It never hurts to learn a little strange trivia about our world. From a city in China that is the size of the United Kingdom to an undersea mountain chain that makes the Himalayas look like toys, our world is overflowing with wonder and awe-inspiring discoveries. With so much information, Earth rarely ever gets boring. It’s so ripe with things to learn it would likely take thousand upon thousands of lists just to scratch the surface. But, we’ll take it slow and start with these 25 strange and interesting bits of trivia about our world.
25
Cuba is the only Caribbean island with a railway.
24
Less than one percent of the Caribbean islands are inhabited.
23
Alaska is the most Northern, Eastern, and Western state in all of America.
22
It is also the only state to enter the eastern hemisphere.
21
The shortest place name is ‘Å’ it is located in both Sweden and Norway.
20
Of the 25 highest peaks of the world, 19 are in the Himalayas.
19
Though Mt. Everest lays claim to the highest altitude, due to the bulge of the Earth at the equator, Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador is the closest to the moon.
18
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is the longest mountain chain on Earth (at 40 thousand kilometers).
17
The Andes form the longest exposed mountain range at 4,349 miles (7,000 kilometers).
16
Glaciers store between 70% and 80% of all the freshwater on the planet.
15
99% of those glaciers are in the Arctic and Antarctic.
14
In 1811 and 1812, three earthquakes measuring around 8 on the richter scale, caused the Mississippi River to flow backwards.
13
The seven largest countries in the world (Russia, Canada, USA, China, Australia, Brazil and Argentina) take half of our planet’s territory.
12
The Trans-Siberian railway crosses exactly 3,901 bridges.
11
Nauru is the only state in the world that has no official capital.
10
There are the 17 active volcanoes In Japan.
9
Several buildings in Manhattan have their own zip code, including One Penn Plaza.
8
Montpelier, Vermont is the only U.S. state capital where there is no McDonald’s.
7
There are no rivers In Saudi Arabia.
6
Lebanon is the only state in the Middle East with no desert.
5
Unlike most African nations, Ethiopia has been never a European colony.
4
France, Italy, and Chile have formally recognized the existence of UFOs.
3
The largest city in the world, based on surface area, is Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia (China) which is 102,000 sq mi (263,953 km sq).
2
Lesotho, Vatican City, and San Marino are the only countries completely surrounded by one other country.
1
The Sargasso Sea is a region in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by ocean currents, and this is the only sea that has no coast.
