Tell Me About Your Country

[The Score in Blue]

Hey everybody.

It's Zakuro...

 

Lately, especially on the HOP, we've been discussing geography.

I'm also supposed to know about country backgrounds for school...

 

I'm not very clued up on the US, nor its states or history.

So, tell me, or anybody else here a little bit about your country. :yes:

 

EDIT: I was mentioning US as an example. If you're from anywhere else in the world feel free to post about your country too!

[-Ryan]

I was hoping someone would make this.

I'm sure CAV or Will could explain the U.S. far better than me... xD

I will say however that the U.s. state I live in, Arizona, is very hot. -nodnod-

[Pirate Dante]

Wait, so it's only about the US? I could tell yuo about Finland though.

 

 

 

 

That image tells important stuff on history of finaland xD

[The Score in Blue]

Ah, now I know a bit about Finland :)

 

Well, here's some info on NZ:

Flag:

 

Population: 4.5 million

First Ever European Given Name: Nova Zeelandia

 

Film Industry: Weta Workshops worked on LOTR, Avatar, Narnia.

Spelling: British spelling, which means color is spelt COLOUR.

[Viridian]

Country: The Netherlands

Flag:

Population: 16.5 million people.

 

The Netherlands is a tiny country with a huge economy and a lot of people living in it for its size. Most of the country is below sea-level. There is a lot of history regarding the netherlands, seeing it was one of the most important countries of its time in the 18th century.

 

It has 12 provinces, and a lot of municipalities. The west of the netherlands is a lot more crowded than the east.

 

Drugs is 'allowed' in the netherlands, though you are not allowed to create drugs yourself nor does the government really like the 'coffee shops'. You can have drugs when you're 18+. You can drink beer and other low alcoholic drinks at 16+, and more stronger ones like whiskey and rum at 18+. We can get our drivers licence at 18 years old, but there is some speculation going on that it might become 17 years old. Buying cigarettes is allowed from 16 years here too.

 

Everyone from ages 3-18 usually goes by bike as a matter of transport, otherwise they will use the bus or train. Everyone in the age group 18-65 will prefer a car over cycling, and everyone older than 65 prefers to go cycling again. Common problem: Overly full bicycle racks.

 

Oh yes, and prostitution is allowed, but only for those who are over 18, and only in specially assigned places. You cannot just walk on the street and 'pick someone up', it is really someone's profession.

 

Any questions? Lol I just mentioned all that is kind of interesting for outsiders :D

[Rae]

What is HOP? I am slightly curious lol.

 

Uhm... you said that you were using US as an example? Does that mean you don't need more information about the US? Because although I live in the US I have extensive knowledge of other countries where my family/friends live :)

[The Score in Blue]

What is HOP? I am slightly curious lol.

 

Uhm... you said that you were using US as an example? Does that mean you don't need more information about the US? Because although I live in the US I have extensive knowledge of other countries where my family/friends live :)

 

No, tell me! Dante thought that this topic was just for US people, which it's not.

If you're from any country, even NZ, you can post here.

 

HOP is the Hang Out and Post.

[jumpingbeans]

I'll put a bit about Canada here- might not be the best, but here goes nothing.

 

Canada is the 2nd largest country in the world, though we have little population, due to the fact we're up North (California, a US state. has more people then us). We export lots of wood and one of our well-known products are Maple syrup. We're a democracy, yet we're still under partial control of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. We use a Dollar system different from the USA, and have special one- and two-dollar coins, called the Loonie and the Toonie. We have 10 provinces and 3 territories, and Canada has existed since 1867 (Random fact: Heinz ketchup is just two years younger than us). Our national sports are hockey and Ringette, though we play lots of all sports, our national animals the Beaver/Caribou (We've got a caribou on our Quarter and a Beaver on our Nickel). We don't, in fact, say 'Eh' a lot, and we don't all live in Igloos either. Also, we're one of the few bilingual countries in the world, with our languages being English and French.

 

Was that enough?

[selusa]

I was hoping to be the first to post about Canada, but JB beat me to it. :P I'll toss in my two cents anyway.

