Fast facts about places

More than 60 million people annually visit France, a country of 60 million people.

The oldest inhabited city is Damascus, Syria.

The first city in the world to have a population of more than one million was Rome.

In the great fire of London in 1666 half of London was burnt down but only 6 people were injured.

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

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

The Stelvio Pass in the Italian Alps has 75 hairpin corners. The pass is a popular place to test cars and bikes.

Stelvio pass

There is a dangerous corner on the Dalton Highway called “Oh Shit Corner.”

The Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal is farther East than the Atlantic entrance.

Iceland has no railway system or army.

The country of Brazil is named after the brazil nut.

There is a city called Rome on every continent.

Mexico City is built on top of an underground resevoir and is sinking at a rate of 18 inches (45 cm) per year.

The most populated city in the world – when major urban areas are included – is Tokyo, with more than 37 million residents. See world’s largest cities

Tokyo was once known as Edo.

In England, the Queen, the Church of England and Trinity College, Cambridge are some of the largest landowners in the country.

Madrid is the only European capital city not situated on a river.

Antarctica is the only land on our planet that is not owned by any country.

Istanbul, Turkey is the only city in the world located on two continents, Europe and Asia. It is connected by bridges.

It is said that if you take a raccoon’s head to the Henniker, New Hampshire town hall, you are entitled to receive $.10 from the town.

Jericho is the oldest walled city in the world.

The city name “Dublin” comes from the Irish Dubh Linn which means Blackpool.

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

Tasmania is said to have the cleanest air in the world.

The Daocheng Yading Airport in the Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan province, China, is the world’s highest civilian airport.

Daocheng Yading Airport

All the dirt from the foundation to build the World Trade Center in NYC was dumped into the Hudson River to form the community now known as Battery City Park.

The first mention of Mecca was made by the geographer Ptolemy in the 2nd century AD as Macoraba. It was a place of religious and commercial pilgrimage long before Muhammad returned there in 630. Christians have been forbidden to visit Mecca since the time of Muhammad.

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.

The Canary Islands were not named after a bird called the canary; they were named after the latin name for dogs.

Sochi, Russia is the longest city in the world, at 90 miles (145 km) long. Sydney, Australia is the second longest city.

At their closest point, the Russian and US borders are less than two miles apart.