Category: Interesting facts

The San people of southern Africa engage in a profound spiritual practice known as the trance dance. Participants, guided by experienced healers or shamans, enter a trance state through hours of rhythmic clapping, singing, and dancing. This tradition is believed to facilitate contact with the spirit world, where healers seek guidance, healing, and rain for their community.

Depicted in ancient rock art across the region, the trance dance symbolises the San’s deep connection to their ancestors and the natural world. It includes rituals like transformations into animal forms and encounters with mythical beings and ancestral spirits.

Image Source: Drawing of a painted trance dance scene made by members of the Rock Art Research Institute team at Wits University.

The tiny islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, with just over 6000 inhabitants, are a self-governing territory of France, located near the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The islanders speak French, and largely claim descent from French Basque and Breton settlers. Basque was still spoken by some families on the islands until the mid-twentieth century. The islands’ annual Basque Festival features traditional Basque sports.

Niue is a small island country in the South Pacific that has been self-governing since 1974. Although it is independent, Niueans are also considered citizens of New Zealand; about 70% of Niuean speakers actually live in New Zealand and Niue’s resident population has been declining steeply in recent decades. In 2003, Niue became the first country in the world to offer free WIFI to all of its residents.

Greeting customs vary greatly across cultures, influenced by context, relationships, age, and gender. In Europe, giving kisses is a common way to greet close relatives and friends, though men typically skip the kisses when greeting each other.

In Belgium, one kiss is customary, while in certain French regions, people greet with up to four kisses. Understanding these nuances can enhance our intercultural interactions and show respect for different traditions.
How do you greet people in your culture?

Mongolia has a vast landmass, but only about three million inhabitants. Mongolia has a long and fascinating history. The most famous Mongol of all time was undoubtedly Genghis Khan, the fierce warrior-ruler who created the Mongol Empire. Since that time, many people have claimed descent from him, and modern DNA testing suggests that most of them are right! Approximately 8% of all the men in an area of Asia from northeast China to Uzbekistan have genetic markers showing that they are descended from Genghis Khan. That’s equivalent to about 0.5 percent of all the men in the world!

With a population of less than 40,000, and an area of just over 160 square kilometres, German-speaking Liechtenstein is one of the smallest nations in the world. It is a semi-constitutional monarchy under the Prince of Liechtenstein and has the dubious distinction of being the last European country to give women the vote. In 1984, Liechtenstein held a referendum on women’s suffrage—in which, obviously, only men were allowed to vote. The motion barely passed, with just 51.3% voting in favour. Three of Liechtenstein’s municipalities resisted giving women the vote in local elections until 1986. 

Ulster Scots can be a contentious issue. Many linguists consider it a dialect of Scots, some a dialect of English, while others even a language. Everyone agrees that Scots arrived in Ulster in the early 1600s as the spoken language of the planters from lowland Scotland, and that it gradually became distinctively Ulster in nature over the years that followed. Today, about 2% of the population of Northern Ireland claims to speak Ulster Scots and the British government is legally required to facilitate those who speak it. 

The Malagasy people of Madagascar practice a tradition that involves removing the bodies of their deceased loved ones from family crypts every seven years, wrapping them in fresh shrouds, and writing their names on their shrouds to ensure that they will not be forgotten. They dance carrying the freshly wrapped remains before returning them to their resting place. Malagasy people often look forward to these events, which are not just sombre, but also an occasion for extended families to come together to spend some quality time. 

The island of Guernsey is closer to France than to Great Britain, but it is actually a British Crown Dependency, which means that it is not technically part of the United Kingdom, even though the government of Britain handles its defence and foreign affairs. The name “Guernsey” comes from Old Norse, but the island has been settled since the Neolithic period. When a peace treaty was signed between Britain and France in 1483, Pope Sixtus IV issued a Papal Bull stating that anyone who bothered the Guernsey islanders would be automatically excommunicated.

Qatar has a population of over 2.5 million, but only about 12% are actually Qatari citizens, with the remainder expatriates from a large number of backgrounds, including South Asians, Filipinos, Egyptians and Europeans, drawn to the service and finance industries. While Arabic is the official language, English is the most common second language, and is often used as the language of commerce. Since the late twentieth century, Qatar has had a lively literature movement and, unusually for the region, a large number of published women authors.