The Netherlands

We speak Dutch - not German. And, yes, you can call our country Holland - even though it's officially the name of a province.

Amsterdam is not a country - It's the capital city of the Netherlands.

The Netherlands is not a city in Amsterdam - it's the other way around.

We smoke marijuana- but we don't do it as much as you think nor do we make a big deal out of it. But you're right: it's (sorta) legal.

Prostitutes are legal and easily found - but you'll find more on any given street corner in Bangkok.

In our professional life we expect to receive at least 25 paid holidays a year. And if you want to make us work overtime you better have a damn good reason for it.

We travel in caravans - France is our Nr.1 family destination.

You often find us abroad - we love traveling and always have. Although we hate meeting other Dutch people during our travels.. it ruins the 'unique experience'.

We don't have ANY mountains - we're one of the flattest countries in the world, we barely have hills. Our women on the contrary..

Dutch women are beautiful - and I wish I had a better picture to show everyone.

We're not patriotic - our favorite pastime is complaining about our country.

We often complain about Moroccan and Turkish immigrants - enough said.

We still regard Germany as our rival - both for fun and when we need to vent our frustrations.

We make jokes about everything - we're extremely down to earth and are not afraid to make jokes about 9/11, WWII or any other sensitive topic. We usually tend to try and brighten up a situation with a joke - even though it's sometimes horribly inappropriate.

Everybody rides bicycles - our former prime minister came to work on his bicycle every day, did yours?

We make amazing cheese - We eat tons of cheese and its a big part of our culture. We even have cheese shops where they only sell cheese. It's like heaven - but then real.

KENYA

1. When Obama was first elected as President of US, the following day was a public holiday in Kenya for celebration.

2. Everyone wants to know what you think of Obama.

3. There is no such thing as personal space.

4. Kenyans drink lots of tea and not very much coffee.

5. The only reason why Kenyans are very good long distance runners is probably because our women keep telling us "We need to talk!"

6. Kenyan environmentalist Professor Wangari Maathai is the first Kenyan, and the first African woman, to win the Nobel Peace Prize. She won the coveted award for her work for the environment.

7. Some of the oldest known paleontological records of man’s history have been found in Kenya.

8. Kenya’s Great Rift Valley was formed around 20 million years ago, when the crust of the Earth was split.

9. In 2006, the annual wildebeest migration in Masai Mara was elected one of the "7 wonders of the world" by American TV channel ABC!

Scotland

Very very few of us look like this

Even fewer of us look like this

Some of us look like this (for special occasions)

or this:

But most of us look like this:

or this:

Or this:

Or this:

But we do live in a country that looks like this:

Or this:

Or even this:

China#1

• No, we don't master Kung Fu like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan or Kung Fu Panda.
• We do not eat every kind (and every parts) of animals.#2
  
• Yes, Chinese can have more than one baby. I have one sibling and my wife has six siblings. Half of my peers in my hometown have more than one baby. The "one-child policy" is more effective in cities. #3
• China is not as poor and uncivilized as you think. If your first China destination is Shanghai, Beijing or Guangzhou, you will be amazed.#4
• China is not as rich as you think.There is another "poor China" in the rural west.
• Chinese do not speak one single language of Chinese. For myself, my mother tongue is Min Nan dialect and the Mandarin is mainly used to communicate with people from other parts of China. The difference between Min Nan and Mandarin is much more than that between English and German.
• China is no longer a communist country. Ostensibly it is, but it is not the fact. Marxism-leninism ideology is used for brainwashing from primary school to university. But most of people do not believes in it, even the members of Communist Party itself. #5
• The number of China Communist Party members is 85 million in 2012 which is more than Germany's population.
• If you browse China's twitter (Weibo), you may have the illusion that there will be a revolution in China tomorrow, then you go to visit the downtown in any city and conclude that the China Communist Party will continue to control the country for the next few decades at least.#6
• China only grants 3 countries i.e. Japan, Singapore and Brunei visa-free visit. All the other countries need to apply for a visa. Personally, I hope more countries can visit freely, then more people can experience more about China and eliminate the misconception.
• Foreigners are generally well treated in China. You may expect frequent uncomfortable staring if visiting rural places and do not have east asian face. When we travelled in India independently 2 years ago, we had a quite similar experience.

Notes and response to the comments

#1 Sorry for no good photos to describe the China better, if you really like them, @Yi Du's answer to What should every foreigner know about your country in terms of food, tourist destinations, demography, best time to visit, and USP of your country?, @Weibin Zhu's answer and @Jaconey Cheung's answer have done this.

#2 Chenyang Chen has given an excellent comment on this.
"China is such a large and divese country. It should be phrased as "SOME" Chinese eat some weird animals. I like eating frogs and I had dog and snake only once, because they are not that popular or available in my hometown. I haven't had scorpions, sea horses etc. because they are relatively expensive and rare. I will not eat rats though, and most Chinese won't. I love silkworms, but some of my Chinese friends from other provinces find it disgusting. Yet most of the time (90%), non-veg food are still like any other country: chicken, duck, pork, beef, fish etc., plus some parts ignored in other countries: chicken feet, duck tongue, pork intestine. In my opinion, Chinese are probably the most adventurous people in food. The more exotic, the better."

#3 Answer to Quora User 's comment about "one-child policy":
"It is true that the one-child policy is an enforced policy. If you work in government and have more than one child, it is very likely you will lose you post. But in rural China, who cares. Again, the execution efficiency of this policy varies much in different provinces."

#4 Answer to Diana Crețu 's comment about both rich and poor China:
"Generally, all of Chinese have lived a much better life than their parents. In recent years, there are also more and more billionaires and the well-educated ones in the cities also have high quality of life. Ok, let's say that 60 million Chinese (similar to UK's population) already live a decent life. They own their flat/car, purchase luxury goods occasionally, may also travel to Europe/USA annually and send their children to study abroad. But even so, this is only count for less than 5% of Chinese population."

#5 There is always controversy about whether China is communist country or not. I still can recall 9 years ago, the teacher who taught us spoken English (an american), discussed with us about this question for a long long time, finally we can only agree to disagree to stop the debate. But at least one thing I can confirm is: there are very very rare true communists in China.

#6 My fault to use "central market" to confuse someone. There is increasing rage in the Chinese internet, but if you visit the downtown in any cities, you can feel a positive, vibrant and vigorous China. The Chinese are one of most pragmatism people. What they want is simply a better life for themselves and for their children, they don't care democracy or not. Sorry to disappoint you, but it is the truth.

I'm from Afghanistan.

Pictures are the best way to give people the idea. Lots of pictures to come (roughly a zillion), so if you're on 56K..

Let's start with some landscapes and places.

You're probably thinking, wtf it snows there?? Yeah, it does. We even have snow leopards. Average snowfall is something like 5 feet every winter.

