Around the World 2

Fun Facts Summary

Country Continent Fun Fact

USA North America The US flag consists of 50 white stars on a blue rectangle
with 13 alternating stripes, 7 red and 6 white. The 50 stars
stand for the 50 states of the United States of America. The
13 stripes represent the 13 British colonies that declared
independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain and
became the first states in the US.

Canada North America The maple leaf is the characteristic leaf of the maple tree. It
is the most widely recognized national symbol of Canada.
For this reason, you will be able to spot a maple leaf in the
middle of the Canadian flag. It should thus not come as a
surprise that the maple tree is the national tree of Canada,
and the country is the top producer of maple syrup in the
world.

Mexico North America Breaking the piñata is a popular activity during Mexican
festive celebrations like birthdays and Christmas. The piñata
is a decorated clay pot or papier-mâché container filled with
treats which is strung from a rope. The people take turns
hitting the piñata. When the piñata breaks, the treats are
scattered on the ground and everyone rushes to collect as
many treats as possible.

Panama North America The Panama Canal is an artificial 82km waterway in Panama
that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and
divides North and South America. It was one of the largest
and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken and
was dubbed one of the 7 Wonders of the Modern World.
The Panama Canal has significantly reduced the sailing
distance from the Atlantic Ocean to Pacific Ocean and vice
versa. Ships can now save as much as 22 days by crossing
the Panama Canal instead of sailing around the South
America continent.
Between 12,000 and 15,000 ships cross the Panama Canal
every year – about 40 a day.

Costa Rica North America An arribada, which is Spanish for arrival, is the mass nesting
of hundreds to hundreds of thousands of sea turtles. The
Olive Ridley Sea Turtles nest year round on the Pacific side
of Costa Rica near a small town called Ostional. The largest
arribadas usually take place from August to December. Over
the course of three to seven days, as many as 150,000
turtles lay up to ten million eggs. The largest recorded
arribada in Costa Rica’s history took place in November
1995 where over 500,000 turtles came ashore. In 1984 the
 Ostional Wildlife Refuge was created in order to protect one
of the planet's most important nesting sites of the Olive
Ridley Sea Turtles.

Peru South America The Nazca Lines are a group of very large geoglyphs made
in the soil of the Nazca Desert in southern Peru. The
drawings on the ground are made by removing rocks,
leaving light-colored sand exposed. Scientists believe that
the majority of lines were made by the Nazca people from
around A.D. 1 to 700. The Nazca lines depict various plants,
animals, and shapes, and are best viewed from the air due
to their massive size. Their significance in Nazca culture
remains a mystery.

Brazil South America The Amazon is the world’s largest tropical rainforest. (Almost
half the size of the entire North America continent!) It is
often called “The Lungs of the Earth” because it produces
over 20% of the world’s oxygen supply thanks to all of its
trees. The leaves of the trees are so thick that it takes about
10 minutes for rain to hit the rainforest ground. Talk about a
huge umbrella! 2.5 million different insects, 3000 types of
fish can be found in the Amazon. What animals do you think
we can find in the Amazon?

Venezuela South America Located in the Canaima National Park, the biggest national
park in Venezuela, Angel Falls is the world’s highest
uninterrupted waterfall, with a height of 979 meters (3,212
ft).
Angel Falls is three times as tall as the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
During warmer and drier seasons, the water of Angel Falls
evaporates even before it touches the ground, forming a
mist. There are no roads leading to Angel Falls, tourists must
take a plane to visit the falls.
Another fun fact: Angel Falls was discovered by mistake by
aviator Jimmy Angels after his plane crashed there. After the
crash, Jimmy Angels and his wife had to walk out of the
jungle. This task was completed in 12 days!

Ukraine Europe Kompot is a traditional fruit drink that is made by almost

every Ukrainian family. Many children grew up drinking it.
The recipe may differ in each family according to the fruits
available and season. It can be served chilled or warm.

Switzerland Europe Switzerland is known for many things, from skiing resorts,
cheese fondue to quality chocolate. The Swiss are the first
to develop solid milk chocolate using condensed milk. Did
you know that milk chocolates were first made in 1875
(that’s more than 140 years ago)? And in 1936 (85 years ago)
the first ever white chocolate bar was made - in Switzerland
of course!
Germany Europe Germany is home to the most number of schloss, or castles
in the world. While the exact number is not known yet, it is
said that Germany houses more than 25,000 castles. Some
of the famous schloss in Germany include the Wartburg
Castle which is one of the oldest castles that is still standing
today and the Neuschwanstein Castle which is said to be the
inspiration behind the Disney castle.