 

Flag!

 

Canada is a glorious country that is sprinkled with big cities down at the bottom (near the US), but as you go up is pretty much nature and forest and rocks and oceans and stuff. Also, bears, elk, moose (meese? mooses? I can never tell with stuff like that), wolves, and other charming creatures. At least it is near the Rockies -- I was working in Banff National Park this summer, and was privileged to see 3 Grizzly Bears, one wolf, and countless elk, deer and coyotes.

 

I'm not too sure about the fauna on the east coast. They probably have seals.

 

Basically, everyone here pronounces their 'ar's strangely (or maybe that's just me). It's hard to write, but it's more like 'Caaar' than 'car', haaard vs. hard, etc. To my knowledge, nobody has ever pronounced 'about' as 'aboot'. That's just silly.

 

We do have Mounties, which is one of the main Canadian symbols, but we call usually them the RCMP (Royal Mounted Canadian Police), and they don't actually ride around on horses except when it's set to music (the RCMP Musical Ride, pretty neato stuff). They use squad cars like other police. They're kind of like the American FBI, in that they're a national police force, except they have spiffier uniforms.

 

People in Canada don't get to watch Hulu. It makes me sad.

 

BUT! Our money is pretty colorful and awesome and you can deface the five dollar bill and turn Wilfred A. Laurier into Spock.

 

[Seliphra]

JB the Queen is a figure head and has no real power in England or Canada. Also the Governor General represents the Queen here, but is also really just a figure head since we repatriated the constitution.

Some additional info on Canada: True north is part of our territory, during a war with the USA we managed to burn down the white house (But back then it was more pinkish) Depending on your location, it can snow during every month of the year (Namely in Alberta and British Columbia) The Canada Goose is also a national animal, and we have one of the most recognizable flags in the world. Western movies are frequently shot here, and we do have dog-sledding -but it is NOT one of the main forms of transportation. We say 'Sorry!' a lot too.

Edit: Totally got ninja'd there. It's actually illegal to deface Canadian currency in Canada. But if you fold the twenty dollar bill right at the corners of the queens mouth you can play "Happy-sad"

[The Score in Blue]

Yes, it was enough.

 

Oh, and NZ is in the Commonwealth, we have $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100 dollar notes.

We have $1, $2, 50c, 20c and 10c coins.

 

Our national sports are rugby and netball.

The city I live in, Wellington, the capital, is also known as Windy Wellington as it doesn't get that hot (25 degrees Celcius max) and is obviously windy.

 

Our national animal is the kiwi, the national fruit the kiwifruit and the drink, L&P.

[Tyler.]

USA:

We declared our independence from the British in 1776, and have continuously changed our borders. Our population is around 300 million, making us the 3rd most populated country. We are the 3rd largest country in the world. We have 50 states. Our last state, Hawaii was added in 1959. Our official languages are English and Spanish. Our currency is the US Dollar, closely related to the Canadian dollar. the US, along with out neighbor Canada, borders the most oceans of any country (Pacific, Atlantic, and Artic.) Our country's government system is a democracy, with a president as the head person. We are one of the few democracies with no prime minister. We have influence of many cultures, such as Spanish/Mexican in the west, Native American in the North, French in the South, and English and Dutch on the East. We were not officially independent until 1781, 5 years after we declared. Our independence day is July 4th.

I'll add more later

[selusa]

It's actually illegal to deface Canadian currency in Canada. But if you fold the twenty dollar bill right at the corners of the queens mouth you can play "Happy-sad"

 

Haha, it's a good thing I found that image on Google, otherwise I'm sure the RCMP would be after me. And I had no idea about playing with the Queen's emotions like that. Must try it sometime.

[livvy]

@Selusa: 0_0 I want that 5 dollar bill. It has Spock!

 

Um, stuff about my country... you should probably get that from someone else in the US. I'm awful with history and stuff. :laughingsmiley:

[jumpingbeans]

USA:

the US borders the most oceans of any country (Pacific, Atlantic, and Artic.)

I would like to state that Canada borders the same amount of oceans as you.

