36 travel facts that will absolutely blow your mind

Everyone knows that Tokyo is the world’s most populated city, and that the planet’s longest river is the Nile. But how about the less known facts that make travel really interesting, the stuff that make you to want to pack your bags immediately and relocate to Outer Mongolia?

Well, look no further than these 36 travel facts.

1. Hurrah for science! Yep, research has proved that going on holiday can lower your risk of heart disease.

#SanFranciscoArt #sanfranciscograf #sanfranciscograffiti #sanfranciscostreetart #sanfranciscoheart #sanfranciscomural #sfart #sfgraf #SFstreetart #sfheart #ileftmyheartinsanfrancisco #bayareagraf #bayareagraffiti #BayAreaStreetArt #westcoastgraf #westcoastgraffiti #westcoaststreetart #calistreetart #californiagraffiti #CaliforniaStreetArt #californiagraf #heartgraf #heartstreetart #mauralporn #graf_art #street_art #StreetartSF #howsfseessf #onlyinsf

A photo posted by #cdbflowers (@cbischof) on Sep 15, 2014 at 12:48am PDT

2. Vilakasi Street in Soweto, Johannesburg is the only street in the world to have been home to two winners of the Nobel Peace Prize: Nelson Mandella and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

#madiba #house #vilakasistreet #legacy A photo posted by Doraa Charliz (@doraa_charliz) on Mar 30, 2014 at 3:29pm PDT

3. Before the statue of Lord Nelson was placed on top of the 5m tall column in Trafalgar Square, London, 14 stone masons had dinner at the top.

#TrafalgarSquare #London Statues of George IV and Admiral Nelson #NelsonsColumn #Equestrian #EquestrianStatue #CanonSX50 A photo posted by @crohnoid on Feb 3, 2015 at 1:34pm PST

4. The Rufus Roo Travel Jacket can hold your clothes, books, handbag, shoes, laptop, iPad, two bottles of wine, your passport, boarding card, phone and keys — all at the same time. (Check out 25 more awesome and unusual travel gifts.)

5. The entire country of Monaco is smaller than Central Park in New York City.

#nature #truebeauty #birds #monaco A photo posted by Sofia Mpasanioti (@sofiamp__) on Feb 23, 2015 at 4:08am PST

6. France is the most visited country in the world with 81.4 million visitors each year.

Thx #lecmn for this private visit in #igfarcdetriomphe #lecmnarcdetriomphe A photo posted by Gérard Trang (@superchinois801) on Nov 26, 2014 at 10:46pm PST

7. All the money that is tossed into Rome’s Trevi Fountain is collected each night and donated to charity.

We visited Rome in the scorching summer months and visited the majestic Trevi Fountain. I remember the strong impulse to dive into that gorgeous cool water but I managed to resist and bought myself a massive #gelato instead #trevifountain #rome #italy #summer A photo posted by @jessipop24 on Feb 17, 2015 at 2:42pm PST

8. The clever technology behind Smart Value shows you the flight that best balances price and journey time along any route in less than a minute. That’s the equivalent of 20 travel agents searching for 30 minutes, then comparing flight times and costs to produce the same result.

9. Each year, South Africa moves approximately 5.08cm away from South America as a result of plate tectonic.

The worldmap of 1925 #vintage #worldmap #world #kodak #stanford #globe #camera #brownie #wanderlust #vsco #vscogram #vscool #vscogrid #vscocam #vscobest #vscocool #bestofvsco #bestofinstagram #picoftheday #instamood #instagood #instabest #iphone #iphoneonly A photo posted by Jasmijn Hormann (@jasmijnhormann) on Feb 21, 2015 at 6:20am PST

10. There are 61,000 people in the air over the U.S. at any given time on any given day.

Hard to beat the view from a #windowseat at #sunset #delta #airplanemode #30000feet A photo posted by Kevin Peterson (@kevbotuptop) on Feb 21, 2015 at 6:25pm PST

11. The Chobi Cam One HD is the smallest digital camera in the world and has just one button that drives all its functionality — and yep, the quality holds up.

