Interesting Facts on China

This post is specially made for the people of China and interested people of the world who wants to know more important facts about country China. So, stay in touch for more general knowledge.

• The modern word “China” most likely derives from the name of the Qin (pronounced “chin”) dynasty. First Emperor Qin Shi Huang (260-210 B.C.) of the Qin dynasty first unified China in 221 B.C., beginning an Imperial period which would last until A.D. 1912.
• China is often considered the longest continuous civilization, with some historians marking 6000 B.C. as the dawn of Chinese civilization. It also has the world’s longest continuously used written language.
• China is the fourth largest country in the world (after Russia, Canada, and the U.S.). It has an area of 3,719,275 square miles (slightly smaller than the U.S.) and its borders with other countries total more than 117,445 miles. Approximately 5,000 islands lie off the Chinese coast.
• One in every five people in the world is Chinese. China’s population is estimated to reach a whopping 1,338,612,968 by July 2009. China’s population is four times that of the United States.
• Fortune cookies are not a traditional Chinese custom. They were invented in 1920 by a worker in the Key Heong Noodle Factory in San Francisco.
• China is also known as the “Flowery Kingdom” and many of the fruits and flowers (such as the orange and orchid) are now grown all over the world.
• Toilet paper was invented in China in the late 1300s. It was for emperors only.
• The Chinese invented paper, the compass, gunpowder, and printing.
• The Chinese invented kites (“paper birds” or “Aeolian harps”) about 3,000 years ago. They were used to frighten the enemies in battle, and Marco Polo (1254-1324) noted that kites were also used to predict the success of a voyage. It was considered bad luck to purposely let a kite go.
• Cricket fighting is a popular amusement in China. Many Chinese children keep crickets as pets.
• Despite its size, all of China is in one time zone.
• Ping-pong is one of the most popular games in China, but it was not invented in China. It originated in Britain, where it is called table tennis.
• The number one hobby in China is stamp collecting.
• Giant Pandas (“bear cat”) date back two to three million years. The early Chinese emperors kept pandas to ward off evil spirits and natural disasters. Pandas also were considered symbols of might and bravery.
• White, rather than black, is the Chinese color for mourning and funerals.
• Historians speculate that as the Chinese population grew, people had to conserve cooking fuel by chopping food into small pieces so that it could cook faster. These bite-sized foods eliminated the need for knives and, hence, chopsticks were invented.
• In A.D. 130, Zhang Heng, an astronomer and literary scholar, invented the first instrument for monitoring earthquakes. The machine could detect and indicate the direction of an earthquake.
• China invented ice cream, and Marco Polo is rumored to have taken the recipe (along with the recipe for noodles) back with him to Europe.
• A civil servant named Su Song built the first mechanical clock between A.D 1088 and 1092. It could tell the time of day and also track the constellations so that accurate horoscopes could be determined.
• On September 27, 2008, Zhai Zhigang made the first spacewalk by a Chinese astronaut.
• The Chinese were the first to invent the waterwheel to harness water in A.D. 31—1,200 years before the Europeans. China was also the first country in the world to use an iron plow. Europe didn’t begin using the iron plow until the seventeenth century.
• The name of China’s capital has changed over the centuries. At one time or another it has been known as Yanjing, Dadu, and Beiping. Peking or “Beijing means “Northern Capital.” Beijing is the officially sanctioned pinyin spelling based on the Mandarin dialect. Beijing is the second largest city after Shanghai.
• It was customary for wealthy men and women in the late empire to grow the nails of their little fingers extremely long as a sign of their rank. They often wore decorative gold and silver nail guards to protect their nails.
• By the fourth century B.C., the Chinese were drilling for natural gas and using it as a heat source, preceding Western natural gas drilling by about 2,300 years.
• By the second century B.C., the Chinese discovered that blood circulated throughout the body and that the heart pumped the blood. In Europe, circulation wasn’t discovered until the early seventeenth century by William Harvey (1578-1657).
• The Chinese were using the decimal system as early as the fourteenth century B.C., nearly 2,300 years before the first known use of the system in European mathematics. The Chinese were also the first to use a place for zero.
