World Roulette: Fun Facts #6
Last updated: Saturday May 24th, 2025
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Welcome To World Roulette
We continue with the series that consists of spinning a roulette with all the recognized, non-recognized countries, and territories of the world, and there will be fun facts about each one! I hope that you like it and let's get started.
The 51st is...
● Northern Cyprus is a de-facto state that has an area of 3,355 km2 and a population of 382k people.
● If it were a country, it would be the 168th in terms of size and 174th in terms of population.
● Nicosia is the only capital of 2 states at the same time - Northern Cyprus and Cyprus.
Transport-less country
There are no trams, subways or railroads in Northern Cyprus, although railroads were built by the British in the XX Century but were discontinued due to unprofitability.
A really big flag
Northern Cyprus has one of the largest flags in the world. It's painted in the Kyrenia mountains.
The 52nd one is...
● Israel is the 150th biggest country in the world and the 98th in terms of population with 9,48 million people.
● It's a one of the best countries to live in terms of HDI (25th) with 0,915 which is considered "very high".
● Israel has more museums per capita than any other country in the world.
Lowest point on earth
The Dead Sea in Israel is the lowest point on earth, at 1,315 feet below sea level at its lowest point.
A lot of high-tech companies
With more than 3,000 high-tech companies and start-ups, Israel has the highest concentration of hi-tech companies in the world (apart from the Silicon Valley).
The 53rd one is...
● Namibia is the 34th biggest country in the world and the 135th in terms of population with 3,07 million people.
● It's a decent country to live in terms of HDI (142nd) with 0,610 which is considered "medium".
● Namibia is Home to the Second-largest Canyon in the World: The Fish River Canyon.
World's oldest desert
The Namib desert, located in Namibia, is around 80 million years old, making it the oldest desert in the world.
The world’s most extensive meteorite showers
The Gibeon meteorite shower is the largest known meteorite shower on Earth, covering a wide elliptical area of some 275 by 100 kilometers, centered on Brukkaros south of Mariental. Most of the pieces fell just southeast of Gibeon.
The 54th one is...
● The British Virgin Islands are a British overseas territory that has an area of 153 km2 and a population of 30k people.
● If it were a country, it would be the 192nd in terms of size and 193rd in terms of population.
● Anegada is the only flat island in the British Virgin Islands, formed from coral and limestone, not volcanic rock
A few of them are inhabited
There are more than 60 individual islands in the British Virgin Islands. Only about 16 of them are inhabited. And about 4 of them make up the main destination. Tortola, Anegada, Virgin Gorda and Jost Van Dyke.
They are believers
The islands’ constitution begins with a national belief in God.
The 55th one is...
● Tuvalu is the 193rd biggest country in the world and the 195th in terms of population with 9,5k people.
● It's a decent country to live in terms of HDI (132nd) with 0,653 which is considered "medium".
● Tuvalu’s country code domain extension transformed the island’s GDP. The domain is .tv and it's used by big companies like Twitch.tv
The country does not take credit cards.
The entire country operates on a cash basis. Not that there are many places you can spend your money in Tuvalu. The country only has one hotel and one real guest house. Those are also the only restaurants in the country.
Tuvalu might disappear soon.
One of the downsides of being entirely comprised of coral atolls is that you aren’t very high above sea level. The highest point in the entire country is only 4.6 meters above sea level. That means if sea levels rise only a few feet, most of the country will be underwater.
The 56th one is...
● Myanmar is the 39th biggest country in the world and the 27th in terms of population with 54,7 million people.
● It's a decent country to live in terms of HDI (144th) with 0,698 which is considered "medium".
● The national symbol of Myanmar is the peacock. The peacock is a symbol of the sun’s descent.
A different unit of measure
Myanmar is one of only three countries in the world that don’t use the metric system. It uses a unit of measurement called the “peiktha”.
Roads were very dangerous once
Driving in Myanmar can be dangerous! For over 100 years, cars in Myanmar drove on the left side of the road. In 1970, the rules changed overnight and cars had to drive on the right. This caused all kinds of chaos on the roads.
The 57th one is...
● Honduras is the 101st biggest country in the world and the 87th in terms of population with 10,9 million people.
● It's a decent country to live in terms of HDI (138th) with 0,624 which is considered "very high".
● Honduras is home to parts of the Mesoamerican Reef, the second-largest coral reef system in the world.
A dual capital
The capital of Honduras used to alternate between the two cities of Comayaguela and Tegucigalpa up until 1938, when they were technically combined into one.
Anti-smoking country
Honduras was the first country to ban smoking in your own home. Smokers must always stand about two metres away from non-smokers.
The 58th one is...
● Cyprus is the 164th biggest country in the world and the 154th in terms of population with 1,36 million people.
● It's one of the best countries to live in terms of HDI (29th) with 0,907 which is considered "very high".
● Cyprus was the first country in the world to put its map on its flag
Old wine
The oldest wine in the world is made in Cyprus. It dates back to before 2000 BC and was a favourite of King Richard the Lionheart.
Meow
Cyprus is home to more stray cats than actual people. 1.2 million people vs. approximately 1.5 million stray cats
The 59th one is...
● Sudan is the 15th biggest country in the world and the 30th in terms of population with 51,2 million people.
● It's a bad country to live in terms of HDI (170th) with 0,561 which is considered "low".
● This country is the most sparsely-populated in the world. It even has more horses than people.
Sudan is home to more pyramids than Egypt
There are more than 200 pyramids in Sudan, which is nearly double the number in Egypt (118). The ancient Nubian civilization, formerly known as the Kingdom of Kush, built impressive pyramids along the banks of the Nile River.
A really long civil war
Sudan fought Africa’s longest civil war. The Second Sudanese War began in 1983 and ended in 2005 after 22 years of fighting during which around 1.5 million people died and 4 million people became refugees.
The 60th one is...
● Mauritius is the 170th biggest country in the world and the 156th in terms of population with 1,26 million people.
● It's a good country to live in terms of HDI (72nd) with 0,796 which is considered "high".
● Mauritius is the only African country to have Hinduism as its main religion.
An extinct national animal
Although it is extinct, the dodo is the national animal of Mauritius. Being flightless and having no natural predators, the dodo had no defences when Dutch settlers arrived in the 1500s.
A peaceful country
Life in Mauritius is so peaceful that it doesn’t need a standing army. It is one of 22 countries in the world not to have one.
