International student exchange programs | IEC Agency

The Hawaiian Islands are the most isolated outpost of Western civilization on Earth — 3,700 kilometers from the nearest mainland (U.S. territory). They’re also one of the most isolated places in the world. Maybe that’s why Hawaii has the highest life expectancy in the U.S. — 82 years. By contrast, in Mississippi you might live just as well, but life expectancy is much lower — only 75 years.

The national fish of Hawaii is called Humuhumunukunukuapua, which, in Russian, comes out as the much more boring ‘angular-tailed triggerfish’.

The highest mountain on the planet is the Mauna Kea volcano if measured from its base (10,203 meters), rather than from sea level (4,205 meters). That’s because most of the volcano sits underwater. And the Waialeale volcano is the wettest place on Earth — it receives an average of 11,684 mm of precipitation a year, with a record 16,916 mm in 1992. For comparison, Riga’s average annual precipitation is just under 700 mm.

Nearby is the largest active volcano on Earth, Mauna Loa, whose height is only 36 meters less than Mauna Kea. On the night of Sunday, November 27, 2022, the volcano woke up for the first time since 1984, flooding the bowl-shaped caldera at its summit with lava. On November 28, lava fountains began erupting along fissures; most reached several meters in height, while the tallest shot 30–60 meters into the air.

Did you know that the person on the US $100 bill was never a president? It’s Benjamin Franklin, one of the leaders of the American Revolution and the only Founding Father to sign all three of the key historical documents that form the basis of the United States as an independent nation: the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, and the 1783 Treaty of Versailles.

Тауматауакатангиангакоауауотаматеатурипукакапикимаунгахоронукупокануэнуакитанатаху (Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu) — the name of a low hill on the North Island of New Zealand; it is one of the longest place names in the world.

The name can be translated from Māori as “The summit of the hill where Tamatea, the man with big knees, who slid, climbed and swallowed mountains, known as the land-eater, played his nose flute for his beloved.” The name is 85 letters long and is listed in the Guinness World Records. Locals often simply call the hill “Taumata”.

Here are a few curious, century-old laws still on the books in some U.S. states. Years have passed, but the laws remain… In Colorado, men are forbidden from kissing sleeping women. And in Wisconsin, men are prohibited from shooting women during their orgasm. In some U.S. states, for example Arizona, Indiana, and New York, an erection visible through clothing in public places is considered illegal.

You can be fined for it — and even jailed. Meanwhile, in one city in Oregon, men are forbidden from swearing while making love…

Death Valley, the driest and hottest place on Earth, is home to more than 15 bird species, 40 mammal species, 44 reptile species, 12 amphibian species, 13 fish species, and 545 plant species.

450 years before Christopher Columbus “discovered” America, the 11th-century Central Asian scholar and encyclopedist Abu Rayhan al-Biruni confidently predicted the continent’s existence.

Of Australia’s 18 million people, over 4 million have come to the country in the past half-century.

The world’s northernmost city with a population of over one million is Saint Petersburg. The city closest to the equator is Singapore.