You guys probably know this girl:

But we have a lot of different kinds of people. Here are some more Afghans (not Afghanis, that's the currency, and certainly not Afghanistanians):

A lot of people are surprised to see that Afghans look like this. They don't believe me when I say that I have [perhaps distant] relatives with blue eyes, red hair, or otherwise look pretty much European. My mom has very fair skin and hazel-green eyes, which they find unbelievable because I look nothing like that (I have not-too-thick facial hair, darker skin, and somewhat curly hair). My sister has brown hair, light-brown eyes, and fair skin. My dad looks like he could be Indian since he has darker skin and straight black hair, but some of my other relatives on his side have pretty light skin.

There are a lot of different ethnicities that reside in Afghanistan:
Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, Aimak, Turkmen, Baloch, Pashai, Nuristani, Gujjar, Arab, Brahui, Pamiri, and more. The Nuristani are straight descendants of the Aryans. Tajiks are also some sort of mixed descendants of Aryans too (Tajikistan is north of Afghanistan). Hazaras are descendants of eastern Asian/Mongolians mainly.

You can read about the others through the links, but almost all of them have Persian ties, which explains the Aryan-like genes. In fact, before the region was called Afghanistan, its name was Ariana. (It's important to note that what the Nazi's called Aryans and true Aryans are different. Obviously they're not restricted to blue-eyed and blonde-haired people.)

About half of the country speaks Dari, which is a dialect of Farsi (otherwise known as Persian). And another third speak Pashto, but most people know both. There are other languages too, but they are not as common.

And we got a new army with the help of the U.S. to help us fight the asshole Taliban. You can see User-10891498521865898227's great answer to this question: Why are there still American troops stationed in Afghanistan?

And some more pics (woo!):

(yeah those are female officers)

We even have special forces:

Afghanistan was very different before the Soviet invasion and the Taliban takeover. It was never a very prosperous nation, but it was certainly better than 3rd world. Certainly not the Islamist-type state that we see today.

Most people in Afghanistan are appreciative of what the Americans have done for them, even if they haven't done it all so well and wish them out of their country. Getting rid of the Taliban was a very big thing for them. See Saifullah Khan's answer to Afghanistan: Do the majority of Afghans really think American occupation is worse than the Taliban?, which sheds some light on the situation.

Afghans are very empathetic to others' pain since they feel so much of it there being caught in the middle of so many wars across so many generations. There are good Afghans and there are shitty Afghans, just like with most people, and unfortunately there are many good people who have turned shitty because they are poor, starving, dying, or are in otherwise barely livable situations.

But that doesn't always stop them from showing some love. Here are some photos from when the Boston bombings happened:

Source: http://qz.com/75393/photos-to-boston-from-kabul-with-love/

Nowadays we have some modern stuff like roads and billboards that we didn't used to have until the Americans came and helped out:

(Almost 90% of Afghanistan has mobile phone coverage. Same situation in some African countries too. It is a transformative technology despite the fact that so many don't even have access to consistent electricity.)

The Afghan soccer team won SAFF championships. Afghanistan beat India, Nepal, Pakistan and other South Asian teams and won the South Asia Football Federation Cup.

Afghans have also grown leaps and bounds in Cricket. Afghanistan qualified to play in the world cup and will play against big names like Australia, New Zealand, England and Sri Lanka. This is huge, especially since the Afghan team started out from refugee camps in Pakistan where Afghan refugees picked up the game and started excelling at it. And we are playing at the international arena now. Here are some pics:

In terms of exports, Afghanistan is the largest producer of opium and cannabis in the world:

They also export many fruits, such as pomegranates, grapes, melons, and more.

(The Americans have been trying to get Afghan farmers to grow pomegranates and other fruits instead of opium.)

In 2007, mineral deposits were located that were estimated to be worth between $700 billion to $3 trillion. Could be good or bad for the country, depending on how the politics play out.

Why is Afghanistan so messed up and war torn? It is in a very strategic place. To get to China and India from the Middle East and Europe, one must pass through Afghanistan, so it's in the middle of the Silk Road (Mediterranean to China). It is a very mountainous region because of the Himalayas which makes it difficult to travel around, and unfortunately it's very attractive to other meddling nations that want to control it.

(Soviets. They were just leaving after getting their butts kicked.)

You can easily see why its such a strategically good region to control from the map (China borders on the eastern-most point):

(Afghanistan is a little larger than France, about as big as Texas and lies in Central Asia, not the Middle East.)

Afghanistan has been called the graveyard of empires. This is not entirely accurate when taken literally, but it has some merit as a phrase. See Joshua Engel's very informative answer to What makes Afghanistan "unconquerable"? Also, Saif again wrote an interesting answer to Why are Pashtuns considered brave people? (which refers to Pashtuns, the majority ethnic group in Afghanistan).

Afghanistan is also the largest producers of refugees and asylum-seekers in the world. Not hard to figure out why. I'm a first generation American sort of, I wasn't born in the U.S. but moved here when I was <1 year old (my siblings all are natural-born citizens though). My dad was the oldest and he was able to leave the country by some extremely lucky but dangerous circumstances (he ended up with a temporary job at CNN in Atlanta that became permanent but had to do some sneaking around ). One of my other uncles escaped through the north and spent some time in.. very dark circumstances as well. He's now safe in Belgium working as an engineer and has been for a long time. Another uncle lives in Sweden. I have a lot of family in Europe, but the majority of my relatives still reside in Afghanistan. This is a typical story for a lot of Afghans who want to provide a better life for their families, by either taking them to Europe or the U.S., or by sending money back after going to those places themselves.

I wrote my father's story (as well as I could remember it) here: Had Seddiqi's answer to Who do you look up to? Who do you admire? What qualities does he/she possess?

That's about all the interesting stuff I can think of. Hope you enjoyed!

Guyana

1. We are actually in South America and not in Africa (though with it's name and its very colourful primary African coloured flag will let you believe otherwise.) (Eds. Fun Fact: Our flag, named the "Golden Arrowhead," was actually created by an American vexillologist, Whitney Smith)
   

1. We speak English - in fact it is our first language and perhaps only language. Sure, we speak English with one of the most sing-song-y accent you've ever heard, but it's fun to listen to, even if you have no idea what we're saying, I reckon. We also speak a bit of combination Hindi-English, and Native Amerindian languages.
2. We are the only English speaking country in South America, and we speak the Queen's English, so ColoUr, and NeighboUrhood, will be some of the spellings you'll find.
3. Even though we speak English, most of our towns, cities and villages are French, Spanish or Dutch. This is because we were ruled by all of these countries once upon a time, only to be finally conquered by the English. This has influenced our architecture greatly.
   

