Share cool facts about your country

[Calliers]

Canada is the world's second largest country, although we are sparsely populated with a population of about 33 million people.

[LeChat]

On 5/12/2022 at 10:55 AM, daveb said:

I'm in the US, so I don't know if I can come up with anything...

I guess, one thing I like about the country, that other countries don't do/have (they charge fees) is that, mostly, there aren't fees to borrow public library items (I've noticed a few, U.S. libraries charge, at least, a dollar or a few, to borrow DVDS, though).

 

Generally, it's, already, paid for through property fees, taxes, etc.

[Piotrek]

@LeChat The public libraries in Poland (or at least the ones in my city) don't charge you either, unless the materials are overdue.

 

@Calliers Are Canada geese really as bad as everyone says?  

 

@Denim I think I've seen the dragon-shaped country thing about Austria as well  

[Calliers]

3 minutes ago, Piotrek said:

@LeChat The public libraries in Poland (or at least the ones in my city) don't charge you either, unless the materials are overdue.

 

@Calliers Are Canada geese really as bad as everyone says?  

 

@Denim I think I've seen the dragon-shaped country thing about Austria as well  

Canada geese just crap everywhere lol.

[LeChat]

7 minutes ago, Piotrek said:

The public libraries in Poland (or at least the ones in my city) don't charge you either, unless the materials are overdue.

Interesting! I knew other countries do, like the U.K. and the Netherlands. I liked to borrow library items, a lot, so I was thinking how expensive it would be, if I lived in those countries.

[J. van Deijck]

9 minutes ago, Piotrek said:

The public libraries in Poland (or at least the ones in my city) don't charge you either, unless the materials are overdue.

That was my observation, too 😮

[Anomaly Q3Xr]

1 hour ago, LeChat said:

I guess, one thing I like about the country, that other countries don't do/have (they charge fees) is that, mostly, there aren't fees to borrow public library items (I've noticed a few, U.S. libraries charge, at least, a dollar or a few, to borrow DVDS, though).

 

Generally, it's, already, paid for through property fees, taxes, etc.

The public libraries here in the UK don't charge fees unless you return books late. I used to go to the library and take out 6 or so books at a time all for nothing. I am not sure about DVD's though.

[daveb]

9 hours ago, uniQChick said:

Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned the word "caribou"...

 

Santa’s reindeer are real – and they live in the Northwest Territories

That's cool and they are interesting critters.

But my confusion is with the phrase "exclusive home". Both caribou and domestic reindeer live in other countries around the Arctic Circle, too, not exclusively in Canada for either.

 

Maybe I'm misinterpreting your statement. 

[J. van Deijck]

In Belgium, voting is mandatory. If you refuse to vote, you will be fined.

[nazokashii]

10 hours ago, LeChat said:

I guess, one thing I like about the country, that other countries don't do/have (they charge fees) is that, mostly, there aren't fees to borrow public library items (I've noticed a few, U.S. libraries charge, at least, a dollar or a few, to borrow DVDS, though).

 

Generally, it's, already, paid for through property fees, taxes, etc.

Free in Sweden too, aside from DVDs (and I think video games too) 😄 libraries are wonderful 😌

[LeChat]

@nazokashii Nice! I've appreciated all of the foreign films, t.v. series, and documentaries I've been able to watch, from the library.

 

There were some that weren't my favorite or that turned out not to be my cup of tea, (e.g. a t.v. series I chose not to force myself to continue watching), so that's another reason why I'm grateful for local libraries not charging to borrow them.

[Piotrek]

@nazokashii Video games in a library? 😮 

Also, speaking of Sweden and Finland ( @AavaMeri ) the less obvious things I associate your countries with is a disproportionate number of internationally-known metal bands and a love of healthy, active lifestyle

@alsjeblieft are the penalties for non-voting actually enforced?

[J. van Deijck]

32 minutes ago, Piotrek said:

are the penalties for non-voting actually enforced?

Yeah, they are. But it doesn't apply to non-citizens, they are free

[fooledbysecrecy]

finland's finest export

 

[J. van Deijck]

1 hour ago, fooledbysecrecy said:

finland's finest export

 

Is it bad that I love this song?

