10 facts about the countries of the world

For thousands of years, people in different parts of the globe have developed in different conditions. Because of this, each nation has formed a distinctive culture, which could not completely erase even widespread globalization. The world has remained beautiful in its diversity, and it has something to surprise even experienced travelers. Unique architectural monuments, works of art, national traditions, natural riches, glorious deeds of great ancestors and achievements of outstanding contemporaries - all this makes the locals proud and awakens the interest of tourists. In this article we have prepared for you ten entertaining and unexpected facts about the countries of the world.

Ebenezer Place is the shortest street in the world: its length barely exceeds two meters! It is located in the UK in the Scottish town of Wick. It appeared thanks to the Mackays Hotel, located along the shortest part of its facade. At first, Ebenezer Place was not even put on maps of the city: it was not visible on them because of the scale. However, the development of satellite maps has solved this problem, and now the tiny street can be found by any tourist.

The oldest never-closed restaurant is located in Madrid. “Sobrino de Botín” has been welcoming guests since 1725. It is famous for its unquenchable stove and, of course, delicious dishes, which were praised in their works by writers Graham Greene, Benito Perez Galdos and Nobel laureate Ernest Hemingway.

Along with the usual disciplines like physics and mathematics, the Armenian school curriculum includes chess lessons. The game appeared in the country back in the IX century and immediately won the hearts of the locals.

In Soviet times chess lessons became organized: specialized circles and clubs were opened all over Armenia, regular competitions were organized, books by foreign chess masters were actively translated into Armenian and Russian. All this led to the fact that Armenia gave the Soviet Union many outstanding grandmasters, among them the USSR champion Rafael Vahanyan and the world champion Tigran Petrosyan.

Chess was introduced into the official school program in 2012. Armenia became the first country in the world to make this subject compulsory.

The deepest swimming pool in the world is located in the Polish city of Mszczonów. 45.7 meters is about the height of a 14-storey building! The pool has an elaborate network of tunnels and caves. This was done so that scuba divers and freedivers could train there.

Darvaza is a Turkmen gas crater that has been burning continuously since 1971. It appeared after Soviet geologists discovered an underground void where a drilling rig had fallen through. Not knowing what to do with the natural gas that had accumulated in the resulting 60-meter hole, they decided to set it on fire.

Experts predicted that the gas should have completely burned out in a few days, but the crater is still burning to this day. Tourists call it the “Gates of Hell”. Turkmen officials prefer a more poetic version - “Shining Karakum”.

The oldest astronomical clock, which still works today, can be seen in the Czech Republic. The Prague chimes are located on the Old Town Hall. They were created in 1410 according to the project of astronomer Jan Schindel. Over the following years, the design of the clock was repeatedly modified. They were also badly damaged during World War II at the hands of the Nazis. However, later Czech craftsmen managed to restore the landmark. After the restoration, about 75% of the original parts remained in the Prague chimes.

In South Korea, the age of a person has always been calculated differently than in the rest of the world. One year was immediately added to the age of a newborn baby. Thus, the time he spent in the womb was taken into account. At the same time, on each first day of the new year according to the lunar calendar, a year was added. That is, a child born at the end of the last month of the lunar calendar, was considered two years old, although in fact lived only a few days. But this system caused a lot of confusion, so from June 2023, South Korea will use the global practice of calculating age.

The top of the ranking for the largest number of prisoners in the world is held by the United States. There are about 2.2 million people in American prisons, almost a quarter of the total number of incarcerated people in the world. By comparison, Russia, which is not even in the top ten, has less than half a million people serving prison sentences.

Japan is one of the few countries in the world where it is not customary to tip waiters and cab drivers. The fact is that there it is customary to serve any client to the highest standards and the cost of such service is already included in the final amount in the check. Money from above can be perceived as an insult or an oversight. There have been cases when Japanese waiters caught up with a customer who had left a tip and gave him the banknotes, thinking that he had simply forgotten them on the table.