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506 results in the libraryPage 8 of 22506 results in the library · Fun facts · Page 8 of 22
The ceremonial capital of the Persian Empire was destroyed by fire in 330 BC, which ironically baked and preserved its clay archives.
Author not specified in the imported source
Persepolis, Iran · Asia
External reference (site language): Persepolis ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Uruk and Ur in southern Iraq were among the first true cities, and the world's earliest writing appears there around 3200 BC.
Author not specified in the imported source
Mesopotamia, Iraq · Asia
External reference (site language): Iraq ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
The Nabataeans cut Petra's facades directly into sandstone cliffs and engineered a water system that supported thousands in the desert.
Author not specified in the imported source
Petra, Jordan · Asia
External reference (site language): Petra ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
The Dead Sea surface falls around a metre each year as the Jordan River is diverted, exposing sinkholes along the shore.
Author not specified in the imported source
Dead Sea · Asia
External reference (site language): We Bury the Dead ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
A traveller can swim in the Mediterranean, the Red Sea and the Dead Sea within a single day's drive.
Author not specified in the imported source
Israel · Asia
External reference (site language): Israel ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
The walled Old City covers less than one square kilometre yet contains sites central to three world religions.
Author not specified in the imported source
Jerusalem · Asia
External reference (site language): Jerusalem ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
The Cedars of God grove holds trees over a thousand years old, remnants of forests that supplied ancient Egypt and Phoenicia.
Author not specified in the imported source
Lebanon · Asia
External reference (site language): Flag of Lebanon ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Before the war, Aleppo's covered market ran for roughly 13 kilometres of vaulted alleys, one of the largest in the world.
Author not specified in the imported source
Aleppo, Syria · Asia
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Parts of the Saudi desert frontier remained undefined into the modern era because the sand simply had no landmarks.
Author not specified in the imported source
Saudi Arabia · Asia
External reference (site language): Saud of Saudi Arabia ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Pumping concrete 600 metres up the Burj Khalifa required specially developed mixes that would not set in the pipe.
Author not specified in the imported source
Dubai, UAE · Asia
External reference (site language): Dubai ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque contains what is considered the largest single hand-knotted carpet in the world.
Author not specified in the imported source
Abu Dhabi, UAE · Asia
External reference (site language): Abu Dhabi ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Building height rules in Muscat keep the skyline low and white, preserving views of the Hajar Mountains.
Author not specified in the imported source
Oman · Asia
External reference (site language): Oman TiT ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Qatar has almost no natural fresh water and produces most of its drinking supply through desalination.
Author not specified in the imported source
Qatar · Asia
External reference (site language): Qatar ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
The name refers to fresh springs bubbling up within the salt sea, once the basis of a famous pearl industry.
Author not specified in the imported source
Bahrain · Asia
External reference (site language): Bahrain ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Shibam's tower houses of sun-dried mud rise up to eleven storeys and date from the 16th century.
Author not specified in the imported source
Shibam, Yemen · Asia
External reference (site language): Shibam ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
A third of Socotra's plant species exist nowhere else, including the umbrella-shaped dragon's blood tree.
Author not specified in the imported source
Socotra, Yemen · Asia
External reference (site language): Socotra ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Pakistan holds five of the world's fourteen highest mountains, including K2, widely considered the hardest to climb.
Author not specified in the imported source
Pakistan · Asia
External reference (site language): Pakistan ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
The Khunjerab Pass between Pakistan and China sits at 4,693 metres and closes with the first heavy snow.
Author not specified in the imported source
Khunjerab Pass · Asia
External reference (site language): Khunjerab Pass ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
The Sundarbans span roughly 10,000 square kilometres of tidal forest shared with India, and shelter Bengal tigers.
Author not specified in the imported source
Sundarbans, Bangladesh · Asia
External reference (site language): Sundarbans ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Hundreds of rivers cross Bangladesh, and some shift course by kilometres in a single monsoon season.
Author not specified in the imported source
Bangladesh · Asia
External reference (site language): Bangladesh ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Juche years count from 1912, the birth year of Kim Il-sung, and appear alongside Gregorian dates.
Author not specified in the imported source
North Korea · Asia
External reference (site language): Kim family (North Korea) ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Oymyakon has recorded temperatures near minus 68 degrees Celsius, the coldest for a permanently inhabited place.
Author not specified in the imported source
Oymyakon, Russia · Asia
External reference (site language): Oymyakon ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Moscow to Vladivostok is 9,289 kilometres and takes about seven days without stops, crossing 87 cities.
Author not specified in the imported source
Trans-Siberian Railway · Asia
External reference (site language): Trans-Siberian Railway ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
The Gobi can drop below minus 30 degrees in winter and sometimes gets snow on its dunes.
Author not specified in the imported source
Gobi Desert · Asia
External reference (site language): Gobi Desert ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
The missed ferry. The stranger who handed over a key. The meal that ran until midnight. If something happened to you on the road and you still think about it, send it - a few sentences is plenty, and we do the tidying up.
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