Funny and Unexpected Facts about your Country

[MaDIIReD]

I just thought it would be fun.

"All regions in the Netherlands record a remarkably low average (ed: of working hours) compared with other regions. The highest value in the Netherlands was found in Flevoland with an average of 31.6 hours per week, which is still 2.4 hours less than in Martinique (France), the region with the lowest value of all regions in the EU, not counting the Netherlands."

Good on ya Netherlands, you've done it again: F all.

 

[djax74]

France once controlled more than 8% of the world's land (good old times )
Napoleon wasn't short. He was actually above the average Frenchman.
Potatoes were illegal in France between 1748 and 1772.

 

[JordD04]

France once controlled more than 8% of the world's land (good old times )

Filthy Casuals

 

[Finrod_Amandil]

Switzerland has the world's first purely Tolkien dedicated museum:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/21/t...icmst=1409232722000&bicmet=1419773522000&_r=2

 

[Olwe]

The U.S. government poisoned alcohol during Prohibition in the 20s and 30s, killing over 10,000 people.

GG america, GG.

 

[Wollip666]

Everyone hates Australia's leader. Oh wait thats not unexpected.

 

[Se7]

In Northern Ireland we have the most bombed hotel in Europe, being bombed over 40 times.

 

[Stokie]

Nowhere in the UK is further than 74.5 miles from the coast.

Oxford University once had rules that did not allow students to bring bows and arrows to class.

 

[Alekspaleks]

In 2008, Norway knighted a penguin.

 

[Fornad]

If you stand on the eastern bank of the River Severn in Chester after sunset with a bow and arrow and call across the river to a man you see on the opposite bank: "Are you a Welshman?" and he responds in the affirmative, it is legal and required to kill him.

 

[JordD04]

If you stand on the eastern bank of the River Severn in Chester after sunset with a bow and arrow and call across the river to a man you see on the opposite bank: "Are you a Welshman?" and he responds in the affirmative, it is legal and required to kill him.

Looks like I've got my New Years Eve sorted!

 

[bobow95]

In Northern Ireland we have this thing called the Ulster Fry and is far superior to any fry up in the British Isles.

We also find it acceptable to vote ex-terrorists/paramilitaries into government.

Rory McIlroy is the national hero of Northern Ireland and will remain so until someone bests him in battle

 

[_Iru]

Everyone hates Australia's leader. Oh wait thats not unexpected.

I shook the guy's hand, still hate him

 

[Finrod_Amandil]

In Switzerland, theres a political party called the "Anti Powerpoint" party, whose goal it is to decrease the use of Powerpoint presentations.

Kim Jong Un lived the first 17 years of his life in switzerland and went to school there too:

In Switzerland theres a law against relieving oneself in standup position after 10pm, furthermore its prohibited to flush the toilet after 10pm, if the sound may bother a neighbour (which, with todays house constructions is rather unlikely). Its also not allowed to mow your lawn on sundays.

For every pet its clearly defined by law whether you can have them in singles or whether more than one of its kind is needed. So may guinea pigs only be held in pairs at least.

While its illegal to upload copyrighted material, it is completely legal to download everything you find on the internet, which is prohibited in many other countries.

 

[Will_em]

There's a sort of sport in belgium where we divide a pitch in squares, let a cow loose on it and then bet where it will shit first.

Another sort of sport is vinkezetting where we sit down in a long line with each one having a bird in a cage. They train the bird to sing a certain song before the match with a cd or another bird. The bird that sings that song the most times within an hour wins.

We were also the ones that legalised euthanasia the firsts. We literally are bored to death.

 

[Portalrules333]

The green ink used for USA currency was invented at McGill University, in Montreal.

"Iceberg Harvester" is a job in Newfoundland. They melt them down to make ice for alcoholic drinks, and skincare products.

Canada has it's own UFO landing pad: See the "Attractions" section-> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Paul,_Alberta

Two-thirds of all the caesium (used for atomic clocks) in the world is located in Bernic Lake, Manitoba.

Wood Buffalo National Park is larger than Switzerland (take that, Finrod!)

Vancouver Island hosts an "Annual Bathtub Race" to the mainland. Motors are required, though, so you need to be creative.

The area that Manitoba and Saskatchewan are in today was almost named the province of Buffalo.

There is a crater on Mars called "Gander", named after Gander, Newfoundland.

 

[Lady_of_Rohan]

There's a town in Brazil called "Feliz Natal" what is "Merry Christmas" in Portuguese.

 

[Emilio_]

In Halberstadt, Germany (no idea where that is) there is an Organ playing a piece by John Cage with the tempo indication "ASLAP" (As SLow aS Possible), startet 2001 and ends 2640, just about 19747918200 seconds left! The current notes will be played until the 5th of september 2020.
Wanna hear? -> http://www.aslsp.org/de/ (The playbutton in the sidebar on the right.)

weirdos

 

[kyzcool]

Wales has 5,000,000 sheep and only 2,700,000 people. That's nearly double.

 

[DSESGH]

The world's largest ball of twine is in a town reasonably close to where I live. It measures around 42 feet in circumference, and is estimated to weigh almost 20,000 pounds.