Travel guides can tell you a lot about a country.
But locals often have stories and facts you won’t find anywhere else.
Across the internet, folks have shared fascinating details about where they live, offering a glimpse into daily life and history around the world.
Want to know which nation sent a bear to fight in WW2? Who eats macaroni with sugar and feta for breakfast? Or where, believe it or not, people once ate their prime minister?
You’ll find these stories—and more—below.
Reddit Threads#1
New Zealand's Air Force logo is the kiwi, a flightless bird.
Image credits: geekgirlnz
#2
60% of our country would be (re)claimed by the sea if we'd done nothing for the past 500 years about water management. More than half of it exists because human beings are f*****g smart.
Edit: Yes, The Netherlands.
Image credits: zeekoes
#3
In New Zealand, we had a leader recently (Jacinda Ardern) who almost everyone else outside NZ loves. Yet there is a proportion of the population who hates Jacinda Ardern with a passion even now, years after she saved a lot of people’s lives and supported businesses during the pandemic. During her leadership she dealt with a mass shooting, a volcanic eruption with loss of life, and a pandemic and did it all exceptionally well.
Yet there is this unfathomable hatred towards her. It’s bizarre.
#4
The last residential school (abducting Indigenous children from their families and putting them in Christian schools where they were a****d, poorly fed, and lost their culture) closed in 1996 in Canada!! This is not ancient history.
A lot of our nutrition knowledge is based on unethical experiments conducted on these children and other Indigenous communities without consent and without any of the ethical procedures that are now in place to protect research subjects.
Image credits: SphynxCrocheter
#5
Canada has more freshwater lakes than the rest of the world.
Combined.
Image credits: hockeynoticehockey
#6
Indian women collectively hold an estimated 24,000 tons of gold, which is more than the combined gold reserves of the top five gold-holding countries.
Image credits: ultlsr
#7
Contraception was only legalised in Ireland in 1980. Homosexuality was only decriminalised in 1993. Divorce was only legalised in 1995.
Image credits: recaffeinated
#8
The Choctaw nation sent $170 to Ireland during the potato famine in the 1840s. This was a huge sum for the Choctaw to collect and send at the time partially because they were having their own crop related issues.
#9
Australia has only ever lost 1 war...against the emu's in 1850. They are now our overlords. They are forcing me to write this. Pray for us
#10
Australia lost a prime minister. Like literally lost him. Harold Holt went out for a swim at Portsea Beach one day and was never seen again. No body, nothing. Of course there were rumours about a Chinese submarine waiting offshore to whisk him away, but nothing was ever proven. Then Melbourne Council named a swimming pool after him. True story.
Image credits: LissyVee
#11
In Honduras there's a interesting event that happens every year in a really small town, called "La Lluvia de Peces" (The Rain of Fish), where fish fall from the sky during heavy storms, likely sucked up by waterspouts and dropped on land, leaving locals to collect them for food. There has been some studies and there are several explanations but nothing completely confirmed.
Image credits: Bllq21
#12
We hold the world record for most days without a fully elected government. From December 2018 to October 2020, Belgium had no federal government and was governed by an interim government for 652 days, beating the previous world record holder (541 days), which was… Belgium.
Image credits: kvitske
#13
We have more saunas per capita than street legal cars. Roughly 2.7M cars (not including bigger vehicles like trucks/semis/buses/trains/military etc) and 3.2M saunas in Finland.
Image credits: ahjteam
#14
We ate our prime minister one time. The Netherlands
Image credits: dad-without-milk
#15
Scotland is the only country in the world where Coca-Cola or Coca-Cola made Fanta isn’t the number 1 selling soft drink. It‘s Irn Bru!
#16
Spain is, in fact, currently a very secular country where the Catholic Church has lost almost all its influence. People enjoy the folklore of religion but do not practice religion actively. Few people under the age of 60 attend mass regularly.
Image credits: Old-Importance18
#17
We have a unique word "Kalsarikänni": It describes the moment of drinking at home in your underwear. Word was also used by Homer Simpson in one Simpsons episode.
Image credits: juho_luomala
#18
Canada has a strategic maple syrup reserve.
Image credits: Critterconvention
#19
Actually right now,half a million people in Serbian capital are fighting against the f*****t regime which is using tear gas and weapons against their own people in favor of the f*****t s***s,this fight has been going on for 7 months and the government controlled media is trying to silence all of this.
