SomeFacts | Lands and People

Lands and People

If you look at the map of a country, you will see that it is divided ...

No, the ancient homelands of some peoples are divided up between ...

Rows and rows of colorful flags fly outside the headquarters of the ...

The world's smallest nation is an area within the city of Rome, in ...

There are 192 independent countries in the world today. The number ...

Sixty-five of the world's nations are still ruled by other countries. ...

It depends how you travel! These days, trains on the famous ...

The gigantic Russian Federation takes up 6,593,000 square miles of ...

Human beings who share the same history or language make up "a ...

Tiny countries and large cities may house many millions of people. ...

The big masses of land that make up the Earth's surface are called ...

More people live in China than anywhere else in the world. They ...

Just about! But sometime in the future people may have to live in ...

Over the ages, humans have changed the face of the world we live in. ...

During history many peoples have moved huge distances, or migrated. ...

Some lands have good soil, where crops can grow. Some have oil, which ...

Billions! In 1997 there were about 5,840,000,000 human beings living ...

Traditionally the king or queen of England owns all the swans on the ...

Both of them are national anthems or songs. The first tune is played ...

In Great Britain judges wear wigs, which were in fashion 250 years ...

It's a country that has no king or queen. France is a republic. More ...

The people of ancient Athens, in Greece, started the first democratic ...

The most important person in a country is the head of state. This may ...

A parliament is a meeting place where new laws are discussed and ...

Over 590 million people are allowed to vote in general elections in ...

For special ceremonies rulers wear glittering crowns and carry ...

The Japanese royal family has produced a long line of 125 reigning ...

Satellites are machines sent into space to circle the Earth. They can ...

People who are unable to hear or speak can sign with their hands. ...

In some parts of Central America, Turkey, and the Canary Islands, ...

Of course the planet hasn't really grown smaller, it just seems that ...

The Arabic language is read right-to-left, and traditional Japanese ...

It's already been done! A language called Esperanto was invented over ...

Not often. For example, families from all over the world have made ...

In Scandinavia there's a village called Å. In New Zealand there's a ...

Movements of the head and hands can be a kind of language. Be ...

To stay cool! At Coober Pedy in Australia it is so hot that miners ...

Many of Europe's Gypsies live in caravans, moving from one campsite ...

Today the Inuit people of Canada mostly live in modern houses and ...

Thatched huts with walls of dried mud can still be seen in parts of ...

So that more people could fit into a small area of city. High-rise ...

It makes sense to use the nearest building material to hand. Tall ...

The first human beings often took shelter in caves. Even today, some ...

In the mountains of Switzerland, the wooden houses have broad roofs, ...

The Breton people of northwest Europe are proud of their costume, ...

Most people in the world today wear T-shirts and jeans, skirts, or ...

This is a way of making pretty patterns on cloth. Wax is put on the ...

Milan, London, New York, and many other cities stage fantastic ...

It is a big wooden ship, traditionally built in China. Its big sails ...

In the outback, the dusty back country of Australia, the roads are ...

A caravan is a group of traders who cross the desert by camel. Camels ...

In the beautiful Italian city of Venice, there are canals instead of ...

Riyadh airport in Saudi Arabia is bigger than some countries. It ...

The place was Paris, the capital of France, and the year was 1783. ...

In the Andes mountains of South America. One track in Peru climbs to ...

You could always ride on a sled pulled by a team of dogs, as in the ...

Athens, the capital of Greece, shares its name with an ancient ...

Children today still sing a rhyme that says "London Bridge is falling ...

Lhasa stands 12,086 ft (3,684 meters) above sea level. It is the ...

One of the world's most northerly settlements is Ny-Alesund, in the ...

This is a popular nickname for New York City. So go ahead and take a ...

Damascus, capital of Syria, has been lived in for about 4,500 years.

The Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, look like two gigantic ...

The first cities were built in Southwest Asia. Çatal Hüyük in Turkey ...

The most important city in a country is called the capital. South ...