France Europe Baguette is an iconic French bread that is long and thin with
a crisp crust. It is traditionally made with flour, water, yeast,
and salt, and can be found in every boulangerie or bakery in
France. A baguette is about 5 to 6 centimetres wide and 65
cm long.

Italy Europe Pasta is a staple food in Italy. It is traditionally made from

durum wheat flour, water and sometimes egg. It can be
available fresh or dried, and comes in a huge variety of
thickness and shapes such as spaghetti (long, thin and
round), linguini (long, thin and flat), macaroni (narrow short
tube), farfalle (bow-tie), penne (tube cut at an angle) etc.
Have you tried them all before? Go visit the supermarket
and take a look at the different varieties available!

Austria Europe For hundreds of years, Austria and in particular its capital,
Vienna, has been associated with classical music, thus
earning it the name of “The City of Music”. Many famous
composers have lived here, more than anywhere else in the
world. Most notably, Haydn, Beethoven, and Mozart.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is a child prodigy - he composed
his first piece of music at the age of 5, and was an
accomplished musician on the piano and the violin by then.

Spain Europe Vamos a España or Let's go to Spain! Spain boasts of over

8000km of coastline, rich culture, relaxed lifestyle (most
shops and restaurants still observe the siesta in the
afternoon) and lots of good food such as the paella. Its
capital, Madrid, is home to one of the world's oldest
restaurants and the Royal Palace. Barcelona houses many of
Antonio Gaudi's works such as La Sagrada Familia, Casa
Batllo and Park Guell. Did you know that Spanish is the
second-most spoken native language in the world? Did you
also know that Spain is the only European country to have a
land border with an African country? Hint: the African
country is home to the blue city featured in Around the
World 1.

Croatia Europe Croatia is a fairly young country who only gained

independence in 1991. Home to many gorgeous beaches
along its coasts and islands, historical heritage sites that
date back to Austro-Roman times, picturesque national
parks, and delicious food, it's no surprise that tourism is a
 major source of income for Croatia. Besides the beautiful
places of interest, one of the most popular inventions from
Croatia is the necktie. In this activity, you will be weaving the
Croatian checkerboard, which is the national symbol of
Croatia. It is featured on its flat, coat of arms and national
teams' sports jerseys.

United Kingdom Europe London is the capital city of the United Kingdom. London is
known for many things including the London Eye, the Big
Ben tower, the Buckingham Palace where the Queen of
England lives, the red phone booths that line the streets and
of course, the big red London buses. Did you know that the
buses in London did not used to be all red? About 100 years
ago, a few different bus companies ran public buses in
London. One particular company, the London General
Omnibus Company decided to paint their fleet of buses a
bright red to stand out from the other companies. They also
started numbering the buses so passengers could tell the
route of the bus before boarding. In 1933, the
LondonTransport took over all the buses, and decided to
keep the same shade of red for easy identification. Did you
know it’s also the same shade of red as KitKat and
Mcdonalds? How interesting!

Denmark Europe Denmark is a bicycle nation. Sunshine, rain, hail, snow - you
will see cyclists out and about on the roads of Denmark. The
larger Danish cities have an extensive network of bicycle
lanes that make biking safe and enjoyable. It also helps that
the country's terrain is primarily flat. Another fun fact about
Denmark: it is one of the happiest countries in the world
based on the UN World Happiness Report!

The Netherlands Europe It is not possible to talk about The Netherlands when talking
about tulips. The Dutch love tulips so much, they made
tulips the national flower of the country. Between April to
May, tourists will flood the country to visit the big flower
fields filled with endless rows of tulips of every colour. Tulips
are among the most popular of all garden flowers. They are
bell-shaped, have three petals, and are generally red, pink,
yellow, or white.

Norway Europe The Northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, is a

natural phenomenon in the sky. It is a light display that
appears as curtains, spirals and patterns covering the entire
sky. It can usually be seen only from high-latitude regions,
near the Arctic circle. Norway is one of the few countries in
the arctic circle, hence making it a travel destination for light
chasers from all over the world, to come catch a glimpse of
this rare natural light show. Light chasers often drive for
hours every night, trying to track and chase the lights,
 hoping to see in the dark night sky in sub zero
temperatures.

Antarctica Antarctica Did you know that polar bears and penguins do not cohabit
together? Polar bears live exclusively in the Arctic while all
penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere. The Emperor
and Adélie Penguins live exclusively in Antarctica. Penguins
spend most of their lives in the ocean, hunting underwater.
Despite the cold and wet environment, penguins are kept
warm and dry by a thick layer of blubber and oily feathers.
Then penguin’s feathers are also coated with a layer of wax,
repelling cold water and keeping them dry and warm.