2. Hey, Dutch people! Thanks! Because of you, Guyana, with 80% rainforest interior and a land below sea-level still stays afloat, because of an amazing Dutch drainage system. Now, if the government would just update that system, I believe we wouldn't flood so much.
3. Just like the British left India with an extensive railroad, we, too, had a railroad system. In fact, called the Demerara-Berbice railroad (I told you about those Dutch names!) it was the first railroad system of the South American continent. But this was soon dismantled, by the American-government elected, President Burnham. He had major post-colonial issues, or mommy issues with England, as I like to call it, at the time. You can read more about that here: What is the most outrageous conspiracy theory that ultimately proved to be correct?
4. Because of our pickled history, our main and natural export is actually our people, we have the highest brain drain of 95% of higher educated people leaving the country. It is the highest in the world. But we also export rice, sugar, bauxite, rum.
5. Don't drink the koolaid! Seriously, don't drink it. Many Americans say that reference because it's a part of our American culture, however, Jonestown actually happened in the remote jungles of Guyana. Since, it was so remote, Guyanese people were not aware of it either.
6. We are actually more culturally Caribbean, i.e. West Indian than South American (due to the fact that we share similar colonization stories with countries like Trinidad and Jamaica - but we're working on feeling more South American-y, by having roads connect to Venezuela, Suriname and Brazil (our neighbours) I think, this will eventually change our culture again!
7. Our people are very diverse, because of colonization we have people with origins from Africa, India, China, Portuguese from Madeira Islands, Europeans, and Native South-American tribes, mostly Arawak and Caribs (the Caribbean was named after them!) Though, most of the population is divided between African Guyanese and Indian Guyanese. We only know the difference when there is an election, as people seem to vote along racial lines, which I'm pretty sure they know, is not cool.
8. With so many ethnic groups, our cuisine is very interesting - Roti and curries (Indian), pepperpot (Amerindian), Metemgie, a soup with ground provisions and dumplings (African), bread-pudding, cheese rolls, pinetarts (European), Cookup Rice (peas and rice), Lowmein and chowmein (Chinese). Culturally, we are food sharing people, so if you're ever over at one of our houses, we'll probably have to fight the urge to feed you, and to insist that you take left-overs for your family as well.
9. We are a secular country and we celebrate all holidays from our major religion - Christianity, Hinduism and Islam. The Color Run is inspired by us, we call the Hindu festival (Holi) - Phagwah based on the month it normally falls.
   

1. We celebrate Easter not with the Easter Bunny but by flying kites. It's the resurrection of Christ, and the kite depicts his soul flying towards heaven.
   

2. We fish a lot, eh? Our country is 70% rivers. Hassa Fish a local delicacy. (It's curried here, with okra vegetables.)
   

1. We have a lot of fruits and vegetables that you've never heard of, and locals will either wait til they are ripe to eat them/ cook with them, or my favourite, eat them when they are so green that they are pale yellow.
   

1. Pictured here is a fruit called, Sapodilla it tastes like a persimmon but sweeter, a bit grainer as if someone sprinkled brown sugar over a persimmon.
   

1. Have you ever had an apple that looks like a STAR?
   
   
2. Foods tend to be spicy.
3. Politics is a past-time sport. Everyone bashes the government. But to be honest, they are justified.
4. Our favourite sport is probably cricket, we play for the West Indian team and we wear our pride on our sleeves - Shivnarine Chandrapaul, Carl Hooper, Lance Gibbs, Colin Croft, and golden cricket legends such as Rohan Kanhai, Clive Lloyd, Alvin Kallicharran are all Guyanese cricketers. (This point will make my dad very proud!)
   

2. But we also excel at playing squash, and we are getting better at soccer as well.
3. Guyana as a whole has neglected arts, and sports, parenting stresses more emphasis on being some variant of the following - doctor, lawyer, engineer, so every time I am made aware of a Guyanese sportsman and artist, I support!
4. Rihanna and Leonna Lewis are of Guyanese heritage.
   

1. You must know of our sugar - Demerara sugar was the standard that was created when sugar was a major commodity.
2. The most famous and one of the most expensive stamps in the world, is the British Guiana 1c Magenta. In the Guiana, they ran our of stamps and then used magenta paper, which was available as postage.
3. We are also known for our rum - El Dorado Rum. It's an award winning rum. we like rum.
   

2. Why is our rum and almost everything named El Dorado? Because, geographically, Guyana is estimated to be El Dorado. Our country is high in gold (and gold mine) and has one of the richest golds in the world, mostly because it was left in the earth for so long. There are many TVs that seem to be fascinated by this - Discovery Channel's Gold Rush and Bamazon Boys.
   

1. Do you like to rock climb? Because, I want a buddy to rock climb this baby! The Disney movie, Up featured the mountain, Mount Roraima, it is the highest peak of a chain of tepui plateau in South America. Made of Precambrian rocks, it literally looks like a tabletop in the sky. It's the point where Venezuela, Brazil and Guyana meet and many waterfalls are associated with the mountain (Angel Falls on the Venezuelan side), and ours Kaieteur Falls, is the longest, single one drop water fall in the world.
   

1. From, the Disney movie Up.

1. Here, is it! Mount Roraima!
   
   
2. Every Guyanese is going to make me tell you about Kaieteur Falls. It's supposedly the highest single drop waterfall in the world.
   

1. 
   
2. Our rain forest is pretty much untouched, and is being protected by Norway (Go Norway!) and the (lack) of Government of Guyana to offset our carbon footprint. The amazon is also in Guyana. Guyana has one of the highest levels of biodiversity in the world. Guyana, with 1,168 vertebrate species, 1,600 bird species, boasts one of the richest mammalian fauna assemblages of any comparably sized area in the world. The Guiana Shield region is little known and extremely rich biologically. Unlike other areas of South America, over 70% of the natural habitat remains pristine. When I was a kid, I woke up by listening to the sounds of parrots, kiskadees and macaws at the crack of dawn. They can be pretty annoying.
3. If you come visit us, please don't expect something like this -
   

1. But rather, expect this -
   

1. Hello, little Jaguar!
   
   

1. We have cowboys and ranches in the region closer to Brazil.
   

1. 
   
   
2. We have Carnival, not as big as the Brazilians, or the Trinidadians, and we call it "Mashramani" or Mash for short. It's always in February, and most of the music will tell you to get something and wave, and really that's what you should do. And to music like this -
   

England.

We're not the descendants of the people who invaded you 150 years ago. We're the descendants of their servants.

We invented cricket, and don't particularly mind that India, Pakistan and Australia are better at it than us (apart from Australia [1]). We'd far rather have a good game against them than, say, having a national league, not inviting them, and calling it the World Series.

We also invented rugby. See above, but substitute New Zealand and South Africa in place of India and Pakistan.

We're a democracy without a written constitution whose head is a hereditary monarch without whose signature, new laws can't be passed. Whenever we think this is a bad idea, we look at some of the elected Presidents other nations get, and decide that the House of Windsor is still a better bet than, say, the house of Bush.

100 years ago, we had a navy that was bigger than the navies of the rest of the world put together, but it wasn't enough to make us Number One Global Power Forever. We think there's an important lesson in there for other countries.

We don't call ourselves "the land of the free", but do let people set up businesses as, say, hairdressers, or (real) estate agents and let CUSTOMERS rather than trade associations decide whether they can stay in business based on whether they actually do a good job, rather than by willingness to pay "training fees."

[1] note to self - update may be required after next Ashes series.

That Kazakhstan actually exists (was not made up by Borat aka Sasha Baron Cohen) and it is huge.

We have 134 nationalities, 17m(2013 estimate) people on the land the size of Western Europe.

Most people speak Russian and Kazakh. These languages belong to completely different groups.

It is actually fun to visit.

It is safe and we do not have borders with either Mongolia or Afghanistan.