#20
The soviet union dropped 450 nukes near my town in Kazakhstan. No one was evacuated and people are still born with deformities and cancer is prevalent.
#21
In Australia you are never more than 50m away from a snake. 1 in 3 houses in Brisbane have a resident snake living in the roof.
Image credits: LumpiTheScourge
#22
My country has more than half of all the roundabouts in the world, and almost twice as many roundabouts as the second most roundabouty country. And to be honest, I find it a little WTF that other countries don't have more roundabouts. I find them way more comfortable to navigate than cross intersections or red lights.
Edit : That's France.
Image credits: Neveed
#23
The two main islands that make up New Zealand didn’t have official names until 2013.
Image credits: Stinky_Queef
#24
Philippines is the only other country besides the Vatican where divorce is illegal. And that's just one of the many problems we have here.
Image credits: TheAmateurRedditor
#25
As Americans, we’re taught about slavery, the trail of tears, etc. But I swear we never, or just *barely* were told about how the country treated the Japanese in the 40s and 50s. Terrible stuff. It’s not common knowledge like slavery and indigenous g******e are.
#26
Americans are so dumb that they thought 1/3 was less than a 1/4 and it derailed a whole hamburger campaign in the 1980s. .
#27
Montenegro declared war on Japan for no good reason. It is half a world away and has the population of a Japanese village.
Image credits: salajjehona
#28
Poland
A bear called Wojtek fought in our army in WW2 and he carried amunition during the battle of Monte Cassino.
He also liked to drink beer and smoke(and eat at the same time) cigarets, he had the rank of corporal during his time in the army, he was bought by our soldiers in Syria later lived in Italy and at the end in Scotland where he was put in a zoo where he died in 1963, he never actually visted poland and we have statues of him in diffrent polish cities, his statues are also in Italy and Scotland.
Image credits: Chadxxx123
#29
Moldova has the largest wine cellar in the world that goes for like 200 km (120 miles?)
also we have one man in iur country who holds the world record for owning the biggest horse shoe collection (over 12 000), he has his own museum full of all his collections btw, it's pretty fun there ngl.
Image credits: LocksmithSuspicious1
#30
In Bulgaria we eat macaroni with sugar and feta cheese for breakfast.
Image credits: AdmirableFlow
#31
For 7 years, the prime minister of Serbia was an openly lesbian woman who has a son with her partner, even though gay marriage and adoption for gay couples are illegal in my country. Today, she is the president of the parliament.
#32
Canada is as tall as it is wide (ish).
Image credits: iButcherBoxes
#33
Belgium supplied the uranium for the Manhattan Project. It went something like this:
Belgium government-in-exile: "So we hear you guys need this 'uranium' stuff."
US government: "What? No, we don't. And if we did that would be top secret. Seriously, who tf talked?"
Belgium: "Doesn't matter, Congo is one of two uranium deposits in allied hands. We have 1200 tons of the weird glory rock, do you want it?"
US: "Yes, if you can get it to the African coast, we can get it across the Atlantic."
Belgium: "No need, it's already in the US."
US: "It... what?"
Belgium: "It's rare stuff. So when we moved all of our gold, silver, and other valuables here at the start of the war, we included the uranium. It's in a warehouse on Staten Island. Has been for the past four years."
US: "Fuuuuu... Yes, we'll take the lot!".
#34
There are 195 countries on Earth. There are only four countries that DONT have paid maternity leave: Papua New Guinea, Suriname, Tonga, and THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. That’s right folks. In America we work until the day we give birth, and we’re right back to work after giving birth. Isn’t that awful!? No other developed nation treats their mothers like this. Germany, Mexico, Japan, Canada, literally every country you can think of, they give their mothers PAID, job protected maternity leave!
Image credits: bria1993xoxo
#35
Scotland were world champions in 2004 and 2005 for the sport of ......
ELEPHANT POLO.
Image credits: Suspicious_Field_429
#36
Every year the whole country (UK) gets together with their families to burn an effigy of a dude who almost blew up our parliament 400 years ago. .
#37
Poland. We had woman crowned "King" instead of "Queen". And her husband met diplomats from our country in the baths half-naked to show how civilized he is. We enlisted bear in the military and had him reach quite a high rank in the artillery division.
We are a WTF nation in general.
#38
In Finland we have a brand of bread called Jussi Pussi.
