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Singapore Culture Guide: Understanding the Lion City's Multicultural Identity

Singapore Culture Guide: Understanding the Lion City's Multicultural Identity

Singapore's population of 5.9 million includes Chinese (74%), Malay (13%), Indian (9%), and Eurasian and other communities (4%). These are not statistics about a melting pot where differences dissolve — they describe a genuinely plural society wh...

Guinea: What Is It Famous For? (More Than You'd Expect)

Guinea: What Is It Famous For? (More Than You'd Expect)

Guinea — officially the Republic of Guinea, sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbours Guinea-Bissau and Equatorial Guinea — is a country of about 14 million people on the Atlantic coast of West Africa. It is largely unknow...

Where Is the Biggest Library in the World? (And Can You Visit It?)

Where Is the Biggest Library in the World? (And Can You Visit It?)

The largest library on Earth is the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., United States. It holds more than 170 million items — books, recordings, photographs, maps, sheet music, and manuscripts — spread across 838 miles of bookshelves. That's rou...

The People and Traditions of Kyrgyzstan: Nomadic Culture That Still Lives

The People and Traditions of Kyrgyzstan: Nomadic Culture That Still Lives

Kyrgyzstan is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and China. Approximately 94% of its territory sits above 1,000 metres elevation; 40% is above 3,000 metres. It has been a Soviet republic, ...

Are Filipinos Actually the Happiest People in Asia? The Story Behind the Smiles

Are Filipinos Actually the Happiest People in Asia? The Story Behind the Smiles

In the Social Progress Index, the Gallup World Poll, and numerous academic studies on subjective wellbeing, the Philippines ranks as one of the happiest countries in Asia — typically ahead of South Korea, Japan, China, and far ahead of countries with...

Bihar, India: The Birthplace of Buddhism and One of the Most Overlooked States in Asia

Bihar, India: The Birthplace of Buddhism and One of the Most Overlooked States in Asia

Most people could not find Bihar on a map. This is a significant oversight in world cultural geography, because Bihar is where some of the most important events in Asian and world history took place — and where the physical traces of those events can...

Do Chinese Cinemas Actually Show Hollywood Movies in English?

Do Chinese Cinemas Actually Show Hollywood Movies in English?

China is the second-largest film market in the world — in some years it briefly overtakes the US. Hollywood studios spend enormous energy trying to get their films into Chinese cinemas and to tailor content for Chinese audiences. But what does a Chin...

How Many Languages Does China Actually Have — And Do People Speak English?

How Many Languages Does China Actually Have — And Do People Speak English?

When travelers say they want to "learn Chinese before visiting China," they're opening a door to one of the most linguistically complex countries on earth. China doesn't have one language — it has dozens, possibly hundreds, depending on how you count...

Crazy Cat Nation: How Many Cats Are in the US — and Which State Has the Most?

Crazy Cat Nation: How Many Cats Are in the US — and Which State Has the Most?

Americans love their cats — and the numbers prove it. According to the American Pet Products Association (APPA), approximately 45.3 million American households own at least one cat, with an estimated 73 to 96 million pet cats living in homes across t...