"Stan" means land, like in Switzerland, Scotland.

Art is so big in Kazakhstan that you need Google Earth to see it (Over 50 Geoglyphs Discovered In Kazakhstan)

Locals are proud of genuine hospitality, food, and beautiful girls.

Some photos(photo credit: Фотограф Максим Золотухин - Пейзаж) I took most of the photos from his Facebook page with permission of the author. Thanks Max Zolotuhin Maxmaxmax | Facebook

My city, Almaty

Not far from Almaty

Charyn Canyon in Winter

Somewhere in Kazakhstan

Kaindy lake (photo credit:http://szepkepek.hu/kaindy-to-egyedi-latvany/)

Edit: BBC named Kazakhstan in their Five destinations you should know more about and they quoted this post. That was a pleasant surprise.

Thank you very much!

Belgium.

1) We are the only country in the world with 7 (seven) parliaments

2) We are the only country in the world with 3 (three) queens

3) From outer space you can see Belgium as the spot that is enlighted at night (we don't stop our lights at night. (see picture) basicly because Flanders is one big city or at least agglomeration, 5 times area of city of Mumbai. Others cities you can clearly see are Paris and in the middle of Spain: Madrid.

Belgium is not one of the most polluting countries but one of the cleanest cities in the world.

4) Official languages are Dutch (Flemish) French and German but there is a substantial amount of people speaking Spanish, Italian, Polish, English, Arabic, Turkish etc.. Most people speak at least 3 European languages.
5) Belgium is not the capital of Brussels - Brussels is the capital of Belgium.

6) Both the NATO and the European Union has its headquarters in Brussels. That is why Brussels is a known city.

7 )There are no heroes in Belgium. Everyone trying to be a hero in Belgium is considered to be ridiculous.

8) Many popular comics are Belgian (Tintin, Asterix (1/2), Smurfs, Lucky Luke etc.) Others are Blake and Mortimer, XIII and Largo Winch. Any known comic on earth that is not Japanese or American, is Belgian.

9) Belgian cuisine is like French, but better (and in German portions). French fries are originated from Belgium...

10) We have the world record of longest formation of government. After more than 1 year after election, we had a government. Politics showed to be unimportant, even better: One year without government made things go better. Voting is obligatory (but non voting has no punishment).

11) It takes 2 hours to drive from east to west or north to south, but one can be stuck more than two hours in daily traffic jam in Brussels.

12) Brussels used to be Flemish speaking, then French speaking, but anno 2013 70% are immigrants.

13) Flemish people are very friendly to visitors: we speak your language. On the other hand, you will only be considered to be Flemish if you speak Flemish.

14) We work the hardest (most productive hours) in the world but the shortest work years. 80% of 55 years-old are retired.

15) If you visit Belgium, visit Bruges or Ghent - our most beautiful cities.

16) Belgium has had the most wars in history. We are not aggressors, but the French, Dutch, English, Spanish, Italians, Austrians and Germans fought wars on our territory.

17) Most people aged 6 years know what a beer tastes like. We have the most and best beers in the world. Around 2011, France raised taxed on Beer (which is Belgian). To keep balance right, Belgium raised taxes on wine (mostly from France). This is Europe.
(Biggest Belgian company is a beer company: AB Inbev.)

18) Other major products are diamond and chocolate. Diamonds are forever, chocolate is not. It might melt if you take it home after visiting Belgium...

19) The only hero we do have is manneken pis, a child that peed on a spanish colonel 500 years ago. Some say it's fiction. Don't be disappointed after visiting his statue in Brussels: it's 70 cm big. :(

20) Culture: the Saxophone is a Belgian Invention (Adolphe Sax), VAN Beethoven's grandparents were Belgian (from the village Beethoven) and we have a tax shelter system for filmindustry. That is why Belgian filmindustry is booming.

21) All Flemish sing on the toilet in English. This is, of course, to be understood by a larger audience.

22) When you're lost in Flanders with your car and you ask road information, Flemish will explain how your GPS works. When you're lost in Wallonia, people will take their car and drive with you till you arrive at your destination.

23) Breastfeeding or urinating in public are kinky, while 100% of adult people have been watching porn.

24) We joke sometimes about Dutch, French, German or English (boring jokes). Joking about Jews or Moroccans or Turkish are considered to be racist, are prohibited by law.
Our national religion is atheism, we joke about Catolicism. Joking about other religions is racism.

25) We support marriage between homosexuals and lesbians, but not bissexuals. Marriage of one man and two women does not fit in our tax-system for example. But one can have more than 100 girlfriends.

26) Belgian politics are too complicated to explain. Only politicians understand the system. 80% of Belgian politicians are lawyers. If you study politics at university, you become journalist, then you are an opinionmaker. If you study law, you become politician, lawyer, or mostly both. Then you are a decisiontaker. Politicians don't tell their opinion, they tell the official point of view of their party. We have no idea what they think (they must have SOME brain-activity)

27) Thrustworthy professions in Belgium are firemen, nurse, home-doctor and some teachers. Not reliable professions are priest, politician, lawyer and salesman. They TALK TOO MUCH...

28) Why Belgians (especially Flemish men) don't talk:
We have a dozen of expressions that teach us the importance of shutting up:

• speaking is silver, silence is golden
• silence is good in summer and winter
• empty barrels sound the loudest
• mèèè but no wool
• no talking but action
• talking is cheap
• by talking you don't learn or think anything
• think twice before you speak
• be quiet or i throw you out
• you have the right to remain silent
• all what you say may be used against you

Generally speaking, punishment on school are more severe for those pupils who speak in class, than for smoking, vandalism or teasing others.
If you have a flemish friend on facebook, don't be surprised he posts only one comment a year: Thank you for birthdaywishes
All Flemish men are autists..
In some cultures in the world words are holy. In Belgium words have no value, an oral agreement has no legal base. Only written contracts. Love letters are no written contracts, they are 'sealed with butter'.

29) Some people say you never know what's inside a Flemish. Flemish people think the same about it and about everyone. You don't learn to know somenone by talking. Although sadness (depression) and tiredness are official illnesses, for which you get days (or years) off and be paid by social security system, most psychic sick people suffer love pain. We don't talk about it but take pills (highest amount in world, more than USA) to decrease emotions. Elderly people in homes get 20 pills for breakfast. Belgian psychiatry is divided between behaviourists (we do not know what what is inside you, only how you behave) and Freudian villagemagicians who ask 1000 questions, give no advice and say: 'Hmmm, come back next week' :)

30) Most popular sport is football, especially watching football. Most practiced sports are cycling and walking. Since 80% of 55 years-old are retired, streets are sometimes crowded with elderly people walking 20 kilometers or more.

31) Until 2010, there was an 'interesting' fiscal regime for 4x4 cars. 20% of Belgian cars were 4x4, in one of the flattest countries on earth.

32) Flanders is flat. Hills of 5 meter high have the official name Mountain. Antwerp, in the north central of Belgium, is 10 meters above sea level.

This is Scherpenheuvel (means: Sharp Hill)

This is Kortenberg (means: Short Mountain)

33) We have perfect roads, which make us drive too fast. There are speed limits of 50 km/h on big roads (30km/h in cities and villages), but 90 km/h on country side.

