Traveling is very often being connected with the word knowledge. It’s a well-known fact that traveling doesn’t only help us develop our tolerance towards others, but also our general knowledge. Meeting people from vast cultures and societies provides an education that is impossible to get in a traditional school, college or a university. By visiting different countries and cities, exploring different continents and their cultural diversity in all its perspectives, one can always come home richer than he was before he left. After all, traveling is one of a few rare things you buy that makes you richer, in so many ways.
There are so many impressive and fascinating things and places on this planet to see and experience, and although the best way to do that is to actually travel, it is also important but also pleasing to get some interesting and curious information about different places and destinations in the world, that can make us understand and realize the major diversity of our planet- in every sense. If you are hungry for some new information and facts about different places in the world, here are a few that may astonish you.
The entire world’s population could fit inside Los Angeles
According to National Geographic, the world’s total population- which is 7.5 billion could fit inside Los Angeles. If every single one of those people stood shoulder-to-shoulder, they could all fit within the 500 square miles of Los Angeles. The actual population of the city of Los Angeles is 4.0 million, and the country of Los Angeles counts with 10.2 million of citizens. The Five-Country Area has 18.8 millions of people living in that area, and was the first in the whole nation to reach 10 million residents. If the Los Angeles five-country area were a state, it would surpass all states in total population size with the exception of California, Texas, New York and Florida. Los Angeles is known for a grand cultural diversity, and there are people from more than 140 countries, speaking 224 different languages that are currently calling Los Angeles their home.
The world’s most densely populated island is the size of two soccer fields
Santa Cruz del Islote in the Archipelago of San Bernardo on the coast of Columbia may only be about the size of two soccer fields- which is two acres, but the artificial island has four main streets and 10 neighbourhoods. Five hundred people live on the island in around 155 houses. With so many people situated in such a small space, it’s the most densely populated island in the world. The island is very vibrant and life never seems to stop, with a youth population of around 65%.
90% of world’s fresh water is in Antarctica
Situated on the southern-most tip of the planet, Antarctica is the driest, coldest, windiest and emptiest place on earth, also being the largest desert in the world. This world’s most massive and mysterious landmass stretches out to cover more than 14 million square kilometres, making it the fifth largest continent in the world. There are no permanent residents or native people in Antarctica, but up to 1000 people are wintering over at different search stations. Only 2% of the continent of Antarctica has been explored and most of the area is covered in ice over 1.6 kilometre thick. Conversely, during the summer months the sun does not set in Antarctica, which means it actually receives more sunlight than the equator during that time frame.
Copenhagen is the most bike-friendly city in the world
Many places around the world are trying to figure out how to rework their infrastructure and accommodate cyclist and hopefully, in turn, encourage residents to use the environmentally-friendly mode of transportation. More than half of the city’s residents, from hourly workers to members of Parliament, commute by bike along Copenhagen’s 250 miles of bike lanes. Copenhagen is also one of the greenest cities in the world, with plans to be carbon neutral by 2025. Over to the past decade, Copenhagen has cut its emissions by nearly a third through the use of wind and solar power, as well as heating systems that recycle waste material.
Brazilian prisoners can reduce their sentence by reading
In Brazil the prisoners can reduce their sentence by 4 days every month for every book they read and write report about. They can also reduce their sentence by a few days if they pedal a stationary bike in the prison, which will provide the electricity to a nearby town. Brazil also has the world’s fourth highest rate of incarceration, with a population of 581.000 people.
”To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries.” Aldous Huxley