• The crossbow was invented and first used by the Chinese. They were also the first in the world to use chemical and gas weapons, 2,000 years before gas was used in Europe during WWI.
• According to popular legend, tea was discovered by the Chinese emperor Shennong in 2737 B.C. when a tea leaf fell into his boiling water. The Chinese consider tea to be a necessity of life.
• Martial arts are practiced throughout China and were largely developed from ancient farming and hunting methods.
• The most important holiday in China is the Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year. Chinese traditionally believe that every person turns one year older on the New Year and, thus, that day is considered to be everyone’s birthday.
• Chinese is spoken by 92% of China’s population. There are at least seven major families of the Chinese language, including Mandarin, Cantonese, Wu, Hakka, Gan, Xiang, and Min.
• Red symbolizes happiness for the Chinese and is commonly used at Chinese festivals and other happy occasions such as birthdays and weddings.
• In ancient China, the lotus was seen as a symbol of purity and was sacred to both the Buddhists and Daoists. The peony (“King of Flowers”) symbolized spring, the chrysanthemum symbolized long life, and the narcissus was thought to bring good luck.
• According to a Chinese legend, silk was discovered in 3000 B.C. by Lady Xi Ling Sui, wife of the Emperor Huang Di. When a silk worm cocoon accidentally dropped into her hot tea, fine threads from the cocoon unraveled in the hot water and silk was born.
• The oldest piece of paper in the world was found in China and dates back to the second or first century B.C. Paper was so durable, it was sometimes used for clothing and even light body armor.
• The Chinese were the first in the world to use stirrups in the third century A.D.
• China’s “one child” policy has contributed to female infanticide and has created a significant gender imbalance. There are currently 32 million more boys than girls in China. In the future, tens of millions of men will be unable to find wives, prompting some scholars to suggest that this imbalance could lead to a threat to world security.
• During the first half the twentieth century, Shanghai was the only port in the world to accept Jews fleeing the Holocaust without an entry visa.
• Chinese mathematics evolved independently of Greek mathematics and is consequently of great interest to historians of mathematics.
• Originating as far back as 250 B.C., Chinese lanterns were an important symbol of long life. Lanterns were once symbols of a family’s wealth, and the richest families had lanterns so large, it required several people with poles to hoist them into place.
• In the Tang dynasty, anyone with an education was expected to greet as well as say goodbye to another person in poetic verse composed on the spot.
• China’s Grand Canal is the world’s oldest and longest canal at 1,114 miles (1,795 km) long with 24 locks and around 60 bridges.
• The bat is a traditional good luck symbol that is frequently depicted in designs for porcelain, textiles, and other crafts.
• The bicycle was introduced into China around 1891 by two American travelers named Allen and Sachtleben. The bicycle is now the primary transportation for millions of Chinese. The last Qing emperor (Puyi) rode a bicycle around the Forbidden City in Beijing. China is currently the leading bicycle manufacturer.
• Suspension bridges were invented in China in 25 B.C, 1,800 years before such bridges were known in the West.
• In some parts of China, “pigtails” were associated with a girl’s marital status. A young girl would wear two pigtails, and when she married, she would wear just one. This may have contributed to the Western view that pigtails are associated with children and young girls.
• The longest river in China is the 3,494-mile Yangtze (Changjian) River and the 2,903-mile-long Yellow (Huanghe) River.
• Concubinage has been practiced throughout Chinese history, primarily by wealthy men who could afford it. Chinese emperors had large harems with hundreds of concubines.
• China has the world’s oldest calendar. This lunar calendar originated in 2600 B.C. and has 12 zodiac signs. It takes 60 years to complete.
• The number of birth defects in China continues to rise. Environmentalist and officials blame China’s severe pollution.
• Famous Chinese and Chinese-American actors include Jackie Chan (Hong Kong), Chow Yun Fat (Hong Kong), Bruce Lee (San Francisco), Jet Li (Beijing), Zhang Ziyi (Beijing), and Lucy Lui (New York).
• The 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing were the most expensive games in history.b While the 2004 Athens Games were estimated to cost around $15 billion, the Beijing Games were estimated to cost a whopping $40 billion.
• Chinese cuisine can be divided into northern, eastern, southern (Cantonese) and central and southwestern (Sichuan).