(120 km/h on highways and for racing we go to Germany, although there sometimes is ‘fart kontrol’ ) To make these roads less perfect, government made roads more zigzag, put roadblocks, and bumps. In addition, they installed camera's. People familiar with the road or with gps, drive far too fast and then suddenly stop at camera's. Because of that, police started using removable camera's. These are more tricky. To solve that problem, radio stations announce where police is watching (called falling stars). If you don't have the time to listen to the radio, you must install a radar in your car. These are illegal, but even the prime minister has one. see picture:

34) Most popular boysname in Brussels is Mohammed, but it reduces chances for a decent job to 0,0%. We are not racist. (We are sorry to inform you that we read your sollicitation thoroughly (1 second) and came to the conclusion that your profile doesn't match with this job. However, we wish you lots of success.)

35) In vitro fertilisation is common. Lots of lesbian mothers are virgin.

36) Health system is quite developped. Wherever you live: there's a hospital in the neighbourhood, maximum 15 minutes driving. Doctors will visit you on sunday in the middle of the night.

37) Television: In 1988 we had only 4 official national Channels and in addition channels from neighbourcountries. Now we have 300 channels, all distributed by cable connection. Internet is also by cable or wifi. Of course we don't get all channels in the world, that's why on 70% of roofs in Brussels are satellite antennes. Watching television is not a family-happening anymore: Father watches football downstairs, Mother watches soaps in bedroom, children are on internet. Youth is more on internet than in front of TV.

38) Greetings: We don't say 'Goodmorning, Alex, How are you?' - We nod. Very open Flemish say: 'Alex.'
In Wallonia, employees embrace and give 3 or 4 kisses to every colleague when entering the office. In Flanders this is considered as waste of time.

39) Education is high level, we have lots of universities, ranked quite well. In 1425 cities Lier and Leuven could choose between a sheep market and a university. Lier choosed the sheepmarket, Leuven got the university. Now: streets in Lier are cleaner (students leave mess on the streets in Leuven)
All universities are subsidized by state, there are no private universities. This means all professors have to retire at the age of 65. Most of them are motivated to work for free, or start a mission abroad in universities in London, Paris or The Netherlands...

40) Between 1985 en 1995 women were topless on Belgian beach and at lakes. They were all feminists fighting for equality with men. Then came the hole in the ozon layer, with death prophecies about skin cancer. Women on the beach began to dress again like back in 1945. Belgian men still fight for female equality, but in vain...

41) Local Flora: we have two typical plants:
a) Sanseveria (also called women tongues because they are so long) plant for pubs

b) Studentplant (because they can survive two years without water)

42) Hercule Poirot is one of the most famous fictional Belgian characters. He's a symbol of Belgian men as grey mouse, conformistic and not drawing any attention. Other Belgian grey mice are Mr. Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Union and Jacques Rogge, (former?) boss of the Olympic Committee.
43) Maybe worth mentioning: the Province East-Flanders is in the west of Flanders...

44) If you consider emigrating to Belgium: think twice:
Normal migration is not allowed
Political refugees are 99% sent back, after ten years locked up in camps
Family reunion rules are very strictly (only for the rich)
If you still wanna come over, here some tips:
-you play excellent football. You will earn less than at FC Barcelona, Real Madrid or Manchester United, but still more than the scandalous renumerations of politicians or bankers.
-You are a catholic missionary. There's one new ethnic Belgian priest per year, average age of priests is above 80 years, so we have a job for you. You will be in charge of weddings and funerals.
-You are an expert in Java, c++, etc... Get a job, a residence pass and later you will be Belgian. We have 15000 job offers free for business consultants, software and hardware solution developpers, infrastructure and maintenance engineer, networkresponsable, pc-technici, helpdeskcooperator, ICT-architect, ICT-consultant, ICT-projectmanager etc... Here some links:
Vacatures en Jobs in IT en Telecommunicatie
IT-vacatures voor freelance- en vaste banen
Recherche avancée
etc... apply for job offers in English if you don't speak Dutch or French...

45) If you are looking for Belgium on the map or globe, look for Bel. or Belg., the country is too small to spell the whole name

46) See Picture above: Almost nobody (except some footballaddicts) have the national flag. There is a national day, but people don't show flags. But in every household there is this floorcloth with the Belgian tri-color, to clean the floor

Ethiopia

1. Ethiopia is one of the misperceived countries in the world. The world knows Ethiopia as a "hungry" nation following the 1984 famine but it was only one occasion. Ethiopia has one of the happiest population on Earth.
   
2. Ethiopia is one of the oldest Nations in the world, more than 3000 years of history.
   

2. Ethiopian is mentioned in the Bible over 55 times.
3. Ethiopian flag (green, yellow and red) is driven from the rainbow and it is used by the Solomonic dynasty dating back to 800 B.C. Most African countries used those colors after independence taking Ethiopia as a sign of freedom.
4. There is a religion called Ethiopianism
5. Ethiopia is the promised land for the Rastafarian communities.
   
6. Ethiopia is number one in Africa having 9 world heritage sites registered by UNESCO and two others pending.
   

1. 
   
2. Addis Ababa, the capital city is chosen as the 9th must visit cities in the world in 2012 by Lonely planet guide books.
   

1. 
   
   
2. Addis Ababa is called "the Capital city of Africa" and "the fourth diplomatic city" in the world.
   

1. Ethiopia has 80 ethnic groups and over 200 dialects.
   

1. Ethiopian topography varies from 4620 meter above sea level (Semien Mountain National Park) to -128 below sea level (the hottest place on Earth) in Afar, Denakil depression.
   

1. 
   
2. 9/10 tourists found Ethiopia "surprising"
3. Silver and gold are sold in open areas, without guard, security cameras making Ethiopia one of the safest countries in the world.
   

1. fklm-tours.com, is making Ethiopia discovered.

1. There is a place called "Quara" in north west Ethiopia.

It is Croatia, it is not Greece.
It is in Central Europe, we speak Croatian language not Russian. We were never part of the USSR but Yugoslavia. And yes, it is a safe country to live in and to go for a vacation.
It is a lovely place for a summer vacation.

Dubrovnik was well known for its skilled diplomacy in 15th and 16th century (The Game of Thrones was filmed here in the Old town and on the Old city walls)

​
Zlatni rat beach, on island Brac:

​

National park "Plitvice lakes":

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National park Mljet , island with a lake and another island in it:

​

And there is so much more:

Island Hvar:

Island Korcula (they say this is where Marco Pollo is from):

Island Vis with its astonishing beaches and caves:

Lastovo:

National park Kornati:

Did you know that inescapable item of every businessman's outfit - tie, originates from Croatia? Tie = Cravate = Croat. Croatian light calvary regiment soldiers from the 17th century were recognisable for the red scarfes worn around their neck and then this scarf worn in a knot became a fashion.

​

Original Croatian brand for ties:

​

Nikola Tesla was born and raised in Croatia.

Have you heard of Dalmatian dogs :)? This breed was named after South part of Croatia - Dalmatia.

