3 Facts About Every Country in Europe (Part 1)

Andorra is the largest micronation in Europe and it is sandwiched between France and Spain ruled by two princes. The first two facts do not count for you nitpickers out there. Despite its extremely small size, Andorra has an army but it hasn't fought a single battle for 700 years! It is also home to the highest elevated capital city in Europe.

Austria is one of the richest per capita countries in the world with a GDP per Capita of $50,280. Its national flag is also one of the oldest in the world, being officially adopted in 1230AD! Austria also has a rule in its constitution that it can never, ever, unite with Germany; we all know how that went the last time it happened!

Belarus is the most authoritarian country in Europe even though its head of state is still a president. It is also the only European country where Modern Slavery is legal and is in practice. On the fun side, however, despite being a national language, Russian is actually the most spoken language instead of Belarusian!

Belgium is known for its delectable chocolate eclairs and its scenic countryside. It is also home to the HQ of the European Union, in Brussels. Talking about governments, Belgium actually holds the record for the longest period without one! Also, Belgium's highest natural point is not even on a mountain!

Despite 70% being called just by its first state, Bosnia makes up just a bare majority of around 60% of the entire country. So the next time you call Bosnia and Herzegovina, just "Bosnia", then think again! Bosnia and Herzegovina's coastline is almost entirely surrounded by Croatia with just a tiny town named "Neum" in a minuscule passage that connects the country to the open sea.

Bulgaria is the first country to do many things. Firstly, it is home to the world's oldest known gold treasure with traces dating back to over 6,000 years ago. The world's first digital watch was also invented by a Bulgarian. There is also an Orthodox Church in Bulgaria's capital, Sofia, who's bell tower was once used as a watch tower for a fire department!

Croatia is a very surprising country. Firstly, Game of Thrones was filmed there and also, it is actually home to the world's biggest truffle! Croatia is also one of the only 8 countries to have a majority "Special" type of Slav Population.

Despite being the center of the Cold War for many decades, The Czech Republic (Czechia) still firmly holds a place in the top 10 safest countries in the world. The country also holds the highest density for historic buildings with over 2,000 castles, keeps, and ruined monasteries within its borders! The Czech Republic is also the second richest country in Eastern Europe, just behind minuscule Slovenia.

Despite having a puny land area of just 16,580 sq miles, Denmark controls the largest island in the world, Greenland, which has an area of 836,300 sq Miles; a land area which is over 50 times that of Denmark's. This is one of the last remaining signs of European Colonialism in North America. Also, an even weirder fact is that Denmark's capital, Copenhagen, is actually located on one of Denmark's 400 Islands instead of the Danish Mainland itself! However, the Danish Mainland is also technically an island as there is actually a man-made channel which is located near to the Germany-Denmark border!

Estonia is a very educated country. Its adult literacy rate is actually one of the highest in the world at a great 99.8% according to Unesco! It is also the birthplace of the first-ever Christmas Tree and it is currently located in Estonia's capital, Tallinn.

According to Wikipedia, Finland is the happiest country in the world. Its population are also the biggest coffee drinkers and there are over 200 coffee shops located in Finland's capital, Helsinki. I suspect that Finns drink that much coffee due to the fact that Helsinki is the second northernmost capital in the world, just behind Iceland's capital, Reykjavik.

I know that this is a country that you've all been waiting for, France. Firstly, France is actually on its 5th Republic (Please don't ask me why) as it has gone through many dictatorships, empires, kingdoms etc, but the most recent republic, the fifth republic, began in 1958 by a man named Charles De Gaulle. France is also one of the lead countries in cooking apparently as it publishes an average of 2 cooking books every day! Talking about tradition, France's traditional new year starts not in January but actually in September (Physiologically Speaking)!

Here is another country I know you've all been waiting for. To start off, Germany was actually the first country in the world to adopt DST (Daylight Saving Time) all the way back in 1916, during the First World War. Focusing on World Wars, Adolf Hitler, Germany's Chancellor During WWII, believe it or not, was actually born in Austria, in 1889, instead of Germany!

And finally, we come to the last country of part one, Greece. Despite not being an island country, Greece's mainland only accounts for 67% of its entire land area. The remaining 33% is actually made up of all of Greece's over 4,000 scattered islands in the Aegean Sea. The Olympic Games were also first held in Greece in 776 BC, although, the competition has dramatically evolved since then.

Anyway, that brings us to the end of part one of this amazingly long series and I hope you learnt something new and interesting from this blog. Part two will be out in an estimated week's time but for now... Goodbye! :)