Monday 25 April 2022

The 10 Most Interesting World Facts You'll Ever Hear - 5

 

1| There are 43 countries that still have a royal family.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on their wedding day
Paul Marriott/Alamy Live News

The British royal family may be the most famous royal family on the planet, but there are still plenty of other nobles out there. In total, there are 28 royal families who rule over a total of 43 countries around the world, including Japan, Spain, Swaziland, Bhutan, Thailand, Monaco, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Liechtenstein.

2
California is home to the "Artichoke Capital of the World."

Seasoned artichokes
Shutterstock

Castroville is a rural town in California that grows a lot of artichokes (and other vegetable crops), thanks to the fact that the area enjoys ideal weather year round. Because of this, it grows 99.9% of all commercially grown artichokes and has even been nicknamed the "Artichoke Capital of the World."

3
All giant pandas in zoos around the world are on loan from China.

Panda bear
Shutterstock

The panda at your local zoo may look like it's at home in its cozy sanctuary. But unless you live in China, the pandas that you're seeing are just visiting. That's because every one of the gentle giants in zoos around the world are on loan from China. Yes, they're technically the property of the government of China, according to Vox.

4
The "most typical human" fits this description.

Person writing with right hand
Shutterstock

According to a study developed for National Geographic in 2011, the world's "most typical" person is right-handed, makes less than $12,000 per year, has a mobile phone, and doesn't have a bank account.

5
Canada has 9% of the world's forests.

Forest in Alberta Canada
MORENO01/Shutterstock

Our neighbors to the north boast 396.9-million hectares of forests, or 9% of all of the forest area in the entire world, according to Natural Resources Canada.

6
The red-billed quelea is the most common bird on Earth.

Red-billed quelea
Linn Currie/Shutterstock

There may not be any red-billed queleas in your neighborhood, but that's not because there aren't an abundance of them. These birds, which live in sub-Saharan Africa, are considered agricultural pests because their massive flocks can obliterate entire crops. Although their numbers fluctuate, there are around 1 to 10 billion queleas, which leads scientists to believe that there are more of them than any other bird on Earth, according to Audobon.

7
There's a website that tracks the world's population in real time.

Earth from space
Shutterstock

As of 2021, the overall human population is estimated to be more than 7.8 billion people. And if you want to watch that increase in real time, you can tune into the World Population Clock, which shows the upticks and downticks as babies are born and people die. You can also see the current populations of different countries.

8
More people speak Mandarin Chinese than any other language.

Person writing Mandarin Chinese
Shutterstock

With around 950 million native speakers and an additional 200 million people speaking Mandarin Chinese as a second language, it's the most widely spoken language in the world.

9
Around one in every 200 men are direct descendants of Genghis Khan.

Genghis Khan statue
Shutterstock

During his lifetime between 1162 and 1227, Genghis Khan fathered countless children. And while we may never know exactly how many offspring the leader of the Mongol Empire had, scientists now believe that around 1 in every 200 men—AKA 16 million people—are direct descendants of his.

10
Copenhagen is the most bike-friendly city in the world.

Young man on bike
Shutterstock

Many cities around the world are trying to figure out how to accommodate cyclists and encourage more residents to use the environmentally friendly mode of transportation. That's why Copenhagen has become such a role model; according to Wired, it's the most bike-friendly city in the world.

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