12. Despite hosting the world’s biggest population of skyscrapers, approximately three quarters of Hong Kong is rural.

Camping <3 #LongKe A photo posted by Percy Wong (@percywck) on Dec 21, 2014 at 2:36am PST

13. At 13,803km, the longest non-stop commercial flight is Dallas, Fort Worth to Sydney and takes just under 17 hours to complete.

19 hours later and I’m home #sydney #upintheair #dallastosydney #home #bestcity #aerialview A photo posted by kimmyrashleigh (@k1mmies) on Dec 15, 2012 at 5:48pm PST

14. Beer in Thailand is served with ice cubs otherwise it would go warm within minutes of having been poured.

Dinner with beer #beer#orangejuice#thailandbeer#dinner#glass#bottles#instadaily A photo posted by NICOLE (@nicolerobino) on Jul 17, 2013 at 6:24am PDT

15. South Africa has the world’s most officially recognized languages… All 11 of them.

That’s Zulu, kids. #zulu #zululanguage #southafrica #sodwana #sodwanabay A photo posted by Jacqueline M. (@jemchicago) on Jan 4, 2014 at 12:16pm PST

16. One in three Aucklanders own a boat.

#auckland #newzealand #cityofsails #westhavenmarina #skytower #skyline #eyeonauckland #loves_new_zealand #kiwipics A photo posted by Kerry Kissane Photography (@kerrykissane) on Feb 8, 2015 at 1:00am PST

17. The colloquial nickname for the Parisian police is ‘the chickens’.

From Robo Cop to Rollo Cop. #parispolice. Better not rob le banque! A photo posted by Peter Castro (@pcastroeditor) on Nov 12, 2014 at 3:58pm PST

18. Believe it or not, Dallas Fort-Worth International Airport is bigger than Manhattan.

A photo posted by Alysia Rantisi (@louisianamermaid) on May 14, 2014 at 4:36pm PDT

19. Canada has the most lakes in the world, more than 3 million of them!

A photo posted by @sar.alicia on Oct 19, 2014 at 4:08pm PDT

20. Approximately 900 bird species are found in South Africa alone, which represents 10 per cent of the world’s total bird species.

Woodland Kingfisher in the Kruger National Park, South Africa #woodlandkingfisher #kingfisher #bird #birdlife #africa #animals #ornithology #krugernationalpark #southafrica #southafricabirds #wildlife #wildlifephotography #nature #naturephotography #deluxefx @wildlifeplanet #canon #Lserieslens A photo posted by @dru_man25 on Jan 25, 2015 at 10:52am PST

21. More than 800 million currywurst are eaten in Germany each year.

Bestes Mittagessen – Currywurst mit Rosmarin-Kartoffeln #lunch #bistro #kleine #leckerei #Leipzig #amazing #best #currywurst #potatoes #rosemary #delicious #perfect #meal #food #foodpic #foodporn #goodlife #tasty #latergram #vscogood #vscocam A photo posted by @eiskater on Feb 20, 2015 at 5:16am PST

22. Las Vegas has the most hotel rooms of any city in the world (more than 150,000)

Vegassss! #lasvegas #vegas #nevada #vegassign #palmtrees #blueskies A photo posted by Harri Le Seelleur French (@harrileseelleurfrench) on Feb 19, 2015 at 9:04am PST

23. Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport is the world’s busiest airport with an average of 95 million passengers a year.

#airport overview. #atlanta #hartsfieldjacksonairport #ATL #planes #avgeek #aviation #airplanes #delta #boeing #717 #flying A photo posted by Trent Pickle (@wanderingp1ckle) on Jan 1, 2015 at 3:39pm PST

24. Mumbai has a toilet deficit of 64,157 seats, meaning a significant percentage of the city’s population find themselves in sticky situations at the most inopportune moments.

Ledis & Gends #MumbaiToilets A photo posted by Ryan Ballard Photography (@ryanrballard) on Jul 3, 2013 at 9:22pm PDT

25. Although the capital of Thailand is popularly known as Bangkok, the city’s Thai name is actually the longest city name in the world: Krungthepmahanakhon Amonrattanakosin Mahinthara Yutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udom Ratchaniwet Mahasathan Amonphiman Awatansathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukamprasit, and means City of angels, great city of immortals, magnificent city of the nine gems, seat of the king, city of royal palaces, home of gods incarnate, erected by Visvakarman at Indra’s behest.