Do what you will with this information.
#39
The United States tried to send all the slaves back to Africa and soon realized it was mathematically impossible, especially given the means of the day. This is how Liberia was founded.
#40
Ireland used women who had premarital s*x as slave labour for decades.
#41
We have both the largest air force in the world (USAF) and the second largest air force (US Navy). This fact has always blown my mind.
No affordable healthcare, horrible work/life balance, the government doesn’t even pretend to care about its citizens… but, hey! We’ve got a s**t-ton of military aircraft!
#42
Ireland is the only country that has a lower population today than it did in the 19th century.
#43
Bulgaria. My country didn’t change its name in 1300 years
Image credits: boris_5kov_
#44
In France, you can marry your cousin or a dead person
Image credits: _superpasteque
#45
We have a town called ‘Wait a while’ or ‘Waimate’ in Māori
#46
Brazil (alongside our pals Argentina and Uruguay) k**led off like 90% of the male population of Paraguay during the war in the 19th century. They were on their way to become a local power, and were basically set back to the stone age.
Funny personal anecdote: my great-grandfather was Paraguayan; we *infer* he immigrated here shortly after the war (who knows why), but can't be sure. Some twenty years ago, my aunt went to the Paraguayan consulate at our state's capital to see if there was anyway we could access his documents without having to travel all the way to Paraguay. The clerk there told her (supposedly in a very rude way) there were no documents left from that time to access; "los brasileros lo han quemado todo", he said ("the Brazilians burnt everything").
Thankfully that was the last war we took part in (other than WWII).
Image credits: throwawayayaycaramba
#47
Before invading Spain, napoleon sent a formal letter to the crown along the lines of 'don't worry about my armies crossing the border, we are just on our way to Portugal!'. No one suspected anything until he was literally knocking on the gates of our capital.
#48
Mississippi was the last state in the USA to ratify the 13th Amendment, which is the amendment that abolished slavery.
This occurred in 2013.
While, sure, Mississippi certainly has its history of slavery, this was more of a bookkeeping issue. In the USA, as long as three-fourths of the total number of states ratifies an amendment to the US constitution, it becomes a law for everyone. Even though Mississippi voted against the 13th Amendment, enough states voted for it. Now it is federal law. At that point, a state ratifying the amendment is more of a box checking exercise rather than having any real impact.
In the mid 90s someone realized that, hey, Mississippi still hadn't voted for it. The state legislature came together, voted unanimously to "end slavery", but the paperwork didn't get submitted...and no one noticed until it was finally dealt with properly in 2013.
#49
Norway, often mentioned as one of the most well-run countries in the world, runs on caffeine.
We drink insane amounts of coffee, and we’re one of the world’s top consumers per capita. But it doesn’t stop there: Pepsi Max is our top-selling soft drink, making us (apparently) the only country where diet soda beats sugary soda. We alone drink over 9% of the world’s Pepsi Max.
Clearly, caffeine is the secret to surviving the cold and dark winters.
#50
Abortion is absolutely completely illegal in the UK
However, a more modern law states that, if 2 (or more) reputable doctors confirm that your abortion is necessary, then the government is required to defend your criminal conviction on your behalf. A defence against, themselves, which by default just results in a settlement, of nothing.
It is a stupid workaround because actually updating or even codifying the legal system is too much to ask.
#51
Norwegians eat more pizza per person than any other country in the world.
Image credits: mrsolenoid
#52
The biggest land border France has with another country is with Brasil.
Image credits: louison_nennimafoi
#53
There are places in romania where its almost fully hungarian speaking. like thise people even refuse to speak romanian despite being in romania and if you speak romanian to them they d pretend they dont speak it (they do).
#54
Age of consent in Germany is 14 with no age gap clause. I only found that out recently, definitely a WTF!
#55
Ukraine is very digitalised country, Ukrainians have government app, where we can show our IDs, driving licence and all the certificates about our education and even get married online.
#56
Spain. We have free trains
#57
Estonia has the most unicorns per capita.
#58
In England, it is illegal to "handle a Salmon suspiciously". *The Salmon Act, 1986*.
Also in England, it is prohibited for a Welshman to be in the city of Chester before dawn, and after sunset.
Lol. I love this country.
#59
South Africa had its own RuPaul-style drag celebrity named Evita Bezuidenhout who dressed like RuPaul and talked politics like Bill Maher.
