Interesting and Unbelievable Facts

The Monarch butterfly, also known as the milkweed butterfly, is the most-studied butterfly species. It  is  named after  King William III of England.  Monarch butterflies are native to the Americas . These insects have spread to other places where milkweed grows, including Australia , New Zealand, Spain , and Portugal . Monarch butterflies in North America are the only insects  in the world that migrate for around 3,000 miles twice a year . Millions of monarch butterflies travel from the Rocky Mountains to the Oyamel fir forest in central Mexico during the fall. The return trip starts in March. More than one generation of monarch butterflies completes this trip. ( Source ) Monarch butterflies were used for the first time on ISS (International Space Station) for experimental purposes in 2009. The breeding and growth process of these butterflies  proved successful during this experiment. ( Source ) It is easy to  differentiate male monarchs...

Nicaragua is the largest country in Central America. It is the 3 rd most populous country among seven countries in the region. Christopher Columbus was the first European to reach Nicaragua in 1502. Spanish colonization of Nicaragua began in 1524. Granada in Nicaragua is the  oldest continuously inhabited city  in Central America. It was founded by a Spanish explorer in 1524. ( Source ) Nicaragua gained independence from Spain  and became part of the Mexican Empire in 1821. It joined the United Provinces of Central America in 1923 and achieved full independence in 1838. Nicaragua is the only country in Latin America  colonized  by the British and Spanish empires.  The Mosquito Coast, named after the Miskito indigenous ethnic group, remained a British dependency from 1740 to 1786. The Mosquito Coast became an  autonomous part of Nicaragua in 1860 after a treaty with Britain . A small northern portion of the Mosquito Coast was transferred to Hond...

Morocco is a country in the  northwestern part of Africa. The Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean are located to Morocco's north and west. It shares a land border with Algeria. The southern part of Morocco, known as the Western Sahara, is disputed due to a claim by the Arab Sahrawi Republic. Morocco controls a large part of the  Western Sahara, while the partially recognized Arab Sahrawi Republic only controls the eastern parts of the disputed region. Morocco is divided into  three geographic regions . There are coastal areas in the north and west, highland areas of the Rif and Atlas mountains, and a  desert  in the east and south of Atlas Mountain. Around 75% of the population resides in coastal regions. The  oldest reliable hominoid fossil  was discovered in Jebel Irhoud in Morocco. This fossil is around 315,000 years old. ( Source ) More than 98% of Moroccans are Sunni Muslims . The Umayyad brought Islam and the Arabic language in the 7 th C...

Madagascar is an island country in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa. Its closest countries are Mozambique on mainland Africa and two other island countries, Comoros and Mauritius . Madagascar is the world’s 4 th largest island . Greenland , New Guinea, and Borneo are the three islands larger than Madagascar. ( Source ) Madagascar is the 2 nd  largest island country in the world after Indonesia . It is also the 5th most populous island country.  ( Source ) Around  150 species of chameleons  live in Madagascar, nearly 50% of the total species.  Chameleons  originated in mainland Africa, but most of them are present in Madagascar. ( Source ) The island of Madagascar was formed in two steps . Madagascar and India pulled away from Africa around 150 million years ago. Later, Madagascar split from India 90 million years ago. No tectonic action has been seen in Madagascar for the past 80 million years. ( Source ) According to the lat...

Poison dart frogs, or poison arrow frogs, are famous for their poisonous and brightly colored skin . They can display various colors like red, yellow, orange, green, blue, etc. The bright skin color of poison dart frogs is generally considered a warning for predators. But on occasions, the same bright color can also act as camouflage on the rainforest floor for a few frog species. ( Source ) Poison dart frogs had  uniform colors about 10,000 years ago. But rising seawater in Panama scattered these frogs on different islands. There, they developed different striking colors according to their toxicity level. Now the more poisonous frogs have more attractive and visible colors than frogs with less poison. ( Source ) A  snake  species, commonly known as the fire-bellied snake, is the  only natural predator  of poison dart frogs. A substance in its saliva detoxifies the poisons of these frogs. After hatching eggs in the leaf litter, the  tadpoles are carrie...

Haiti is one of two countries, along with the Dominican Republic, located on Hispaniola Island in the Caribbean. Haiti occupies the western third of the island. Haiti has a dispute with the USA on Navassa Island. This uninhabited island is located between Haiti and Jamaica . The USA claimed this island in 1857 due to the presence of a large amount of bird excrement used in fertilizer and gunpowder. It was declared a National Wildlife Refuge in 1999 by the US. But Haiti also claims this island, which has a rich coral ecosystem. ( Source ) Christopher Columbus was the  first European  to reach Haiti during his first voyage in 1492. Here, he and his companions built  La Navidad, the  first European settlement  in the Americas. ( Source ) Haiti is the 2nd  most populous (after Cuba) and the 3rd largest country (after Cuba and the Dominican Republic) in the Caribbean. Haiti was initially inhabited in 5000 BC. Taino were the indigenous people living in Haiti ...

Uruguay is the 2 nd smallest country in South America after Suriname. It shares borders with Brazil and Argentina. Uruguay is the  wealthiest country in South America . It has the highest average income per capita in the continent. ( Source ) In 2013, Uruguay became the  first country  to legalize the production, sale, and smoking of marijuana. ( Source ) Uruguay has the world’s  longest national anthem  according to the time taken to its singing. It takes 6 minutes to sing the Uruguay national anthem. ( Source ) Uruguay has the highest carbon tax rate in the world: $137 per metric ton of CO2. The country implemented this tax in January 2022. ( Source ) Europeans initially arrived in Uruguay in 1516. There were a few thousand local settlers at that time in this area. The initial European (Spanish) explorers were killed and eaten by these local tribes. Portuguese were the first to establish a colony in Uruguay in 1680. The territory was later divided betw...

The Bahamas is a country located on the northwestern edge of the West Indies . Its neighboring countries are Cuba and Hispaniola on the south, Turks & Caicos Island on the east and Florida ( USA ) on the northwest. The Bahamas consists of around 700 islands and cays in the Atlantic Ocean. Only 30 of these islands are inhabited. Taino people from  South America  were the initial settlers of the Bahamas around 800 CE. Christopher Columbus was the first European to arrive on this island in 1492 during his first voyage. The Spanish took the entire population of the Bahamas to Hispaniola between 1492 and 1508 as workers in mines. After this period, these islands remained unpopulated for more than a century before the arrival of the British. The Bahamas was a  favorite location for pirates during the Golden Age of Piracy between 1690 and 1725. Several forts were established during these years to defend the islands against pirates. Pirates of the Nassau Museum contai...