April is here and with it, as always, comes birthdays week. Generally, around this time, Tucker and I are gearing up for a celebratory trip; however, just like last year, no such adventure is on our horizon. No worries though because over the past year I’ve done more than enough armchair travelling for another round-up of interesting country facts, this time coming to you alphabetically. Enjoy!

Antigua – This relatively small island in the Eastern Caribbean has a sweet secret known as the Antigua Black, the world’s sweetest and rarest variety of pineapple.

Belize – Many countries are known for their wines, but Belize puts a bit of a spin on the traditional recipe. In this Central American country, they specialize in making cashew wine, or wine made from the fermented fruits of cashew trees.

Chile – While the world’s first potatoes are generally thought to have been grown in Peru, approximately 99% of modern-day potato varieties are genetically linked to a small island off the cost of Southern Chile.

Dominican Republic – Located on Hispaniola, one of the largest and most diverse islands of the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic was highly sought after during the Colonial Era. Due to the relatively early Spanish presence/conquest of the area, the Cathedral of Santa Maria la Menor in Santo Domingo is actually the oldest cathedral in the Americas (completed in 1541).

Equatorial Guinea – People from this Central African nation are called Equatoguineans and their official language is, somewhat surprisingly, Spanish.

Fiji – The name “Fiji” is actually the Tongan word/pronunciation of the island; the Fijian word is “Viti”. The misnomer occurred because the first encounters between western explorers and Fijians took place on the island of Tonga.  

Ghana – Ghana, which means “Warrior King”, is located on the Gold Coast of West Africa. It is home to the world’s largest artificial lake, Lake Volta, which has a surface area of over 2 million acres.

Haiti – On the other half of Hispaniola (the second largest island in the Caribbean) lies Haiti, which is often associated with Voodoo. However, “voodoo” is actually more of a product of US pop culture than an accurate portrayal of the Haitian religion known as Vodou.  

India – As a country well-known for its delicious curries, I found it interesting that the word “curry” likely comes from the Tamil word “kari” meaning “sauce”. Tamil is spoken throughout most of Southern India.

Jamaica – Like many English-speaking islands in the Caribbean, Jamaica celebrates Boxing Day and/or New Year’s Day with a colorful parade known as Junkanoo. Interestingly, “Junkanoo!” is also the name of a Baha Men album. 

Kyrgyzstan – Kyrgyzstan has a long history, thus it’s not so surprising that it has its fair share of epics, such as one of the world’s longest poems, the Epic of Manas. This poem of more than 500,000 lines revolves around the hero Manas and his many adventures.

Lesotho – An enclaved country entirely within South Africa, Lesotho has the distinction of having the world’s highest low point. In fact, the elevation of the entire country is above 1,000m (3,300ft), which is why it has the nickname “Kingdom in the Sky”.  

Madagascar – Madagascar is home to many diverse ethnic groups, each of which has their own traditional customs and rituals. One that I found particularly interesting was the Famadihana ceremony, or the turning of the bones, where families rebury their ancestors with fresh cloth, on which they write the names of the deceased so they will always be remembered.

Nepal – Most people know that Mount Everest sits on the border of Nepal and Tibet/China, but I recently learned that the Nepalese name of the infamous mountain is Sagarmatha. In Tibetan it’s known as Chomolungma.

Oman – The humble Sultanate of Oman is actually the oldest independent state in the Arab world, but perhaps even more interestingly, the most popular soft drink there is Mountain Dew.

Panama – The recent Ever Given debacle has shed some light on the importance of shipping canals, and where there’s a need, there’s a price. The Panama Canal makes over $2 billion per year in shipping fees. The average toll for a ship to travel through the canal is about $150,000.

Qatar – A peninsula on a peninsula, Qatar is the flattest non-island country in the world. It would also be a fantastic Scrabble word if proper nouns were allowed!

Russia – Russia is big. The Trans-Siberian railway, which crosses the entire country, is over 9,300km (5,700 miles) long. It’s easily one of the longest and busiest railway lines in the world. 

Sri Lanka – The teardrop of India is known for its tea (Ceylon being a former name of Sri Lanka), but it’s also where cinnamon was first cultivated.

Tanzania – While there are many notable features of Tanzania, my favorite country fact is that Zanzibar, an island just off the coast, was the location for the world’s shortest war. The Anglo-Zanzibar War of 1896 lasted about 40 minutes.

Uganda – This Central African country was given the nickname “the Pearl of Africa” by none other than Winston Churchill. He wrote fondly of the country and its diversity in his book “My African Journey” published in 1908.

Vatican City – Technically a city-state, the Vatican City has lots of strange laws, one of which has to do with the guards they employ. Evidently the guards that protect the Vatican must be Swiss males between 19-30 years of age and they must be over 174cm (5’8’’) tall. The uniforms are also required.

Wales – Part of the United Kingdom, Wales is sometimes overlooked by its somewhat more famous neighbors, but a surprising number of celebrities are Welsh: Roald Dahl, Catherine Zeta Jones, and Anthony Hopkins just to name a few.

Yemen – Yet another country on the Arabian Peninsula, Yemen is the suspected home of the infamous Queen of Sheba. 

Zimbabwe – Zimbabwe has had a rough history of leaders. From the late 1980’s to 2017, a disastrous authoritarian regime threw the country’s economy into a tizzy leading to many crashes and insane hyperinflation. For this reason, Zimbabwe’s government was printing 100 trillion-dollar notes as recently as 2009.