#60
Ireland once had a law that made it illegal to be drunk... in your own home.
Under the Licensing Act 1872, it was technically illegal to be drunk in any public or private place, including your own house. The law stated that “every person found drunk… in any highway or other public place, whether a building or not, or on any licensed premises, shall be liable to a penalty…"
But in court cases, “any place” was occasionally argued to include your own kitchen if it was accessible to others or if others were present. While rarely enforced, it remained on the books for over 100 years.
Bonus WTF: It was once also illegal in Ireland to be drunk while in charge of a cow. 🐄🍺
Yes, you could literally be done for drunk cow-handling.
#61
Argentina, if you had your 7th son or 7th daughter (so you need 6 of the same s*x first, regardless of having some of different s*x in between), then he or she can get a "presidential godparenthood". Giving the person actual benefits in life like free education (university too) with some allowances as well, kinda pointless thinking that there's public education for all, but still, this is an actual written law. This comes from ancient European myth that the kid could be a werewolf or a witch.
#62
Czech Republic has 11 % of alcoholics 🥲
#63
Not a big wtf I guess, but we hang birthday calendars in our toilets. I guess so we can't forget and have something to read while we're there. It's in the Netherlands 🇳🇱
#64
We (Ireland) accidentally legalized k******e and e*****y for one day ! They were the best of times, they were the worst of times. We also sent a turkey to the Eurovision, but sure look !
#65
Canada: My hometown of Winnipeg is (indirectly) the namesake of Winnie the Pooh and is occasionally colder than the surface of Mars.
Also, the “Red Scare” that was prevalent in the US in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s started in Canada with the Gouzenko Affair, when a GRU agent at the Soviet embassy in Ottawa defected and brought with him evidence of a massive Soviet spy ring in North America.
#66
Our country is famous for having some of the most passive aggressive people on the planet. But somehow tricked the rest of the world into thinking we’re the ‘nicest’ people.
And I think it’s interesting you all believe that.
#67
In France, two regions (Alsace , moselle) are not exactly laïc and church and state are not fully separated. I grew up with mandatory Christian studies in public school between ages 5 to 10 . we have more public holidays than the rest of France and our social security is also a bit better.
We have a lot of specificities due to the fact that those region have been German for a long time
honestly, even French people barely know that.
#68
India once had a university in 700 BC with over 10K students.
#69
In Tajikistan, milk tea is taken with salt, never sugar.
#70
Ireland had the first copyright case in the sixth century. The ruling was ‘to every cow belongs its calf, to every book its copy’
#71
Argentina's national sport is not soccer, it is "duck" played with the carcass of a duck. Nobody practices it like they did a hundred years ago.
#72
US. Two of our states went to war over land one of them didn't even border. Thrice. Same states all 3 times.
#73
4th largest airforce in 1960. Country of ~8 mil at the time.
>!Sweden!
#74
Singapore is likely the only country which has increased its land mass by 25% without war or territorial disputes. We do so via land reclamation from the sea.
#75
When someone dies, we don t just mourn, we make coliva also: a sweet wheat cake for the dead. We all eat it ( the ones alive). That s in Romania
#76
I just found out Thomas Jefferson was only 33 when he wrote the Declaration of Independence
#77
Canadian soldiers were so nasty (no one wanted to be taken prisoner by the Canadians) in WW1. The world came up with rules. The Geneva Conventions.
#78
In theory you could get fined for slamming a car door in Switzerland.
#79
We Dutch like to eat raw herring. We take it out of its little tray, dip its decapitated corpse into chopped onions, lift it above our mouths, and bite off a big chunk.
#80
A little known fact about Scotland.
A 2016 study by the Celtic Genome Institute and the University of Inverness identified a rare mitochondrial mutation, MT-HG17(Picta) This mutation was found exclusively in a small group of Highland women descended from ancient Pictish tribes. The mutation appears to halt cellular aging entirely. According to Professional Phil McAvity, these women exhibit no telomere degradation, no signs of age-related decline, and are functionally immune to most diseases.
Locals call them ‘Gobhar Beag Feargach’ and they can theoretically live for centuries.
But they do die, just not naturally. Anecdotal records suggest they only die when enraged or insulted enough to do it out of spite. 129 year old Annie Mallish supposedly dropped dead in Feb 1983 after being arrested for fighting 5 Policemen.