[Tyler.]

oops, sorry, I forgot, I'll edit now

[Sakurabelle]

USA:

Our official languages are English and Spanish.

 

Our official language is only English. However, Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language here with about 12% of our population speaking Spanish.

[The Score in Blue]

Ok. So let me get this straight. The most commonly apoken language of all the countries posted here is English.

 

NZ's official languages: English, Maori, NZ Sign Language.

[d.Lia]

I'm from Singapore! Small island nation that's attempting to takeover the Australian stock exchange. :D In fact, we're so small, sometimes you can't even see us on the map, just our name.

 

OK, Singapore's in Southeast Asia. We are not in China. Just to clear that up. People tend to think Singapore's a part of China, for some reason. :O

 

Our official languages are English, Malay, Chinese and Tamil, which represent each of the four main races in the country. Immigration laws here are quite relaxed; government welcomes foreigners to work here and possibly settle down because our birth rate is too low! We've just broken the 5 million mark for population recently. And we have high population density!

 

We really ban chewing gum here.

 

We were once a British colony, then occupied by the Japanese during WWII, then part of Malaysia, and in 1965, Singapore gained independence! WHOO.

 

Colloquially, we speak in Singlish, which is a random mix of English, Malay, Chinese, Chinese dialects and random interjections and fillers.

 

Singaporean drivers also like to go over the Causeway to Johor Bahru in Malaysia to top up the petrol (because it's cheaper!).

 

LOL, random facts about Singapore done!

[RayHumbert]

Singapore is a pseudo-democracy and the government control mainstream media. The Lee family(Yes, nepotism) enjoy suing foreign publications that disagree with them.

 

Of course in true Singaporean fashion, the cases are held in Singapore courts and it will always favor our dear leaders.

 

Interesting note, our prime minster have the highest salary among world leaders. You can say we legalized corruption to prevent it. Paradox? No my dear friends, who said civil servants have a duty to the public, we must pay them gold to stop the temptation of the private sector.

 

Our Press Freedom Index from Reporters Without Borders is 136 and there was a formal letter sent to the government from that organisation.

 

Link: http://en.rsf.org/singapore-open-letter-to-prime-minister-lee-25-03-2010,36832

 

We believe in giving second chances but also believe in canning someone for doing graffiti. Death penalty is mandatory and no mitigation is allowed by the judge. Our president can grant clemency but he is only a figure head acting under the orders of our government.

 

High GDP growth due to artificial population boom, how sustainable is that, you tell me, given the fact that we are such a small country and infrastructure is not expanding fast enough to handle the sudden population growth. Our ministers salaries is also pegged to the GDP growth of course..

 

The mass public is unaware of the atrocities committed by the ruling party and are kept in denial by the strict grasp of the media. Any unhappiness is settled by giving out progress package and freebies of $200, and when they get re-elected, GST will rise by 2-3%.

 

Yes, this is a sad excuse of a country and we will only continue producing mediocrity until our economy collapse upon itself. It's a extremely negative prognosis but I really don't dare to hope for change.

 

Disclaimer: This represent the opinion of a student on the Internet and he may have been misguided so don't take it seriously. Please feel free to verify the facts and judge for yourself. More importantly, don't sue me and make me sell peanuts on the beach PAP! Big brother is always watching....

 

Useful link: http://theonlinecitizen.com/

[d.Lia]

Hahaha! I like this. I think most students have the anti-PAP notion. I just finished my O levels today, myself. :D My friends and I find the subject Social Studies to be total propaganda (in some sense).

 

Elections are coming though. Boundaries are redrawn (yet again)!

 

But grievances notwithstanding, I'd say this little red dot has done pretty OK for itself thus far. (The future remains to be seen!) Plus, we get no hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes or volcanic eruptions. Only our neighbours get those. :P

[RayHumbert]

Yes, I finish my final paper(Biology) today too. I'm grateful for the lack of natural disaster but that can hardly be attributed to a good political system. And Social Studies is indeed nonsensical propaganda that exist only in the head of our dear PM. The only helpful bit is on Venice which demonstrate the effects of a degenerating political system. The irony of the chapter strikes with an iron anvil, given that its purpose is to ease us into accepting foreign talent.

