Interesting and Unbelievable Facts

Monaco is a microstate in Europe. It has a land border with France from three sides and a small coastline with the Mediterranean Sea. Monaco is one of the only three remaining sovereign principalities in the world. The other two are Andorra and Liechtenstein. The prince is the head of this constitutional monarchy in Europe . The foundation of Monaco took place in the 6 th century BC as a Greek colony. It derives its name from two Greek words: monos (single) and oikos (house). The Grimaldi family took control of Monaco in 1297 from Genoa. During their rule, they received protection from France, Spain (1524-1641), and Sardinia (1815-1861). The French Revolutionary regime annexed Monaco in 1793. The Grimaldi regained the sovereignty of Monaco in 1814 after the fall of Napoleon I. Menton and Roquebrune remained part of Monaco for centuries. However, the principality lost control of these neighboring towns in 1848 and later ceded them to France under the terms of a treaty in 1861. M

The Tasmanian devil is a carnivorous marsupial limited to Tasmania . They are present in all parts of Tasmania, including the outskirts of urban areas. However, their favorite habitats are coastal woodlands and Australian bushland. The Tasmanian devil is the largest living marsupial carnivore . Males are larger than females, having a length and mass of 78 cm (30 in) and 12 kg (26 lb.). They use their strong jaws and long teeth to eat all parts of their varied prey: small mammals, birds , insects , and reptiles. ( Source ) The Tasmanian devil has the  strongest bite  among carnivorous mammals. Its bite force quotient (BFQ) is 181, which is far more than the BFQ of famous carnivores, such as  tigers  (127), lions (112), and Himalayan black bears (44). ( Source ) Adult male devils have large and  powerful heads and necks , contributing nearly a quarter of their weight. It assists in achieving a powerful bite and grip. Unlike most other  animals  with baby and adult teeth, Tasmanian devils

Bahrain is a small island country on the southwestern coast of the Persian Gulf. It is the third smallest country in Asia after the Maldives and Singapore. Bahrain consists of over 30 natural and artificial islands . The country has planned to build five new luxury artificial islands that can increase its landmass by 60%. However, it can devastate marine life and create several environmental problems. ( Source ) The largest island in this Gulf country is Bahrain Island . It contains nearly 85% of the total land area of Bahrain. Saudi Arabia and Qatar are the nearest countries to Bahrain. The 15-mile-long King Fahd Causeway, opened in 1986, links Bahrain to Saudi Arabia . Bahrain was the seat of the ancient Dilmun civilization nearly 5,000 years ago and acted as a trade route between the Indus Valley and Mesopotamia. It declined around 2000 BC due to cutting off trade from India . Bahrain came under Muslim rule in the 7 th Century, and most of its inhabitants converted to Islam .

Barbados is an island country in the southeastern Caribbean Sea . This easternmost Caribbean island is close to but not part of the Lesser Antilles, an archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. Its nearest countries are St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Barbados has the highest number of  people above 100  per capita among sovereign countries. There are 71 centenarians per 100,000 people in this Caribbean island country. Comparatively,  Japan  and  Uruguay  jointly hold the second place, with 62 centenarians per 100,000 people. ( Source ) Barbados is the  most water-scarce country  in the Caribbean, having annual renewable water resources of only 350 cubic meters per capita. The country receives all its internal water resources through rainfall, while the region faces rising temperatures and low rainfall. ( Source ) According to historical records, humans from northern South America settled in Barbados by 1600 BC . The initial Europeans to reach the island were Spaniards in the 16

Tapirs are large, herbivorous mammals that belong to one of the three branches of odd-toed ungulates. Tapirs are the only living member of their family. They have four recognized species in Central America, South America, and Southeast Asia. The heavy bodies and short legs in tapirs make them look like pigs , while their protruding nose is slightly similar to the trunk of elephants. However, their closest extant relatives are horses , zebras , rhinos, and other odd-toed ungulates. Apart from elephants, tapirs are the only living vertebrates that possess a prehensile (capable of grasping) trunk . Compared to elephants , they have a short proboscis, an extension of the nose and upper lip. ( Source ) Tapirs have  poor eyesight and monocular vision  (see with a single eye at a time). These nocturnal  mammals  compensate for this deficiency through their strong senses of smell and hearing. Captive tapirs, particularly Malayan tapirs, often have corneal cloudiness due to excessive exposur

Sugar gliders are small, nocturnal marsupials of the possum family. They are named so because of their gliding ability and fondness for sweet foods. Sugar gliders are one of the three living gliding mammals besides flying squirrels and colugos (flying lemurs). These marsupials can catch flying insects while gliding. A soft membrane between the front and back legs acts like a parachute in sugar gliders. It assists the animal in gliding up to half the length of a soccer pitch (around 165 feet) in a single leap. The sugar glider controls the direction of this long glide through its bushy tail, which performs the function of a rudder. Sugar gliders are present in New Guinea ( Indonesia and Papua New Guinea) and Australia, where they are the most common and widely spread Australian gliders . Their habitat includes woodlands, open forests , and wet forests. Sugar gliders are native to mainland Australia but were introduced to Tasmania from Victoria during the early 1800s. However, these

Mauritius is an island country in the Indian Ocean, nearly 500 miles east of Madagascar. It also shares maritime borders with France (Reunion) and Seychelles. Mauritius consists of the island of Mauritius and three outlying territories: Rodrigues Island, Agalega Islands (two islands located 600 miles north of Mauritius), and Saint Brandon (also called Cargados Carajos Shoals). Two islands of Mauritius (Mauritius and Rodrigues) and Reunion (a French overseas department) are collectively known as the Mascarene Islands. The land area of Mauritius is 2040 sq. km, and more than 90% of this area consists of the island of Mauritius. The disputed EEZ (exclusive economic zone) of the country is 2.3 million sq. km due to its claim on the Chagos Archipelago ( UK ) and Tromelin Island (France). Arabs were the first to discover the uninhabited islands of Mauritius during or before the 10 th Century. Portuguese were the first Europeans to visit the country during the 16 th Century, but they did