia is the richest source of mineral sands in the world. Source: Benn Skender

Iowa is the only state bordered on both east and west entirely by rivers. (Mississippi on the east, Missouri and Big Sioux on the west.)

I, Q, and X are the only letters that don’t start a city that ends in -ville in the state of Ohio. i.e. Brownsville, Zanesville, etc.

The Atlantic Ocean is saltier than the Pacific Ocean. Source: “Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader”

In 1771 the kingdom of Poland was larger in area than any other European country except Russia, and had a bigger population of any other European country except France. But within 25 years it had vanished from the map.
In 1772, Russia, Prussia and Austria between them annexed about one-fifth of Poland. Twenty years later Russia took over half of what remained, and all three powers shared in the final carve-up in 1795. It was not until 1918, in the aftermath of the First World War, that an independent Poland surfaced again, to be overrun yet again in 1939. Source: “Reader’s Digest Book of Facts”

The bridge of Sighs, most famous of the 400 bridges in Venice, Italy, connects the Dodge’s palace to the old state prisons and the place of execution. It was built in 1600 and is believed to have got its name from the sigh of the condemned. Source: “Reader’s Digest Book of Facts”

32% of all land in the U.S. is owned by the federal government. Source: “Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader”

There are, surprisingly, very few nations in the world named after an actual person. Among those are Bolvis, for Simon Bolivar; Columbia, for Christopher Columbus; Nicaragua, for Chief Nicarao, Liechtenstein, for Johann von Liechtenstein; Saudi Arabia, for King Saud; and the Philippines, named after King Philip. The United States of America got its name from Amerigo Vespucci. Source: “Knowledge in a Nutshell”

More than 25 percent of the world’s forests are in Siberia. Source: “2201 Fascinating Facts”

There are two independent nations, both in Europe, that are smaller than Central Park in New York City. They are Vatican City and Monaco. Each is less than one square mile. The next three smallest countries are Bauru, eight square miles, in the western Pacific Ocean; Tuvalu, ten square miles, the Southwest Pacific; and San Marino, 24 square miles, in Europe. Source: “Knowledge in a Nutshell”

The Philippine flag is displayed with its blue field on top in times of peace. When war is declared, it is flown with the red field on top. Source: “Selwyn Clyde Alojipan”

The capital of Portugal was moved to Rio de Jeneiro, Brazil (at the time a colony of Portugal) from 1807 until 1821 while Portugal was fighting france in the Napoleonic Wars. Source: “Knowledge in a Nutshell”

If the world’s total land area was divided equally among the world’s people, each person would get 8.5 acres.

Maine is the toothpick capital of the world.

Seoul, the South Korean capital, just means “the capital” in the Korean language.

Libya is the only country in the world with a solid, single-colored flag — it’s green.

Panama hats come from Ecuador not Panama.

Ogdensburg, New York is the only city in the United States situated on the St. Lawrence River.

St. Paul, Minnesota was originally called Pigs Eye after a man who ran a saloon there.

The Boston University Bridge (on Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts) is the only place in the world where a boat can sail under a train driving under a car driving under an airplane. Source: “Random Trivia” fact contributed by Jim Cobb

Rhode Island is the smallest state with the longest name. The official name, used on all state documents, is Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.

The state of Maryland has no natural lakes.

Seattle, Washington, like Rome, was built on seven hills.

Kitsap County, Washington, was originally called Slaughter County, and the first hotel there was called the Slaughter House.

The coast line around Lake Sakawea in North Dakota is longer than the California coastline along the Pacific Ocean

Brooklyn is the Dutch name for “broken valley”

There are four states where the first letter of the capital city is the same letter as the first letter of the state: Dover, Delaware; Honolulu, Hawaii; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Lake Nicaragua boasts the only fresh-water sharks in the entire world.

The flag of the Philippines is the only national flag that is flown differently during times of peace or war. A portion of the flag is blue, while the other is red. The blue portion is flown on top in time of peace and the red portion is flown in wartime.

The only city in the United States to celebrate Halloween on the October 30 instead of October 31 is Carson City, Nevada. October 31 is Nevada Day and is celebrated with a large street party.

Eleven square miles of southwest Kentucky (Fulton County) is cut off from the rest of the state by the Mississippi River. If you wish to travel from this cut off section to the rest of the state or vice-versa, you must first cross a bordering state.

Point Roberts in Washington State is cut off from the rest of the state by British Columbia, Canada. If you wish to travel from Point Roberts to the rest of the state or vice versa, you must pass through Canada, including Canadian and U.S. customs.

New Jersey has a spoon museum featuring over 5,400 spoons from every state and almost every country.

Of all fifty states, the most crowded is New Jersey, which has the most people per square mile.

The Dutch town of Abcoude is the only reasonably sized town/city in the world whose name begins with ABC.

Alaska is the most northern, western and eastern state; it also has the highest latitude, the most eastern longitude and the most western longitude.

In Alaska it is illegal to look at a moose from the window of an airplane or any other flying vehicle. Source: “2201 Fascinating Facts”

U.S. Interstates which go north-south are numbered sequentially starting from the west with odd numbers, and Interstates which go east-west are numbered sequentially starting from the south with even numbers.

The floral emblem of Western Australia is Mangles’ Kangaroo Paw; the state animal is the numbat; and the state bird is the black swan.

The smallest mountain range in the world is outside of Marysville, California and is named the Sutter Buttes.

Of all the East Coast States, New Hampshire has the shortest coastline, about fourteen miles.