• The Great Wall of China was started over two and a half thousand years ago and is more than 5,000 km long.
• China is among the world's largest producers of cotton and Silk production has been an important part of the Chinese economy for thousands of years.
• Chess is also a favourite pastime. Other popular board games are Go and Mahjong.

Interesting Facts On France

This post is specially made for the people of France and interested people of the world who wants to know more important facts about country France. So, stay in touch for more general knowledge.

• The official name of France is The French Republic and its motto is 'Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.'
• The name France means 'Land of the Franks.' The Franks were a Germanic tribe who lived in Northern Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire.
• Although only the size of Texas, France has seven mountain ranges and five major river systems.
• It is the largest nation in Western Europe, with countries like Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Andorra and Monaco sharing its boundary.
• France is home to 29 UNESCO World Heritage Sites like the Mont St. Michel Abbey, Versailles Palace, and the Chartres Cathedral.
• It has nearly 3000 miles of seashore, with three major water bodies: the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and the English Channel.
• It is also referred to as L'Hexagone, which means the hexagon, due to the geometrical shape of the country.
• While all the stripes of the official French flag are of equal width, the one used by the navy has bands that increase in width from blue to red.
• The flag of France is blue, white, red. It is known as Le Drapeau Tricolore (or the three-coloured flag) because of its three colours. It has existed since 1794.
• The marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine with the future king of England, Henry II led to British rule in France for about 300 years.
• French people love cheese. Though traditionally there are around 350 to 400 varieties of French cheese, there are in fact over 1000 different types available in the French market.
• French wine is immensely popular all over the world. The country is one of the largest wine producing nations in the world. There are 17 distinct wine producing regions like Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, Loire and Provence that continue with the tradition of wine making in France.
• An amusing fact about France is that while beer is considered a luxury drink saved for special occasions, wine is free with most meals.
• France is also home to the only Disneyland in Europe, located near Paris.
• An underground rail tunnel, known as the Channel Tunnel, joins England and France. It runs beneath the English Channel, connecting Folkestone, Kent in England and Coquelles, near Calais in France.
• The Tour de France, the most famous bicycle race in the world is an annual bicycle race of France, in which cyclists cover over 2100 miles in 23 days.
• The first flight of the Concorde took place in 1969, from the French city of Toulouse, one of the centers of the aerospace industry in Europe.
• The concept of jean clothing was born in the Languedoc-Roussillon city of Nîmes, France, from where it was imported by Levi Strauss to California to make tough clothes for gold diggers.
• The Statue of Liberty, one of the most widely recognized structures of US, was made in France. It was then gifted to the US in 1886 to celebrate its centennial.
• April Fool's Day is believed to have originated in France, in 1564, when the country started following the Gregorian Calendar. Those that did not know about the switch in the calendars, were mocked on this day as they continued to believe that 1st April was the first day of the French new year.
• France is the home of the TGV - Train à Grande Vitesse, French for high speed train. A TGV test train set the record of being the fastest train when it reached a speed of 357 mph on April 3, 2007.
• France is also home to the Louvre, one of the largest art museums in the world.
• France is where the Gothic Art and the Baroque style of architecture were born. This is the reason why there are numerous cathedrals and buildings that are fine examples of Gothic Art.
• From the French Alps to the marvelous beaches lining the azure waters in the French Riviera, France is one of the most visited countries in the world. In 2007, it attracted as many as 81.9 million tourists. This number was greater than its population!
• People who speak fluent French are called 'Francophones.'
• The French national anthem is called La Marseillaise. It was composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in 1792.
• An important emblem of France is the cockerel (le coq). It is used on the sportswear of French national teams. It is a courageous animal, willing to fight.
• The French symbol of freedom is the woman known as Marianne. Her image is seen on coins, stamps and paintings. She wears a 'cap of liberty' on her head.
• The country of France is divided into twenty-two regions.
• One of the most important dates in France is the 14 July. This is known as Bastille Day and it is a national holiday. In France it is called La Fête Nationale.
• The guillotine was the method of execution developed during the French Revolution. It was invented with the help of surgeon, Dr. Guillotin. In Paris, it was used regularly in La Place de la Concorde.