​

This is an edit as I recently found out that the luckiest man on Earth comes from Croatia, you can check this video :)

Another edit after some suggestions in the comments, I decided to add some more beautiful and special places in Croatia:

Split, another beautiful Dalmatian city and Diocletian's palace as one of the world's most preserved Roman style monuments in the world is located in Split:

And some more photographs of this beautiful Croatian town:

Have you ever heard of water organ? This is a very special architectural object which is actually instrument played by the sea and it is located in city of Zadar, another town in Croatian South, in central Dalmatia:

But Zadar is not special just for the water organ, it is also another antic and charming city:

And when already in Zadar, why not visiting Skradin and then having a swim at Krka falls:

When in Dalmatia, do not miss to try famous dish "peka" which is a way of a food preparation in a wood oven. And try some famous red wine sort Plavac.

And lets go a bit to the North part of Croatian coast:

Pula:

Rovinj:

Poreč:

Motovun, village in Istria:

And if in Istria, do not miss to try truffles and famous white wine sort Malvazija, I would recommend to try the one from Kozlovic winery, they won silver in international wine competition in 2015.

Baranja in East part of Croatia with its small wineries and famous spicy sweet water fish dish named "Fish" :) :

And there is a much more, but I have to leave something for you to visit us and explore.

People get confused but it's really very simple...

Got it? Good we can move on then! I'll just address some misconceptions about the UK.

Languages
We have a reputation for being monolingual. Not true, we have several languages in the UK, including:

English, Welsh, Scots, Scots Gaelic, Irish Gaelic, Cornish, and BSL (British Sign Language).

Yn ni'n gallu siarad myw na un iaith, t'mod. ;) (Welsh for "We can speak more than one language, you know"). Unfortunately languages are not taught well in the UK, so our reputation is not entirely unfounded...

British Cuisine
...also has a terrible reputation, but in fact we have loads of delicious food, and our strength is our openness to other cuisines. We love all world cuisines and adopt many aspects into our own cooking. Almost all British households regularly cook curries, stir-fries, and pastas (particularly Spaghetti Bolognese), as well as more traditional British cooking. Did you know the Balti was created in the UK? We don't see British food as something static but very dynamic.

We got a bad reputation thanks to rationing during the war where Brits had to do their best with powdered egg and spam, but really...it's time to move on guys. Our specialities include:

Pies of all kinds, including Cornish pasties and Melton Mowbray pork pies
Sausages - every town has its own type and they're all awesome
Cheeses - including Cheddar, Wensleydale, and Stilton
Welsh Lamb
Scotch Whisky
Beer / Real Ale - almost infinite numbers of awesome beers (Badger Brewery is my favourite)
Mead and yes, we have good wines too (some of our land is on a level with wine growing regions in France)
Sunday Roasts
Fish and Chips (yeah, every country thinks they do these best...I know!)
Full English Breakfast
Cream teas: tea with scones, Cornish cream and home-made jam:

And so on. We also invented almost all the classic biscuits. We are a little bit biscuit obsessed. Why? Why else? They go great with Tea!

(They're also incredibly cheap over here)

Enough! We have a duck race to get to.

Eccentric Traditions
In short, we have them.

What to do this weekend...race a rubber duck?

Join in with a Pancake race that dates back to 1445?

Wang a welly?

Or just chase a cheese down a hill.

I suppose you think that looks easy. Just remember that this is the hill:

(I wonder if that house at the bottom has insurance against cheese-related damage?)

Safer to stick to a morris dance.

The most common misconception of all though is that all of the UK is London.

The UK is Not Just London

London is cool, but the UK has so much more, especially regarding scenery. People think of us as a crowded little island with a metropolitan feel. We have some amazing historic towns and cool cities, but our beautiful landscape is underrated by other countries who think we don't have any.

You might know already how breathtaking Scotland is:

But did you know about Northern Ireland?

(Did you know that we have about 1,000 stone circles and 80 stone henges in Britain and Ireland?)

And what about the mountains, valleys, castles and music of Wales? The Welsh for Wales is Cymru:

And of course, from the moors, dales and lakes to the beaches, forests and flatlands, England:

Still think we're all just London? :)

I could go on, but it's time for tea...

Mongolia

No. We do not ride horse in the city as public transportation. Actually, livestock are not allowed in cities. But then again, Mongolia is the only country where the number of horses exceeds country's population.

No, we are not violent warriors anymore, like those guys who made the Chinese build the Great Wall. Actually, Mongolians can be one of the most friendly and peaceful people.

We do not “play with” bows and arrows on a daily basis except for in our traditional sport festival.

But, when things go wrong with corruption, environmental issues, and stuff, the possibility of using horse and bow to make sure “bad things” won’t happen again is not zero.

Ulaanbaatar, the capital city, is now considered one of the worst air-polluted cities during winter because about half the city residents live in the Ger (Yurt) district and they burn coal to keep their Ger warm when the outside temperature is -30 degree Celsius (-22 F).
"Winter is coming!".

GDP growth of Mongolia in 2011 was the highest (17 percent) in the world and is expected to keep its rank in the following years due to the exploitation of its vast natural resources.

The population is only about 3 million. Yet the country’s land area is the 19th largest in the world, which allows Mongolia to possess one of the highest land area per person ratios.

Mongolians hate to be disconnected from the world. For this reason, the internet connection speed is one of the fastest. Moreover, almost everyone who lives in the countryside and leads a traditional nomadic life (, which is now about 10-15 percent of the whole population) possesses cellphone, satellite antenna, TV, and solar panel.

Seems like a place not worth visiting? Hold on. I just googled and found some pictures for you.

You will be amazed by your discovery of this wonderful place and culture in Central-Asia!

Poland

• It takes us up to 4 days to prepare enough dishes for Christmas Eve - a 12 course meal.
• Our weddings can last for up to a week. We finish partying at 6am and start at noon the next day.
• We have over 29 kinds of sausage.
• Poland fought for freedom 43 times between 1600 - 1945.
• We drink a LOT. Christmas without vodka just isn't Christmas.
• Our strongest beer (Żywiec Porter) is 9.5% abv.
  
• You might think Poles are rude, but we're just straightforward.
• Poland is not communist (anymore). Poland was one of the "satellite" countries to the USSR after WWII, but we had our first democratic election in 1989.
• The Enigma code was first broken by the Poles.
• We are very social but rarely start a conversation with strangers.
• Our weather ranges from -30 °C to +34 °C.
• Poland is the most Catholic country in Europe. Almost 90% of its population belong to the Catholic Church.
• Poles marry the youngest within the European Union (24 years old for women and 26.5 for men on average).
  
• The chemical element Polonium was named after Polonia, Latin for Poland. Homeland of Marie Sklodowska-Curie who discovered it with Pierre Currie in 1898.
• Films are always dubbed for Polish TV by men (even those parts spoken by women and children).

Polish women are often renowned for their beauty (Alicja Bachleda-Curuś):

Poland is a beautiful place to visit. From the Tatry mountains:

To cities filled with rich history, like Kraków:

There are many famous Poles too:

Copernicus (Mikolaj Kopernik)

Mathematician and astronomer who formulated the heliocentric model of the universe which described the Earth as going around the Sun.