The translation of the Monongahela River’s name is high banks breaking off and falling down in places.

The Monongahela River flows through Monongalia County, West Virginia. While the river is actually the namesake of the county, the difference in spelling is due to a spelling error that was made in the registration process of the county.

New Hampshire is the only State name the has four consecutive consonants in it (in the same word).

Ontario is the only Canadian Province that borders the Great Lakes.

Alaska has the longest border with Canada of all the fifty states. Montana has the longest border with Canada of the lower forty-eight States.

The coastline of Alaska is longer than the entire coastline of the lower-forty-eight states of the United States. Source: “Isaac Asimov’s Book of Facts”

Montana borders the most Canadian Provinces of all the fifty states. It borders three of them.

Arkansas is the only US State that begins with “a” but does not end with “a”. All the other States that begin with “a”, Arizona, Alabama and Alaska, also end with “a”.

Maine is the only state that borders only one other US State.

Martha’s Vineyard once had its own dialect of Sign Language. One deaf person arrived in 1692 and after that there was a relatively large genetically deaf population that had their own particular dialect of sign language. From 1692-1910 nearly all hearing people on the island were bilingual in sign language and English.

New Zealand is the only country that contains every type of climate in the world.

The smallest port in Canada is Port Williams, Nova Scotia.

The Canadian province of Newfoundland has its own time zone, which is half an hour behind Atlantic standard time.

Westmount, Quebec, was the first city in Canada to be granted a coat of arms.

Fitchburg, Massachusetts is the second hilliest city in the US.

Pierre, South Dakota is the only example of a state and capital in the U.S. that don’t share any letters.

The Bronx, New York got its name from explorer Henry Bronk.

Until 1965, driving was done on the left-hand side on roads in Sweden. The conversion to right-hand was done on a week day at 5 pm. All traffic stopped as people switched sides. This time and day were chosen to prevent accidents where drivers would have gotten up in the morning and been too sleepy to realize *this* was the day of the changeover. In left hand drive countries, such as the UK, Ireland, Japan, and Australia, drivers sit on the righthand side of the car. Except for Sweden, where drivers sat on the left, as in North-America.

Japan is the third most densely populated country in the world. First is the Netherlands, followed by Belgium.

The names of all the continents end with the same letter that they start with, e.g. Asia, Europe.

If you come from Birmingham, you are a Brummie. The Dutch town of Leeuwarden can be spelled 225 different ways.

There was once a town named “6” in West Virginia.

Nauru is the only country in the world with no official capital. Its government offices are all in Yaren District, but there’s no official capital.

There is only one Transylvania in the United States: Transylvania County, North Carolina and the county seat is Brevard.

Singpore is the only country with one train station.

The airport in La Paz, Bolivia is the world’s highest airport.

Chicago is closer to Moscow than to Rio de Janeiro.

The longest U.S. highway is route 6 starting in Cape Cod, Massachusetts going through 14 states, and ending in Bishop, California…

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. Source: “Random Trivia” fact contributed by Jim Cobb

The United States is the fourth largest country based on population and geographic area.

The state with the longest coastline in the US is Michigan.

The most eastern part of the western world is located in Ilomantsi, Finland.

The largest city in the United States with a one syllable name is Flint, Michigan.

Only two states’ names begin with double consonants: Florida and Rhode Island.

A person from Glasgow, is called a Glaswegian.

The Fort George Point in Belize City was formed by the silt run off of Hurricane Hattie.

The slogan on New Hampshire license plates is “Live Free or Die”. These license plates are manufactured by prisoners in the state prison in Concord.

South of Tucson, Arizona, all road signs are in the Metric System.

The highest point in Pennsylvania is lower than the lowest point in Colorado.

In the Dutch province of Twente people live on average half a year shorter than in the rest of the Netherlands.

If you were standing in the northern most point in the contiguous (48) states, you’d be standing in Minnesota.

There are almost twice as many people in Rhode Island than there are in Alaska.

Maine is the only state that borders on only one state.

Little known Cathedral Caverns near Grant Alabama has the world’s largest cave opening, the largest stalagmite (Goliath), and the largest stalagmite forest in the World.

Zaire is the world leader in cobalt mining, producing two-thirds of the world’s cobalt supply.

Canada is an Indian word meaning “BigVillage”.

Michigan was the first state to plow it’s roads and the first to adopt a yellow dividing line.

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

Alaska was the only part of the United States that was invaded by the Japanese during WWII. The territory was the island of Adakin the Aleutian Chain.

The southern most city in the United States is Na’alehu, Hawaii.

Mt. Vernon Washington grows more tulips than the entire country of Holland.

The roads on the island of Guam are made with coral. Guam has no sand. The sand on the beaches is actually ground coral. When concrete is mixed, the coral sand is used instead of importing regular sand from thousands of miles away.

Many northern parishes (counties) of Louisiana did not agree with the Confederate movement. To show their disapproval, they changed their names. That’s why there is a Union Parish, Jefferson Parish, Assumption Parish, etc.

At latitude 60 degrees south you can sail all the way around the world.

Montpelier, Vermont is the only U.S. state capital without a McDonalds.

There were no squirrels on Nantucket until 1989.

Soweto in South Africa ws derived from SOuth WEst TOwnship.

The first Eagle Scout west of the Mississippi is buried in San Marcos, Texas.

The parking meter was invented in North Dakota.

Iowa has more independent telephone companies than any other state.

The geographical center of North America is near Rugby, North Dakota.