3 Facts About Every Country in Europe (Part 3)

To start off part 3, we have another one of the five Nordic Countries, Norway. Norway is one of my favorite countries and I am sure you will love it too. The country is considered to be the most democratic country in the entire world with a great score of 9.81! Not only that, but it also has the fourth-highest nominal per-capita income in the world with an average GDP per Capita of a whopping $75,420! There is also a Norwegian island named "Svalbard" (Not mentioning that it is technically owned by every single country in the world) which is so far north of the Arctic Circle, that the sun never, ever rises or sets!

Similar to Hungary, Poland has won many, and I mean many Nobel prizes! A whopping 12 Nobel Prizes to be precise. Poland is also a very devout country with an estimated 94.2% of the country's population adhere to religion while only 5.8% are irreligious. Also, very funnily, Poland's capital, Warsaw, is actually more diverse than you think; just making a majority, only an estimated 51% of the city's population are ethnic Poles. The rest of the city is made up of other very diverse ethnicities.

When you think of the word Portuguese, the first thing which jumps to mind is Portugal (Unless you are MG17). However, what if I told you that there is another country which is arguably more well-known than Portugal: Brazil! Brazil is more than fifty times bigger than Portugal and has more Portuguese speakers than the rest of the world combined! So, the majority of the language's speakers come from not Europe but actually South America. Moving on, Portugal is also the oldest nation on the Iberian Peninsula and is one of the oldest in Europe having being established in the year 868AD!

Romania is the largest country in Southeastern Europe and with it, comes some very old things. The oldest surviving written document ever found in the country dates back all the way to 1521. Romania also has one of the oldest entirely surviving churches in the world with one in the country's capital, Bucharest, dating back to 650AD!

Russia is a continental mammoth known for its vastness, remoteness, and the Cyrillic alphabet. It is by far the largest country in the world with a massive 6.602 million sq miles (17 million sq miles)! Russia is also home to the coldest city in the world named Oymyakon, buried deep inside central Siberia. The city's hottest temperature ever recorded is only 8 degrees Celcius and the lowest is an unimaginable -29 degrees Celcius! Russia is also home to the longest continuous railway in the world named the Trans-Siberian railway. The train service spans 6850 miles (11,000 km) and traverses almost the entire length of the country from Moscow, in the west, all the way to Vladivostok, in the far east!

San Marino is another one of the 5 microstates in Europe and is one of the only 3 countries in the world to be completely surrounded by a single country. However, despite its puny size, San Marino is a very old country and is considered to have the earliest written constitution still in effect of any country in the world. San Marino also claims to be the world's oldest republic and is believed to have been established all the way back in 301AD!

Serbia is a very interesting country. Firstly, it has had the most Roman Emperors born in a single country with a whopping 18 born in the country despite having barely any traces back to Roman rule! There is also a village in Serbia located in the northwest of the country that is entirely made out of stone, and I mean entirely! Also, the village itself is actually home to the tallest stone gates in Europe with a height of 34 meters.

Similar to the Czech Republic, Slovakia has one of the highest number of castles per capita in the world. There are actually enough castles in the country to divide it into around 200 small kingdoms each with its own castle and a population of 30,000! Slovakia is also is home to a unique active geyser, which spouts water to a height of 15 meters and erupts on an average basis every one and a half days.

Slovenia is a wonderful and very rich country. So rich in fact that the country has the highest GDP per Capita in all of Eastern Europe, with $25,740. This may not seem that good compared to other countries but it would be the highest you would find anywhere in the region. Another interesting fact is that out of a population of just over 2.1 million people, 90,000 of them, or 4% of Slovenia's population are actually beekeepers! Also, A remarkable 53.6% of Slovenia is protected land, a higher percentage than any nation on Earth except Venezuela!

If I ask you whether Spain is connected to the African mainland or not, the majority of people will say that it is obviously not. Well, that is just simply not the case! Spain actually has multiple and tiny enclaves carved into the coast of Morocco. The Spanish mainland is considered to be located at the crossroads of Europe and Africa and its desert climate in the south more closely resembles the scorching Sahara climate in Africa than Europe! Also, very weirdly, Spaniards actually own more cars than cell phones!

Sweden is a very developed and happy country in the world and has some amazing scenery. The country is actually so developed that the country is considered to be the best-developed country in terms of the environment, judged by the OECD Better Life Index. Also, Sweden holds a very important title in Scandinavia as its capital, Stockholm, is not only considered to be the capital of the region but also the financial hub of it as well.

Switzerland is a very nice Alpine country and offers some amazing views in its capital and rural areas. Speaking of the capital, Switzerland technically does not have a decided capital city as its constitution doesn't state anything about what the country's capital was to be. However, Bern is considered to be the de facto capital, but it is not official. Also, Switzerland is actually considered to be the safest place in the event of any future WWIII happening as it not only always stays neutral during wars but also has an estimated 20,000 bunkers nestled within the country, each being able to hold around 500 people in them! That's enough to house its entire population with another 2 million extra from other neighboring countries.

Ukraine is another very nice European Country. It is also a very big metal producer and has the 5th highest titanium production in the world. Also, Ukraine is actually home to one of the heaviest silver coins ever found in the world! The coin is currently in a museum in the country's capital, Kyiv. However, despite having very warm and friendly people, Ukraine is considered to have the highest depression rate in the world.

The second to last country in the series and another one you've all been waiting for, the United Kingdom. The UK is a very interesting country and its history is as long as its name. Firstly, the UK actually has the highest government transparency in the world. What the government does is mostly reported by the BBC, which was founded in 1922, and is the UK's publicly funded radio, television, and broadcast corporation. The BBC is also the oldest and largest broadcaster in the world! Moving on, tea is the most popular drink in the UK, with over 163 million cups consumed daily by Brits, that's nearly three times the country's population.

And last, but not least, we come to the last country of the series, Vatican City. Vatican City, or the Vatican, as it is nicknamed, is quite a special country as it is actually the smallest country in the world, respecting both population and landmass. Based on the landmass, Vatican City measures just 0.2 square miles, almost 120 times smaller than the island of Manhattan! The Vatican is also actually considered to be the birthplace of Catholicism.

Finally, that brings us to the end of 3 Facts About Every Country in Europe. This series for me in particular has been very fun to make and I hope you've had fun reading it. To be honest, I've actually learnt so much from the research I did while making this blog. As a European myself, I've realised how amazing other countries are in Europe and that every single country in the world, and not just Europe, is worthwhile to spend time in. Also, I will not make other sequels like "3 Facts About Every Country in Oceania" etc, or anything like that. Anyway, I would like to thank you all so much for reading this series but for now, Goodbye!