Studying the world..

10 Cultural Differences And Facts That Make The World Interesting

by Jeffrey Nelson

The world is big. Very big. It is full of a plethora of different people, places, and things. We tend to think of the world in segments: countries, people, languages, cities, etc. However, the world, when thought of as a whole, is a very interesting place in and of itself.

Famous bowls in India are also regularly found in Mexico. The German Schnitzel is very similar to the Mexican milanesa. As different as cultures are, there are also a ton of similarities. Here are a few interesting facts that really help make our world a fun place to live.

• There are over 6,000 languages spoken in the world today, many of which are spoken by fewer than a few hundred people. The top 10 or 12 languages however make up the vast majority of all of the speakers in the world.
• Mexicans celebrate New Years Eve by eating 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight. This tradition is actually fairly common among Latin American countries and dates back to their ancestors.
• Puero Ricans invented the Pina Colada - the delicious coconut based drink. Sipping a Pina Colada on a beach in Puerto Rico is, in fact, very rico.
• Dubai is home to the tallest building in the world - Burj Khalifa, which stands at a towering 2717 feet in height. Additionally, Dubai currently has plants to make a $120M Water Discus Hotel that will be the most luxurious, and biggest, underwater hotel in the world.
• French people have the longest life span for women, the third longest for men, and they have the fastest train in the world clocked at 357mph! If you feel the need for speed and the desire to live a long time, France may be your country.
• In Niger, Africa the fertility rate is 7.1 children per woman - the highest in the world. Africa has several problems, including their fertility situation, with many children not arriving to see their fifth birthday.
• Africa is home to anywhere from 800 to 1,500 of the worlds languages making it possibly the most linguistically diverse continent in the world.
• Spain has the lowest population density in all of Europe. It is five times larger than the UK in physical size yet has 33% fewer people. If you want to spread out, check out Spain.
• Spain had a three year civil war that killed over 500,000 people.
• The United States spends three times more on their military than the next 3 countries combined.

As we can see, there are vast and amazing differences stretching from South America to Africa and beyond. Without this diversity, the world would be a pretty boring place.