Frédéric Chopin (Fryderyk Chopin)

Famous composer and pianist.

Marie Curie (Maria Sklodowska-Curie)

Physicist and chemist mostly known for her research on radioactivity. First woman who won a Nobel Prize.

Casimir Pulaski (Kazimierz Pułaski)

A soldier and a military commander. Emigrated from Poland to the US in 1777 to help George Washington win the war against Great Britain. It is believed he saved Washington's life on the battlefield.

Joseph Conrad (Teodor Józef Konrad Nałęcz-Korzeniowski)

Famous English novelist wrote novels such as Heart of Darkness (1889), The Secret Agent (1907).

Obviously some of these facts vary from region to region.

Sweden.

We don't have polar bears.
(Norway actually do, since they own the islands of Svalbard further north.)

Yes, the girls really are as hot as the myth claims.
And yes, they are also very sexually liberal and enjoy their sexuality as liberated women. However, that also mean you either have to be OK with your girl having had as many previous partners as you have, or, well, stay single and whiny.

For a point that will be made further down in the text, think a few random thoughts about these Swedish girls:

"PEOPLE THINK THAT JUST BECAUSE I'M A SWEDISH GIRL I'M HOT
- I AM"

(Picture edited to suit Quoras image policy. (No Memes))

You will never find a Swedish person who is not fluent in English.
(We would never, ever dub anything.) In fact, it is much easier to find someone who speak three languages or more than to find anyone who only speaks one.

Sweden and Switzerland are not only not the same, but compare:

Assuming you thought dirty thoughts about those girls in the above picture I should inform you that only two of them would be legal to have sex with in for example most states in America. Bummer. Or as one might also say it:

"WELCOME TO SWEDEN
Where Doing Fifteen Year Old Girls Is Not
Only Legal, It Is The National Sport."
(Picture edited to suit Quoras image policy. (No Memes))

Sweden is an amazingly elongated.
From top to bottom it is 1 572 km, (~977 miles) but only around 400 km (~248 miles) across at the widest point. If you were to flip it round, and lay it out over Europe, a lot of people would die.

Sweden has seasons.
You know, Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter.
You have probably heard of them. They all look different, with flowers and chirping birds in spring, sunbathing and frolicking in the summer, rain and wind in the autumn and snow in the winter and all that. Since Sweden is so amazingly elongated things differ from the North to the South. Here are two months that show both the difference between a Winter month and a Summer month, but also the difference between North and South. Since these are average numbers of course it gets colder / warmer at peak lows and peak highs.

North and South Sweden are different worlds.
(Think North and South Korea.)
For example:
In the South people talk all the time and are very open.
In the North people do not talk.
The more north you go, the truer that statement becomes.

Most people from the South feel that the edge to 'the North' goes roughly where that beige/blue line goes on the January picture. Few from the South have been further up than Stockholm/Uppsala (on that border), while more or less everyone from up North go South every now and then.

And as closure:
Sweden is not famous for clocks, chocolate and tulips.
That is Switzerland or Holland.
We are the guys with the Vikings, girls, mighty forests and the Nobel prize.

The smaller island to the right there is called Öland.
That literally means island-land.
The larger island to the right there is called Gotland.
Yes, goth-land...

Here is a nice link for comparing countries in a nice graphic way:
If It Were My Home .com
(Income, employment chance, likeliness of HIV/Aids, number of children, etc.)

Born in a city on eastern coast of China, I have been living in US for many years since I went here for college.Frequently, I notice americans have many misconceptions of China thus I feel obligated to show all foreigners what China really is from my perspective.

Let's start with something (hopefully) everyone loves :P

a. Food

You may think Chinese food is all like Panda Express.

But it is more like

In fact, there are so many types of Chinese culinary that I do not even know all of them.
The so-called Eight Culinary Traditions of China are Anhui, Cantonese, Fujian,Hunan, Jiangsu, Shandong, Szechuan, and Zhejiang cuisines.
Szechuan and Cantonese are the most common in America.

Myth: Chinese eat everything that can breath.
Fact: Cantonese and Fujian cuisines are most adventurous in general but only very few Chinese actually eat exotic foods and many of them are illegal.

b. Attire

The image of Chinese from Mao's era is still widely perceived, which is kinda funny.

Most Chinese nowadays looks more like them:

However, traditional attires are never out of fashion :D

c. Transportation

Many people think China is a nation of bicycles and it is still true to some degree.

But it also looks like this.

China also has one of the best railway networks in this world. Gao Tie (High speed railway) connects cities across the whole country. These trains travel at more than 250km/h (156mile/h) and have clean and comfortable carriages I found nowhere in US.

d. City and country

Economic imbalance between different areas in China is huge.

Shanghai
2010 average annual income per person $12,000

Rural areas
Annual income per person can be less than $1,000.

e. Business

Chinese companies are little known to most foreigners but truth is many of them are already listed in stock markets in US, e.g. Sina, Baidu, Youku.
Alibaba, yet to go to public in US, is an electronic business solution company founded by Jack Ma, an English teacher in China. Today, the total revenue of Alibaba and its child companies are more than Ebay and Amazon combined.

f. People

I am sorry to disappoint many of you, not all Chinese practice Kung Fu.

But you can see people, even elders, taking health and workout seriously :P

Myth: Most Chinese speak Cantonese.
Fact: Cantonese actually is a dialect mainly used in Guangdong province and Hong Kong. It is often misconceived as the most common by foreigners probably because people in that region were among the earliest emigrants oversea.
Today in China, Mandarin is the most common spoken language while there are many dialects in China, See Varieties of Chinese.
Almost all younger generations with good education can speak some English and many of them are very fluent.

Myth: Most Chinese are Buddhists.
Fact: Most Chinese are actually atheists.
However, Confucianism and Buddhism have influenced Chinese culture for thousands of years and they affect almost every Chinese's thoughts and behaviors in a subtle but significant way.
Among all religions in China, Buddhism is still the most popular. Christianity and many others are getting more prevelence over years too.

Myth: All Chinese are communists.
Fact: Chinese government is controlled by a communist party. They propagandize this ideology due to political hypocrisy and stubbornness.
The only people who truly believe in communism are very few and older than 80 years mostly. What China is really doing is sort of learning and adopting capitalism from US. In comparison, Obama-Care is more of communism to me :P
As for average Chinese people, they cannot care less about ideology. All they want is better and happier lives for family.

Myth: Human Rights in China are terrible.
Fact: China has big corruption in government and economic inequalities between cites and rural areas. But in general, living standard is improving every year and major city residents are more wealthy. We may not have so much speech and political freedom compared to US but as long as you do not attempt to overturn or embarrass government in a big way, most of it is tolerated. Just look at Weibo ( Chinese twitter), you will know what i am talking about.

g. Nature and Culture

The natural beauty and rich culture in china can be written into thousands of books. All I have to say is go to China and experience by yourself and you will love it. Chinese people always welcome guests.

