I’ve heard some people say they would consider moving outside of the United States under certain circumstances. I know I’ve voiced this proposal on occasion. But. If one decides to pack up and go, there’s a lot to consider when making a decision about “where” to move. Of course there are the usual suspects, like climate, culture, government, and on. But here’s another.
The shortest people in the world live in Indonesia. It is true. The average adult is around 5 feet, 1 inch. If you are considering Bolivia, the people there don’t tend to be much taller, with an average adult height of 5 feet, 2 inches. If you are a tall person, this might be a factor. Actually, if you are a short person, it might be a factor too. As an item of note. The tallest people among us live in the Netherlands, where the average adult height is 6 feet.
If you are picking a new country.
I just thought of something else. Weights and measures. You see, besides the United States, there are only two other countries in the whole world who don’t use the metric system, which is a very nice system of tens. Besides us dumb Americans, the other countries are Liberia, and Myanmar. However, if you are considering Liberia, they were supposed to make the change a couple of years ago, over to metric. I’m not sure if they did. But speaking the language could be a problem too. Over 20 indigenous languages are spoken in Liberia, which represent the numerous tribes who live there. Those tribes make up more than 95% of the population.
It wouldn’t be first on my list, no matter how tall the people are.
Another thing to consider are natural disasters. For some reason, I’m a little freaked out by earthquakes. We have them in Ohio, but they are just little baby ones every 100 years or so. I wouldn’t even call them earthquakes. More like little land shimmies. Anyway. If you fear the big hammering earthquakes, don’t go to Japan.
Japan is the number on place on earth, recording the most earthquakes of anywhere. But it is also an inevitable part of life for places such as China, Indonesia, Iran, and Turkey. They are some of the most earthquake-prone places on the planet, after Japan.
If, when you move, you no longer want to be associated with the red, white and blue flag, you can still sort of “get it” if you mix red and blue together to make purple. But, only two countries in the world use the color purple in their flags. The flag of Nicaragua features a rainbow in the center that includes a band of purple. And then there is the flag of Dominica. It has a cute little picture of a Sisserou Parrot, which is a bird with purple feathers. So yeah, just Dominica, and Nicaragua. Purple.
On to government. Since we are very close to having an evil King here, who answers to no one, you may want to stay with the Royal Family trend, and hope for a nicer king or queen. There are 43 countries that still have a royal family.
Of course, the British royal family may be the most famous. But, if you take the tally, there are 28 royal families who rule over a total of 43 countries around the world. Some of these countries include Japan (remember the earthquakes), Spain, Swaziland, Bhutan, Thailand, Monaco, Sweden, the Netherlands (they are tall there), and Liechtenstein. I’ve been to a few of these. Liechtenstein is nice, but hard to spell.
Here’s the other thing about Liechtenstein. It’s the false teeth capital of the world.
The company Ivoclar Vivadent produces of 20% of the false teeth in the world. There aren’t many producers of false teeth. And of course Liechtenstein isn’t very big. That means it’s the only country in the world listing false teeth manufacturing as one of its primary exports. Chomper World.
So, I hope I’ve helped. I’m thinking of going into Real Estate, just because of my uncanny knack for finding the quaint details in a place. Next week? I’ll list the countries with the biggest feet. In order. It will be a real toe jam.
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“We see in order to move; we move in order to see.”
― William Gibson
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“Consciousness is only possible through change; change is only possible through movement.”
― Aldous Huxley, The Art of Seeing
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“The grass is not ‘greener’ on the other side – it is just another shade of green.”
― Annika Sorensen
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