• The guillotine remained the official method of execution in France until 1981 when the death penalty was abolished. The last time it was used was as recently as 1977.
• The shrine of Saint-Denis is in the Basilica of Saint-Denis, Paris. Most of the kings and queens of France are laid to rest in this cathedral.
• Tower (La Tour Eiffel) was designed by architect Stephen Sauvestre and built by the construction company of Gustave Eiffel between 1887 and The Eiffel 1889.
• La Tour Eiffel is cleaned all year round by a team of cleaners. Each year they consume 4 tons of paper wipes, 10,000 doses of detergent, 400 litres of metal cleaner and 25,000 rubbish bags.
• The re-painting of La Tour Eiffel begins every seven years. The current painting job commenced in March 2009 and is expected to last for about 18 months. It will require around 60 tons of paint in three different shades of brown.
• The French people call the English people les rosbifs, meaning - the roast beefs!In 1624, King Louis XIII built a hunting lodge in the village of Versailles, outside Paris. This building was enlarged by the next king - Louis XIV - who turned it into the magnificent palace we see today. In French, this palace is called Le Château de Versailles.
• In France, they eat snails (les escargots), frogs' legs (les cuisses de grenouille) and horsemeat (la viande de cheval).
• Before eating a meal, it is polite to say Bon appétit. This means 'I hope you have a good appetite so that you enjoy your meal.'
• The word "Salut" means both 'hello' and 'goodbye.'
• bread is la baguette (little stick). It is a loaf 5 or 6 cm. wide and up to a metre in length. If it is a thinner version, it is called une ficelle (a string) and if it is wider it is called une flûte.
• France has won the Football World Cup only once - in 1998. The French football team is nicknamed Les Bleus (The Blues).
• Denim is a fabric that came originally from the French town of Nîmes (de Nîmes).
• Le Moulin Rouge (meaning- The Red Mill) is a very famous cabaret club in Paris. It was built in 1889. It is recognised by an imitation red windmill on its roof.
• The "cancan" is a very energetic and acrobatic dance that first appeared in Parisian ballrooms in the 1830s.
• The tradition of the white wedding dress began in France. Anne of Brittany is believed to be the first bride to choose a white gown when she married Louis XII in 1499.
• Every May, there is a famous film festival in the southern seaside town of Cannes. It began in 1939.
• The most famous mountain in France is Mont Blanc, meaning White Mountain. It is also known as La Dame Blanche, meaning 'The White Lady.' It has a summit 4,800 metres high and is the highest mountain of the Alps.
• In the south of France, near to Cannes, there is a town called Grasse and it is very famous for growing flowers.
• The tallest bridge in the world is in the south of France. It is called Le Viaduc de Millau and it was opened in December, 2004.

Interesting Facts On Canada

This post is specially made for the people of Canada and interested people of the world who wants to know more important facts about country Canada. So, stay in touch for more general knowledge.

• Canada is the world's second-largest country (9 970 610 km2), surpassed only by the Russian Federation.
• Kanata is the St. Lawrence-Iroquoian word for "village" or "settlement".
• “O Canada,” originally named “Chant national,” was written by Adolphe-Basile. Routhier (French lyrics) and Calixa Lavallée (music) and first performed in Quebec City in 1880. The song was approved by the Parliament of Canada in 1967 as the unofficial national anthem and adopted officially on July 1, 1980.
• The border between Canada and the United States is officially known as the International Boundary. At 5,525 miles, including 1,538 miles between Canada and Alaska, it is the world's longest border between two nations.
• The Canadian motto, A Mari Usque ad Mare, means "From sea to sea."
• At 3,855,103 square miles, Canada is the second largest country in the world, behind Russia.
• Its population density is 8.6 people per square mile, making Canada the ninth-most sparsely populated nation in the world.
• The average life expectancy at birth for a Canadian is 81.16 years, the eighth highest in the world. The United States ranks 46th, at 78.14 years.
• Snorri, the first North American child to be born of European parents (Thorfin and Gudrid), was born in Vinland around A.D. 1000.
• Newfoundland was the first part of Canada to be explored by Europeans. Ironically, it was the last area to become a province, in 1949.