 

BTW I've always thought your finest export was this: 

 

 

[Calliers]

10 minutes ago, alsjeblieft said:

Is it bad that I love this song?

 

BTW I've always thought your finest export was this: 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, fooledbysecrecy said:

finland's finest export

 

Both of them are fine exports in my book!

 

Another fun fact for you, Canada has the longest coastline in the world. (thank you google  )

[Lilibulero]

It's the stuff of legend. Lots of people aspire to see my home country before they die.

[J. van Deijck]

18 minutes ago, Calliers said:

Another fun fact for you, Canada has the longest coastline in the world. (thank you google  )

...Belgium probably has the shortest

[Calliers]

4 minutes ago, alsjeblieft said:

...Belgium probably has the shortest

We also have the longest international border and it doubles as the longest most unprotected international boarder in the world.

[J. van Deijck]

6 minutes ago, alsjeblieft said:

...Belgium probably has the shortest

...Wait, it's 11th in the rank. Not bad at all

[Calliers]

2 minutes ago, alsjeblieft said:

...Wait, it's 11th in the rank. Not bad at all

That's not too bad.... Monaco has the shortest coastline, and it is chock-full of yachts! 🤣 

[fooledbysecrecy]

42 minutes ago, alsjeblieft said:

Is it bad that I love this song?

 

BTW I've always thought your finest export was this: 

 

 

yes that too! and sandstorm is a banger, nothing bad about liking it! (i had it literally on repeat all the time when i was 13-14...)

[Calliers]

2 minutes ago, fooledbysecrecy said:

yes that too! and sandstorm is a banger, nothing bad about liking it! (i had it literally on repeat all the time when i was 13-14...)

Belarus exported Yung Lean, so I'm happy (Yung Lean has been my most listened to artist for the past 5 or 6 years on Spotify).

 

But you're right, Sandstorm was the ish way back when....

[Ashmedai]

Hmm, I'll have to think about this one

Australia was one of the first countries to introduce polymer bank notes, makingn them last longer than paper ones

[J. van Deijck]

24 minutes ago, fooledbysecrecy said:

yes that too! and sandstorm is a banger, nothing bad about liking it! (i had it literally on repeat all the time when i was 13-14...)

I had them both on repeat when I was a teenager  they're both awesome

 

23 minutes ago, Calliers said:

Belarus exported Yung Lean, so I'm happy (Yung Lean has been my most listened to artist for the past 5 or 6 years on Spotify).

The only Belarussian artist I know is Leandra, she's pretty good

[Calliers]

4 minutes ago, alsjeblieft said:

I had them both on repeat when I was a teenager  they're both awesome

 

The only Belarussian artist I know is Leandra, she's pretty good

You might like Yung Lean, he is a rapper too.

 

Here are two songs for you to sample:

 

(this song features one of the rappers from 36 Mafia whom they met in Japan when they wanted to film the video and he agreed to be in the video even if he doesn't rap)

 

 

(this one is more recent)

 

 

(and this one is just magical)

 

 

[J. van Deijck]

I'm gonna check these out since I already like some Dutch, Belgian and Polish hip hop music.

[Calliers]

Just now, alsjeblieft said:

I'm gonna check these out since I already like some Dutch, Belgian and Polish hip hop music.

Oh he actually sings in english, here are some songs he sung in his language:

 

(this one is my favorite one, even if I don't know what they're saying!  )

 

 

 

[J. van Deijck]

There's a website called Ugly Belgian Houses, run by some Belgian man (I think he has a Tumblr blog, too). He's been in the court multiple times because some people sued him for taking photos of their houses and posting them as ugly on his website he has written a book, too.

 

His name is Hannes Coudenys if you wish to look it up

[Calliers]

So get this, Canada wasn't first colonized by the French and British, but by the Vikings, who settled around what is now Newfoundland in around 1000 AD calling it Vinland coz they used to make wine there from vineyards they had over there, cool eh? 😎