Each city has eye-catching buildings and monuments, which help you ...

Sydney Opera House is in Australia. Its roofs rise from the blue ...

In Myanmar people celebrate the Buddhist New Year by splashing and ...

People in Great Britain. The date recalls the capture of Guy Fawkes, ...

St. Patrick's Day, on March 17, is the national day of Ireland. It is ...

In Turkey, April 23 is Children's Day. A child even gets the chance ...

Each April the people of Seville, in Spain, ride on horseback to a ...

On the Chinese island of Cheung Chau, near Hong Kong, there is a big ...

It means "get-together" in Algonkian. The Native American peoples of ...

The Navaho people of the southwestern United States make beautiful ...

Well, there are two Stratfords. Four hundred years ago, ...

People in the Caribbean, at carnival time. The "pans" are the steel ...

In New Zealand young Maori people have kept alive many of their ...

Kabuki is an exciting type of drama that became popular in Japan in ...

The tama is nicknamed the "talking drum". Its tightness can be varied ...

At St. Petersburg in Russia. It is made up of two great buildings, ...

Beijing opera is quite a performance! Musicians bang cymbals together ...

Kathakali is a kind of dance drama performed in Kerala, southern ...

Australia's Aborigines look back to the dreamtime, a magical age when ...

The Parsi religion began long ago in ancient Persia, now Iran. Many ...

Some priests of the Jain religion, in India, wear masks over their ...

This Jewish festival of light lasts eight days. Families light a new ...

This is the ancient religion of Japan. At its holy shrines people ...

This is the English name given to the Chinese thinker Kong Fuzi, who ...

It is said "dow" and it means "the way". It is the name given to the ...

Indonesia is the largest Islamic country in the world, although some ...

This rocky headland in northerm Greece is holy to Christians of the ...

This is the time in the autumn when Hindus celebrate their new year ...

In Myanmar a four year-old boy learns about the life of Buddha at a ...

Jerusalem is a holy place for Jews, Muslims and Christians. Sacred ...

Sikh men honor five religious traditions. Kesh is uncut hair, worn in ...

In Thailand and other parts of Southeast Asia, traders often sell ...

Only 50 or so people live on remote Pitcairn Island, in the Pacific ...

The mint that's the place where coins and banknotes are made. The ...

This is an ancient trading route stretching all the way from China ...

A currency is a money system, such as the Japanese yen, the US ...

If you wish to take some goods from one country to another, you might ...

Paper money was first used in China, a thousand years ago.

The people of southern India. A mouthwatering recipe might include ...

In the Russian Arctic it is so cold in winter that milk is sold in ...

Robert Bums, Scotland's greatest poet, who lived in the 1700s. The ...

Rice for a start, then shrimp and peppers, all in an amazing hot ...

It is a bitter but refreshing hot drink, made from the leaves of the ...

One of the most expensive foods in the world. It is made of eggs from ...

Chopsticks are popular in China and Japan. Hold one stick between the ...

Various seaweeds are eaten in Japan, and in South Wales seaweed makes ...

Which noodles came first-Italian spaghetti or Chinese chow mein? Some ...

Sugarcane is grown on many islands in the Caribbean region. In ...

Modern boats catch so many fish that in many places fish have become ...

Giant fishing nets like these can be lowered from the shore into ...

It is any crop that is sold for money. Many small farmers around the ...

Water can be piped into desert areas so that crops will grow there. ...

The world's biggest sheep and cattle stations are in the Australian ...

Six hundred years ago, nobody in Europe had ever seen potatoes, com ...

Coconut fruits are big and green-the bit we buy in shops is just the ...

The cowboys of the Pampas, which are the grasslands of Argentina. ...

A singsing is a big festival, Papua New Guinea style. Men paint their ...

A hundred years ago wooden shoes, or clogs, were wom in many parts of ...

Guards of honor in the Greek army are called Evzónes. Their uniform ...

The Chinese were the first people to make silk, from the cocoons of ...

Actually, Panama hats were first made in Ecuador, where they were ...