• In 1642, a group of religious mystics from France were inspired by a vision to build a missionary city in the Canadian wilderness. Led by Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve and an Ursuline nun name Jeanne Mance, they founded Montreal.
• According to the 2001 census, 42.6% of Canadians are Roman Catholic, 23.3% are Protestant, and 16% claim to have no religion.
• Alert, in Nunavut territory, is the northernmost permanent settlement in the world.
• Canada became a country on July 1, 1867, when the British North America Act was passed by the British Parliament.
• The Mounted Police were formed in 1873, with nine officers.g In 1920, the Mounted Police merged with the Dominion Police to become the famous Royal Canadian Mounted Police, an organization that now has more than 28,000 members.
• Ice hockey is Canada's official national game. The rules of the game were first published in the Montreal Gazette in 1877.
• Canadian James Naismith invented basketball to give his physical education students at the YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts, an indoor team sport to play during the long winters.
• The capital city, Ottawa, was originally named Bytown after Colonel John By, who headquartered there while building the Rideau Canal to connect the Ottawa River with Lake Ontario.
• Canada has the longest coastline of any country in the world at 151,600 miles.
• The regent of England, currently Queen Elizabeth II, is the Canadian head of state.
• North America's earliest undisputed evidence of human activity, 20,000-year-old stone tools and animal bones have been found in caves on the Bluefish River in northern Yukon.
• North America's lowest recorded temperature was -81.4 degrees Fahrenheit (-63 C) at Snag, Yukon Territory, on February 3, 1947.
• Canada is known as the home of large animals like the moose and grizzly bear, but it is also home to about 55,000 species of insects and about 11,000 species of mites and spiders.
• Canada contains 9% of the world's renewable water supply.
• The official languages of Canada are English and French. Throughout Canada's history up to the current time, there have been conflicts between English and French-speaking Canadians.
• In 1527, John Rut of St. John's, Newfoundland, sent a letter to King Henry VIII—the first letter sent from North America.
• Canadians have made many important inventions, including Kerosene, the electron microscope, the electronic organ, insulin, the IMAX film system, the snowmobile, and the electric cooking range.
• Canada is a major producer and consumer of cheese. In 1997, Canadians produced 350,000 tons of at least 32 varieties of cheese and ate an average of 23.4 pounds per person, with cheddar being the most popular.
• Many famous authors have come from Canada, including Lucy Maud Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables), Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid's Tale), and Alice Munro (Lives of Girls and Women).
• The Moosehead Brewery in Saint John, New Brunswick, turns out 1,642 bottles of beer per minute.
• Canada has made a significant contribution to rock and roll, beginning with “Sh-Boom” by the Crew-Cuts in 1954.
• The natives of eastern Canada tell several stories of a mythical giant named Glooscap, who carved out many of the region's natural features to help him overcome his evil twin brothers. It is believed that these Glooscap stories might be the origin of many of the Paul Bunyan legends.
• The world's strongest current is found in the Nakwakto Rapids at Slingsby Channel, British Columbia. The current has been measured at speeds up to 18.4 miles per hour.
• The West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Alberta, was once the world's largest shopping mall. It now ranks fifth, but it still contains the world's largest indoor amusement park.
• Alberta has 50% of the world's supply of bitumen.
• The CN Tower in Toronto was the world's tallest free-standing structure until it was eclipsed in 2007.
• Manitou Lake on Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron is the world's largest lake within a lake (41.1 square miles).
• Canada maintains 38 national parks, which cover about 2% of the country's landmass.
• At 6050 m, Mount Logan in the Yukon is Canada's tallest peak.
• The longest Canadian river is the Mackenzie, which flows 4241 km through the Northwest Territories.
• The St. Lawrence (3058 km long) is Canada's most important river, providing a seaway for ships from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean.
• Canada has six time zones.
• The educational system varies from province to province and includes six to eight years of elementary school, four or five years of secondary school and three or four years at the university undergraduate level.
• The principal natural resources are natural gas, oil, gold, coal, copper, iron ore, nickel, potash, uranium and zinc, along with wood and water.
• These include automobile manufacturing, pulp and paper, iron and steel work, machinery and equipment manufacturing, mining, extraction of fossil fuels, forestry and agriculture.
• The currency of Canada is Canadian dollar