World Facts and Geography

Russia granted Edward Snowden temporary asylum in 2013 after he exposed the NSA's mass surveillance programs. His US passport was revoked, and Russia was one of the few countries willing to offer him protection from extradition.

Haiti is the only nation in history to gain independence through a successful slave revolt. The Haitian Revolution (1791-1804) led by former slaves defeated French colonial forces and established Haiti as an independent nation in 1804. America gained independence through war, South Africa through negotiations, and Italy through unification.

Japan is called 'Land of the Rising Sun' (Nihon or Nippon in Japanese) because it is one of the first countries to see the sunrise due to its eastern location relative to the Asian mainland. The name appears in its national flag and has been used since the 7th century.

'Kiwis' is a nickname for people from New Zealand, derived from the kiwi bird (the national symbol) which is flightless and native to New Zealand. The term is used affectionately and is not considered offensive. New Zealanders also use it to refer to themselves.

Eldorado (El Dorado) is a mythical city or kingdom of gold that fascinated European explorers in the 16th-17th centuries. It originated from legends of the Muisca people in Colombia (whose ruler covered himself in gold dust) and evolved into a symbol of unattainable wealth and lost cities.

Norway receives the most acid rain in Europe, primarily due to industrial emissions from the UK and Central Europe being carried by prevailing winds. Norway's poor buffering capacity in its soil and water bodies makes it particularly vulnerable to acidification damage.

Switzerland is a landlocked European nation, while Bolivia, Paraguay, and Suriname are all South American countries. This is a basic world geography fact requiring continental knowledge.

Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario form the Great Lakes of North America. Lake Baikal is in Siberia, Russia, and though it is the world's deepest lake and holds about 20% of Earth's unfrozen freshwater, it is not part of the North American Great Lakes system.

Angel Falls (Salto Angel) is located in Venezuela's Canaima National Park and is the world's highest uninterrupted waterfall at 979 meters. It drops from the Auyan-tepui mountain. The falls are named after American aviator Jimmy Angel who discovered them in 1933.

A human race is defined as a group of people with certain common inherited features that distinguish them from other groups of people. The world population can be divided into 4 major races,namely white/Caucasian, Mongoloid/Asian, Negroid/Black, and Australoid.

The major divisions of the human race are: Caucasian races (Aryans, Hamites, Semites) Mongolian races (northern Mongolian, Chinese and Indo-Chinese, Japanese and Korean, Tibetan, Malayan, Polynesian, Maori, Micronesian, Eskimo, American Indian), Negroid races (African, Hottentots, Melanesians/Papua, “Negrito”, Australian Aborigine, Dravidians, Sinhalese) Australoids.

Caucasians has the largest number of members in the world.

World's top most populous countries are:

1. China           
2. India
3. USA
4. Indonesia
5. Brazil
6. Pakistan
7. Russia
8. Bangladesh
9. Nigeria
10. Japan

1. East Asia (China, Japan, Koreas and Mongolia) constitutes more than 28% of world's population.
   1. South Asia (India, Pakistan and Bangladesh) constitutes about 25% of world's population.
   2. South East Asia (Malaysia, Combodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thiland and Singapore) constitutes about 7% of world's population.
   3. North-West Europe (UK, France, Germany, Denmark and Scandinavia) constitutes about 11% of world's population.

Lake Disappointment is a real salt lake in Western Australia. Named by explorer Frank Hann in 1897, he expected to find fresh water but discovered the lake was salty, hence the name.