Gassu's Interesting Facts, Vol. 2

Hawaii is not a part of NATO. According to Art. 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty, European allies are not obliged to assist the United States should Pearl Harbor be attacked again. An attack on Alaska, however, would trigger European assistance.

There are two countries in the world where divorces are illegal - the Philippines and Vatican City.

Tuvalu makes about 10% of its revenue by selling .tv domains.

The word 'quarantine' comes from the Venetian word quarantena, meaning forty (days). During the Black Death, all merchants coming into Venice had to quarantine themselves for forty days before entering the city.

The city of Carmel, Indiana is known for being the roundabout capital of America. It is estimated that 2% of all U.S. roundabouts are located in the city home to 100,000 people. Furthermore, Carmel only has 15 traffic lights left, compared to 140 roundabouts.

The source above (73) estimates the number of U.S. roundabouts to 7,900. Portugal, a country 33 times smaller, has 8,630.

The Central Park in New York City is tiny in terms of area. It is, however, still almost twice as large as the country of Monaco.

Moore County, Tennessee is home to Jack Daniel's. Moore County is also a dry county which means Jack Daniel's can't sell any of its alcohol within their home county.

The highest British mountain is located about 12,000 kilometers away from London.

Bhutan recognizes neither China nor Taiwan. True neutrality.

In 1918, a British soldier was one shot away from killing Hitler on the battlefield, but decided to spare his life. He regretted this decision until his death in 1977.

New Hampshire's license plates feature the motto Live Free or Die. The plates are manufactured by inmates of Concord State Prison. Oh, the irony!

The vice president of Azerbaijan is the president's wife. Nicaragua has decided to follow the same path.

Despite Lima being a coastal city, its city centre is located about 140 m (450 ft) above sea level.

Christchurchers? Christchurchians? Christchurchites?
The city of Christchurch, New Zealand has no demonym. The commonly used Cantabrian isn't exclusive to the city, but rather refers to the entire subdivision.

The country of Lithuania has its very own scent. It features aromas of bergamot, ginger, wild flowers, raspberry, red berry and grapefruit, finished with notes of amber, tree moss, cedar, sandalwood, patchouli, musk and wood smoke.

West Virginia, the second-most Republican state in 2020, has had one Republican senator since 1960.
Vermont, the most Democratic state in 2020, has had one Democratic senator in its entire history!

The demonym for Hawaii is 'Hawaii resident'. The AP recommends using 'Hawaiian' only when talking about ethnicity.

Pluto is still legally a planet - at least when it passes over New Mexico.

Ireland has only one cable-car. The aerial tramway connecting the mainland with the small island of Dursey in the very west was mainly used by cows until EU regulations banned cattle from using the cable-car.

Between 1808 and 1821, the capital of Portugal was Rio de Janeiro. Additionally, Angra do Heroísmo on the Azores was the capital for another six years.

The origin of NASCAR dates back to the Prohibition Era. In the 1930s, bootleggers used narrow roads in the Appalachians to escape from the police - stock car racing was born.

Technically, New Delhi is only the 185th largest city in India.

The Amish movement originated in Switzerland. The movement was created by a Bernese preacher called Jakob Ammann around 1700 and was named after himself. Ammann never set foot to the New World.

In 2014, during the annexation of Crimea, Poland was reportedly scared that the German Army was too weak to defend them in case of Russian aggression - of all countries Germany. In fact, only 7% of Polish people see Germany as a threat these days.

The state of Delaware never had to redistrict at any time in its history.

King Julien is younger than Mort - by a lot!

A group of giant pandas is called an embarrassment.
A group of baboons is called a congress.
A group of wombats is called a wisdom.

Until 1977, Paris did not have a mayor. London didn't have one until 2000.

The current president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, was born in Brig, Switzerland. His predecessor was born in Visp, a mere 8 km further west.

Three of America's first five presidents died on July 4, the national holiday.

Parts of Alaska are further south than London.

Throughout our entire written history, there have been only three female monarchs who are remembered as being 'great': Berengaria the Great of Castile, Tamar the Great of Georgia, and Catherine the Great of Russia.

The Ellhorn is a strategically important hill located at a river knee of the river Rhine, on the Swiss-Liechtenstein border. After WWII, the Swiss military was very keen on controlling the entire hill to fight invaders from the east.
So what did the Swiss do? They blackmailed Liechtenstein into giving them the mountain or else they'd cancel the customs union, essentially forcing them into close relations with then-occupied Austria. Despite the local population being against this deal (by 302 to 4), the government agreed and received 2.2 million francs and a bit of land as a quid pro quo. The hill serves no military purpose these days.

Some countries tend to be very creative when it comes to flag proportions. Vanuatu's flag has a ratio of 19:36, Denmark's has 28:37 and El Salvador's has 189:335. Togo's flag is 1:φ (the golden ratio) and Nepal's flag is, well, this:

The Māori word for France is Wīwī - a reference to French speakers saying 'oui, oui'.

Technically speaking, during the 11th century, the Roman Empire bordered the Holy Roman Empire - assuming the Byzantine Empire being the rightful successor to Rome.

No, the first thing deployed on the Moon in 1969 was not an American flag. In fact, it was a solar sail developed by the University of Bern.

Nunavut and Newfoundland and Labrador share a land border. So do Victoria and Tasmania.

Last words prove to be very interesting. Here are a few fascinating ones: Winston Churchill's last words were "I'm bored with it all" and Lenin's were "Good dog". Marie Antoinette's last expressions were "Pardon me, Sir, I did not do it on purpose" after accidentally stepping on the executioner's foot. Roald Dahl's final words were "ow f*ck".

Joe Biden was born closer to Lincoln's presidency than to his own.

Mercator projection greatly distorts the view on our world and on distances. Need an example? The distance between Dakar and Mogadishu is longer than the distance between Moscow and Anchorage.

In the late 19th century, Britain made it compulsory for goods originating from the booming German industry to bear the mark Made in Germany - to indicate its inferior quality. Well if this hasn't backfired - today Made in Germany is a synonym of quality and high standard.

The bird turkey has many different names referring to various different countries. In France, turkey is called Indian chicken, in Greek it's French chicken and in Malay it's Dutch chicken. In Arabic it either means Greek, Roman, or Ethiopian rooster. In Hindi, the bird is called tarki and in Turkey, the bird is called hindi. Last but not least, the Portuguese name for the bird is Peru.

The Kleinwalsertal in Austria is a commonly cited example of a functional exclave. A functional exclave is a coherent part of the main land, but can only be reached by going through another country - in this case Germany. Another well-known functional exclave is Point Roberts in Washington State.

When thinking about border disputes, Western Europe usually isn't the first region that comes to mind. That isn't to say that there aren't any of them. For example: the border between Austria, Germany, and Switzerland in Lake Constance was never agreed upon by the riparian states. France and Italy still argue about the demarcation on Mont Blanc. A tiny, uninhabitable islet of the size of a football field in the Atlantic is claimed by the UK, Ireland, Denmark, and Iceland!

The South Pole is located at an elevation of 2,835 m (9,301 ft). In fact, Antarctica has an average elevation of 2,300 m (7,546 ft) - surpassed by only four countries!

Alaska is the only American state that can be typed using a single row of keys.

The word 'banana republic' was originally used to describe Honduras, as it was heavily dependent on exporting bananas.

In 1945, the Battle of Zwolle saw two Canadians confronted against 1,500 German soldiers. The Canadians won.