10 Surprising Facts About Asia

Herewith wowzers from the Asian continent.

1. The world's largest flower, the Rafflesia, is found in Southeastern Asia. The Rafflesia can be found growing on the forest floors of Indonesia, Malaysia, Borneo, Java, Sumatra, and southern Thailand. The Rafflesia is one of the rarest plants in the world and is on the verge of extinction. The Rafflesia has no leaves, has hardly any stem, and five speckled petals.

This flower can have a diameter of up to 106 cm and weigh up to 10 kg. The Rafflesia has a penetrating repulsive smell, like that of rotting meat. For that reason, many of its local names translate as 'corpse flower'. Its enticing aroma of rotten flesh attracts flies and other insects.

2. The sale of tobacco is banned in only one country in the world - Bhutan, which is found in south Asia.

In Bhutan, the law prohibits all forms of tobacco advertising, promotion, sale and sponsorship.

3. The world's most spoken language is Mandarin Chinese, which boasts of over 960 million speakers.

4. Asia is home to two of the three largest economies in the world, China and Japan. China is the second largest economy in the world with 14.84% of the world's economy.

Japan is the third largest, with 5.91% of the world's economy.

5. Indonesia is the world's largest archipelago. The Malay Archipelago consists of more than 17,000 islands of Indonesia, and 7,000 islands of the Philippines.

6. North Koreans celebrate the birthday of Kim Jong II's mother on December 24, in place of Christmas.

7. India is the largest mango producer in the world. In 2016, India produced 19 million tons of mangoes, which is approximately 40% of the total amount produced that year.

8. There are only two countries in the world that have a population of above 1 billion people, India and China, both found in Asia.

China has the world's largest population (1.4 billion), and India closely follows with 1.3 billion.

9. Japan has the longest life expectancy in the world. According to the latest WHO data (2015), the average life expectancy for females is 86.8 years and 80.5 years for males.

10. In the states of Karnataka and Maharashtra, India, the people follow a ritual of throwing babies from a 50 feet temple into a blanket.

It is believed that the screams of the babies give them good luck, safety and health.

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