#bangkok #BKK #kingspalace #wat #watphrakeo #krungthepmahanakhon #cityofangels #warrior #travel A photo posted by Leonie Dragun (@leoniedragun) on Jun 30, 2014 at 11:31am PDT

26. South African grasslands have approximately 30 species per square kilometre, greater than the biodiversity of rainforests.

Pilanesberg #pilanesberg #nature #naturelovers #flowers #mountains #bushveld #beautiful #beauty #natural A photo posted by Karla Dussing (@karlavettie) on Feb 18, 2015 at 6:44am PST

27. Among the many things Londoners have left on the Tube are a stuffed puffer fish, a samurai sword, a human skull, a coffin and a didgeridoo tuned to E♭.

#london #londontransport #londonunderground #londontube #shepherdsbush #centralline #lu #tfl #subway #transport #station #train #centrallondon #shepherdsbushunderground #woodgreenstudios A photo posted by Wood Green Studios (@woodgreenstudios) on Feb 22, 2015 at 11:20pm PST

28. Port Elizabeth and the surrounding area has more indigenous plants than the entire United Kingdom.

#Rheta’s Path at #Schoenmakerskop #seaside #village near #PortElizabeth #southafrica #geocaching led us to this amazing path. highly recommended walk cum hike on the outskirts of #nelsonmandelabay #BelvedereCottages #DoncasterCottages A photo posted by FriendlyCityPE (@portelizabethsouthafrica) on Feb 22, 2015 at 5:21am PST

29. The record for the biggest ever game of pass-the-parcel was set in Singapore and involved 3,918 participants removing 2,200 layers of wrapping paper.

#passtheparcel all set with #disney #princess paper, just for the false sense of security. A photo posted by Ed Breeds (@edbreeds) on Jan 8, 2015 at 2:36pm PST

30. 20 per cent of the world’s cranes can be found in Dubai.

#dubaicranes #cranes #consteuction #dxb #mycity #alhabtoorcity #stregis #westin #whotel #dubai #uae A photo posted by Al Habtoor City (@alhabtoorcity) on Sep 18, 2014 at 12:25am PDT

31. Despite being cast adrift in the Andaman Sea, two bridges connect the island of Phuket to mainland Thailand.

#SarasinBridge #phuket #thailand A photo posted by Dutsaya Potchanachinda (@fewdutsaya) on Jan 9, 2015 at 10:44pm PST

32. There are more dogs in Paris than Parisians.

feeling super fancy in Louvre #parismonamour #paris #museedulouvre #louvre #fancy #fancydog #parisdog #frenchdog #instadog #dogsofinstagram #dogstagram #dogoftheday #britt #brittanyspaniel #spaniel #petstagram #instadoglovers #welovedogs #doglove #dogstagram #instagood #instadaily #instalike #picoftheday #photooftheday #moments #igerspoland #animals #animallover #brittanyspanielsofinsta A photo posted by Rona The Britt (@ronciasek) on Feb 19, 2015 at 2:26pm PST

33. Mauritius was once home to the famous flightless bird, the now-extinct dodo.

Love the dodo! #dodobird #mauritius #dodomuseum #portlouis #ilovedodo #funtimes #dodokiss #thetourist A photo posted by Shirl (@helloshirl) on Apr 22, 2014 at 10:52am PDT

34. Namibia is the second least populated country on earth.

#namibia #deadvlei #namibiadesert #travel #yourney #world_shotz #worldwide_shot #wonderful_places #nature #earth #earthpix #earthinstragram #earths_locations #special_shots #splendid_earth #splendid_horizon #photooftheday #pixoftheday #pictureoftheday #cool_capture #cool_capture_ A photo posted by Juan Caraza (@carazajuan) on Jun 8, 2014 at 4:10am PDT