Thanks for reading. See you guys in China : )

I will talk about Jordan. So I am Jordanian and there is no camel in my background :P

The name of my country is actually: الأردن‎ , 'al-Urdun'.

• We are a small peaceful country (89,342 km2) surrounded by bigger and troubled countries (Iraq, Syria, Egypt and Palestine) and Israel.

• Jordanians have different origins. Beside native Jordanians there are Palestinians, Syrians, Circassians, Armenians, Chechens and others

• We have a beautiful and lovely Queen, Rania Al Abdullah.

• Our capital city is Amman. In the past, Amman sat on seven hills, much as Rome and Lisbon. Amman now covers at least nineteen hills.

• Yes ! it snows in Amman :)

• One of our national sites, Petra, is rated as one of the 7 Wonders of the World.

• Jerash is a city in the north full of ancient Roman historical sites.

• Jerash festival is an annual festival which is a three week long summer program of dance, music, and theatrical performances.

• Around the Dead Sea, we have the lowest dry point on earth, (1,371 ft) below sea level!

• In the Dead sea, You can float without any support because of natural buoyancy. Just relax and Enjoy :D

• Wadi Rum, one of the most amazing valleys in the world,

• The sky at night is just breathtaking; no words can describe it.

• Hammamat Ma'In (Ma'in Hot Springs): hot freshwater mineral springs and waterfalls that lie 866 ft below sea level. Excellent place to enjoy a naturally warm bath.

• Climbing the waterfalls in Wadi Mujib is a must if you love adventure! Wadi Mujib is the lowest nature reserve in the entire world !

• Don't forget the scuba diving at Aqaba bay and explore the colorful coral reefs!

But what about religious sites ?

• The Baptism Site of Jesus Christ (Al-Maghtas) in Jordan is located 10 kilometres southeast of Jericho. This place was surveyed, excavated, restored, and prepared to receive pilgrims and visitors who seek the blessings of a land graced by great prophets. Al-Maghtas was visited by Pope John Paul II in March 2000 and by Pope Benedict XVI in May 2009. Here are some photos:

• Mount Nebo is the place where it is believed that Moses was buried. Mount Nebo became a place of pilgrimage for early Christians from Jerusalem and a small church was built there in the 4th century to commemorate the end of Moses' life. The Serpentine Cross sculpture, atop Mount Nebo , was created by Italian artist Giovanni Fantoni. The sculpture is symbolic of the bronze (or brazen) serpent taken by Moses into the desert.

• Beautiful mosques in Amman

Now traditions and folks !

• Our folk dance is called Dabkeh, here it is :)

• Our traditional dish is Mansaf ( rice, yogurt and a lot of meat .. and I mean A LOT)

• Oh yeah, don't be terrified if you see us eating it with our hands ! :D

• Our typical breakfast looks like this: (@Hummus and @Falafel)

For my vegetarian friends, it’s easy to survive without eating meat in Jordan ;)

Beside Hummos and Falafel, here is a small list of dishes you can easily find in Jordanian resturants:

-Fattoush (our favorite salad !): tomato, cucumber, lettuce, and radish with toasted pitta bread croutons int, parsley, lemon, garlic, olive oil, and vinegar.

-Mutabbal: Aubergine with tahini and lemon.

-Zaatar w Zeit pastry: pastry of dried thyme, sumac, and sesame seeds mixed with olive oil.

Note that Jordanian cuisine is part of Levantine cuisine so these dishes except Mansaf are all can be found easily in Levant countries.

Hope you enjoyed my answer ;)

India.

If there was a one-word description of this country, it would be diversity.

An insanely long and continuous civilization (in fact, the antiquity of India's civilizations is a topic of a fierce scientific, ideological, and political debate) has resulted in an incredible richness and diversity that not too many Indians even are aware of.

Language

There are 1500-odd officially recognized languages in India. Then there are thousands of dialects that people don't even bother counting because, well, there are just so many of them.

No, there is no language called Indian. Many people can converse in Hindi, although it is not guaranteed to elicit a response in about half of the country.

"Excuse me. Do you speak Indian?"

English is also understood and spoken across the country.

Cuisine

There is nothing called Indian cuisine. One can enjoy

Awadhi cuisine

or Chettinadu cuisine

or Manipuri cuisine

or Kutchi cuisine

And we've just touched the tip of the Indian culinary iceberg. Then there is Punjabi, Kashmiri, Rajasthani, Saurashtra, Marathwada, Parsi, Bengali, Khasi, Kalinga, Andhra, Malabari, or Konkani cuisine and this list is not exhaustive.

Religion

India is the birth place of three of the world's prominent religions - Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism. Then there is Jainism whose followers are exclusive to India. Then there are local religions, like Sarna, of various tribes that have still not been entirely converted by the Christian missionary.

All these religions survived with so much harmony that many of their philosophical elements fused together and evolved into a mutually-harmonious system of religions.

Well.. that's pretty much the idea

Attire

It is incredible how varied the style of wearing the Saree, women's traditional attire in most parts of India, is. Then there is style of wearing Dhoti, the traditional attire of men in most parts of India, that varies along the folds and knots. Then there are salwars, ghaghras (long skirts), jainsem, kupya, bakhu, lungi etc.

Saree

saree

Saree

NOT a saree.

Climate
India is not all hot. We have our springs, summers, autumns and winters. Some parts of the country also receive snow. Then we have rains. In fact, India has top two wettest places on earth.

This is how most people imagine India to be like.

But.. this is also India.

and so is this.

Geography

India's diversity in geographical features is probably surpassed by only the US. We have the Himalayas, a very long coastline, deccan plateau, an unparalleled network of rivers, the great Indo-gangetic plain, Islands of Andaman, Nicobar, and Lakshadweep, the Narmada Canyon etc. Even the soil varies from one part of the country - from sedimentary soil in the Himalayan areas, laterite soil, red soil, to black volcanic soil.

It may not be grand, but canyon it is.

Oh yes.. we have this too.

and of course, the Himalayas (Credits : siachen W)

Flora & Fauna

The rich diversity in geography and climate also leads to an incredibly diverse flora & fauna. There are more than 15000 different types of flowering plants in India that are found from the tropic rainforests of Southern India to cold climates of the Himalayas. Then there is an incredibly rich wildlife that includes

this guy (In fact, we have more of these guys in the wild than any other country)

and this guy (Asiatic Lion - the only country to have them)

this chap.

and this little guy.

Then we have our usual elephants, pythons, snakes, wolves, foxes, camels, bears, crocodiles, antelopes, and deer species.

In short, if you had to choose one country to visit in your life, it will have to be India.

MYANMAR

1. Myanmar not Burma anymore. Official Name is Republic of the Union of Myanmar.
2. Our country has around 135 races and languages. Most people can speak English fluently. Burmese is our official language for government. However, some minority ethnic groups can't speak and understand both Burmese and English languages as they are using their own languages.
   
3. Capital is Nay Pyi Daw not Yangon.
4. Government has changed our flag a lot. Some countries are still using our old flag in their official places. Here is our latest Flag.
   

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2. We have an incredible leader who got Nobel Peace Prize, Daw Aung Sann Suu Kyi.