 

I'm all for diversity and multiculturalism but when you start getting your citizens to pay for scholarships and homes for foreigners, a line should be drawn.

 

And the constant suggestion to send our senior citizens to Malaysia for cheaper nursing home is despicable. You suck the people dry and deny them a flat and pack them over to another country, goodness.

 

Retirement age is being raised, housing prices are exorbitant, the constant need to do "better, betterer, betterest - Lim Swee Say", no pension, famiLEE treating the national army like its private army, stigmatization of minorities like homosexuals and Indians. This is a whole host of problem. What exactly is being a Singaporean about, what are we protecting?

 

Sorry if this is rant-(ish?), the Internet is the only outlet for repressed emotions.

[siemis]

Hehyho

 

Hmm oke something about Switzerland *hmm*

 

Its a small country shaped like a little pig =D Although we are in the middle of Europe were not in the European Union.

We are e federal republic and claim us to be neutral. The red cross was founded here 1863 by Henry Dunant.

 

Our money (swiss franc) is very colorful =D One swiss frank is worth about one us dollar. It used to have ants on the 1000.- bank notes =D

 

We have four official languages! Most spoken is German but not the German as in Germany there are a lot of different idioms who are sometimes even hard for me! Second is French, as spoken in the southwest it feels like you are in France there =D

Then Italian, spoken for example in Ticino there even grow palms. And last but not least Rhaeto-Romanic. Just about 35'000 people can speak this language, you see an example in my signature.

 

Hmm... Oh yeah we have beautiful mountains here =D

 

And we are famous for chocolate ^^

[x__slinky]

Something else that's interesting about New Zealand...

 

Agricultural products total more than 50% of all New Zealand exports.

It is the youngest country on earth.

We have the best potters...no, not harry potter. I mean pottery!

The country separated from other land masses about 100 million years ago, allowing plants and animals to evolve in isolation and therefore, become very unique.

It is one of the safest travel destinations in the world.

Our emergency number is 111.

Kiwifruit grown in New Zealand was originally called 'Chinese Gooseberries'.

 

That's about all I can think of. :graduated:

[jesse_rocket]

Right then!

 

I'm from England.

 

It's a land where everyone drinks lots of tea, and carries an umbrella and a stiff-upper-lip concealing bad teeth, and talks either in strict Received Pronunciation English, or puppyblew Van Dyke style jolly cockney accents. Also, it always rains here. Our main exports are football hooliganism, commemorative plates of the Queen, and colonialism. Our diet consists primarily of over-boiled vegetables, tiny cucumber sandwiches, terrifying meat pies, fish and chips, and hilariously named puddings.

 

:rolleyes_anim:

 

But srsly now.

 

England is a country on the 9th largest island in the world, Great Britain, which it shares with the countries of Scotland (to the north) and Wales (to the west), which together with Northern Ireland, forms the United Kingdom (The British Isles also includes the Republic of Ireland). It has a population of about 50million, and is fairly densely populated, with an average of about 1000 people per square mile.

We have a constitutional monarchy, headed by Queen Elizabeth II, whose role is mostly to be charming and adored, the day to day running of the country is done by a parliamentary system, elected on a party basis by the public of various local districts. The Prime Minister, who is mostly in charge, is the head of the party who won the most local seats, thereby having the majority in parliament.

 

Uhh...my academic brain that says useful things has gone bang at this point.

 

• 
   
  
• We have lots of old buildings. I've personally never lived in a house less than 100 years old.
  
• Popular English pastimes include drinking, football (and to a lesser extent, rugby and cricket), shopping, watching (usually bad) TV, and going on holiday to somewhere warmer.
  
• We have free healthcare, which is nice.
  
• Curry is one of the most popular meals here. I don't care for it.
  
• We have decent public transport. Consequentially, I never learned to drive.
  
• The average temperature range is 0c in winter to about 32c in summer. Which isn't bad given that we're at the same latitude as Moscow. Yay for the Gulf Stream.
  
• There are worse places to live, I suppose.