35. Johannesburg is the world’s biggest man-made forest, with more than 10 million trees.

The secret garden. #kensington #johannesburg #jozi #joburg #jhb #manmadeforest #green #greencity #trees #urbanjungle #forest #bezvalley #bezuidenhoutpark #eastrand #summer #southafrica #garden #koppie #ridge A photo posted by @queenandcorgi on Feb 23, 2015 at 6:17am PST

36. South Africa has the highest commercial bungy jump in the world – Bloukrans Bungy at 216m.

3 2 1 BUNGY!!! #216m #southafrica #bloukransbungy #Tsitsikamma A video posted by Oscar Hawson (@oscar_1499) on Jan 7, 2015 at 2:12am PST

Featured image by Paul Gallo

36 travel facts that will absolutely blow your mind

1. Hurrah for science! Yep, research has proved that going on holiday can lower your risk of heart disease.

2. Vilakasi Street in Soweto, Johannesburg is the only street in the world to have been home to two winners of the Nobel Peace Prize: Nelson Mandella and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

3. Before the statue of Lord Nelson was placed on top of the 5m tall column in Trafalgar Square, London, 14 stone masons had dinner at the top.

4. The Rufus Roo Travel Jacket can hold your clothes, books, handbag, shoes, laptop, iPad, two bottles of wine, your passport, boarding card, phone and keys — all at the same time. (Check out 25 more awesome and unusual travel gifts.)

5. The entire country of Monaco is smaller than Central Park in New York City.

6. France is the most visited country in the world with 81.4 million visitors each year.

7. All the money that is tossed into Rome’s Trevi Fountain is collected each night and donated to charity.

8. The clever technology behind Smart Value shows you the flight that best balances price and journey time along any route in less than a minute. That’s the equivalent of 20 travel agents searching for 30 minutes, then comparing flight times and costs to produce the same result.

9. Each year, South Africa moves approximately 5.08cm away from South America as a result of plate tectonic.

10. There are 61,000 people in the air over the U.S. at any given time on any given day.

11. The Chobi Cam One HD is the smallest digital camera in the world and has just one button that drives all its functionality — and yep, the quality holds up.

12. Despite hosting the world’s biggest population of skyscrapers, approximately three quarters of Hong Kong is rural.

13. At 13,803km, the longest non-stop commercial flight is Dallas, Fort Worth to Sydney and takes just under 17 hours to complete.

14. Beer in Thailand is served with ice cubs otherwise it would go warm within minutes of having been poured.

15. South Africa has the world’s most officially recognized languages… All 11 of them.

16. One in three Aucklanders own a boat.

17. The colloquial nickname for the Parisian police is ‘the chickens’.

18. Believe it or not, Dallas Fort-Worth International Airport is bigger than Manhattan.

19. Canada has the most lakes in the world, more than 3 million of them!

20. Approximately 900 bird species are found in South Africa alone, which represents 10 per cent of the world’s total bird species.

21. More than 800 million currywurst are eaten in Germany each year.

22. Las Vegas has the most hotel rooms of any city in the world (more than 150,000)

23. Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport is the world’s busiest airport with an average of 95 million passengers a year.

24. Mumbai has a toilet deficit of 64,157 seats, meaning a significant percentage of the city’s population find themselves in sticky situations at the most inopportune moments.

26. South African grasslands have approximately 30 species per square kilometre, greater than the biodiversity of rainforests.

27. Among the many things Londoners have left on the Tube are a stuffed puffer fish, a samurai sword, a human skull, a coffin and a didgeridoo tuned to E♭.

28. Port Elizabeth and the surrounding area has more indigenous plants than the entire United Kingdom.

29. The record for the biggest ever game of pass-the-parcel was set in Singapore and involved 3,918 participants removing 2,200 layers of wrapping paper.

30. 20 per cent of the world’s cranes can be found in Dubai.

31. Despite being cast adrift in the Andaman Sea, two bridges connect the island of Phuket to mainland Thailand.

32. There are more dogs in Paris than Parisians.

33. Mauritius was once home to the famous flightless bird, the now-extinct dodo.

34. Namibia is the second least populated country on earth.

35. Johannesburg is the world’s biggest man-made forest, with more than 10 million trees.

36. South Africa has the highest commercial bungy jump in the world – Bloukrans Bungy at 216m.

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