The bizarre things each country is No.1 at
Dubious honours: From the highest number of exploding lakes to highest suicide rate, biggest exporters, and most time zones
Almost anyone could name the largest lake in the world by volume as Lake Superior, or the tallest building in the world as the Burj Khalifa. But if you were asked which country has the highest number of exploding lakes, or has the world's oldest carpet, it wouldn't be surprising if you drew a blank.
Some of the bizarre things being tracked will surprise you.
Here are some of the weirdest things countries across the globe excel at, from consuming the largest amount of wine to the most tourists visits per year.
Argentina
The South American country is the largest exporter of football players at 2,204. It also has the southernmost city in the world in Ushuaia.
Azerbaijan
Largest percentage of area covered with mud volcanoes. A mud volcano or mud dome is a landform created by the eruption of mud or slurries, water and gases. Mud volcanoes are not true igneous volcanoes as they do not produce lava.
Brazil
Best performance at FIFA World Cups, five times winner (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002) and two times runner- up ( 1950, 1998). Brazil is also the world's largest coffee producer, with an output of 2,249,010 metric tons per year. The country is responsible for about a third of all coffee produced in the world - a position it holds for 150 years.
Britain
Oldest current head of state - the Queen, at age 92. Busiest airport system by passenger traffic. London sees a total 146,685,710 passengers annually, through Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, City and Southend airports.
Busiest train station, Clapham Junction railway sta- tion, in London, by daily rail traffic (one train every 13 seconds at peak times; one train every 30 seconds at off- peak times).
Most elements of the periodic table discovered, 23 of the 118 known elements were discovered by British scientists.
Cambodia
Longest alphabet in the world. The Khmer alphabet consists of 33 consonants, 23 vowels ( that make 47 sounds) and 12 independent vowels.
Cameroon
The most exploding lakes. The African country has two of the three known exploding lakes in the world - Lake Nyos and Lake Monoun. When a lake explodes it's known as a limnic eruption. It's a rare type of natural disaster in which dissolved carbon dioxide suddenly erupts from deep lake waters, forming a gas cloud capable of suffocating wildlife, livestock, and humans.
Canada
Largest number of lakes, estimated to be at least 2 million. All in all, a whopping nine per cent of Canada's surface is covered in fresh water. Most ice hockey players with 721,504.
China
As the most successful exporter in the world, it comes as no surprise that China has the world's highest current account balance at $ 213,800,000,000. What may be less obvious, however, is that the nation is the largest watermelon producer with an output of 70,000,000 tons per year.
Czech Republic
Highest consumption of beer per capita, 148.6 litres per year, and the highest consumption of pure alcohol - measured in equivalent litres of ethanol - at 14.1 litres per year.
Democratic Republic of Congo
Most impoverished country, with 95.15 per cent of its population living under £ 1.50 per day.
Djibouti
Highest prevalence of females in population with 0.84 males per female.
Lowest number of maternal deaths. In the last five years only one mother has died to pregnancy related issues.
Finland
Highest consumption of coffee per capita, with 11.4 kg / year. The Finnish clearly don't like their morning cuppa black, because they are also the highest consumption of milk per capita, 361.19kg per year.
France
Most tourist visits each year. France welcomed 86.9 million visitors last year, with Spain, America, China and Italy making up the top five. It's also the world's largest exporter of perfume. Exports reached £3.2billion last year.
Iceland
Highest level of gender equality in the economy according to Global Gender Gap Report. With 96.6 per cent of Iceland's 338,349 population online, it also holds the record for highest percentage of internet users.
India
Highest number of Facebook users at 294million in 2017 - up from 194million in the 12 months before that.
Largest River Island. The country is home to the Majuli, a r i ve r island in the Brahmaputra River, Assam, at 136 square miles.
Ireland
Most Eurovision wins ( 7 between 1956 and 2012).
Japan
Japan has the longest average life expectancy, 84.6 years, based on statistics from 2012.
Most three-starred Michelin restaurants at a whopping 32.
North Korea
Youngest world leader currently in power, in ruthless dictator Kim Jong-un, at age 32.
Lowest public debt as percentage of GDP, 0.4 per cent - and most active troops per population, 47.8 per 1,000 people.
South Korea
Fastest average internet connection speed at 25.3 Mbps. Plenty of their citizens take advantage of the high speeds on the go, with 84.1 per cent of user accessing it through their mobiles - the highest percentage in the world.
Laos
Most heavily bombed country in the world per capita. Between 1964 and 1973, two million tons of bombs were dropped on Laos by the US. Nearly 50 Laotians are killed or maimed by some of the 80 million unexploded bombs littered across the country.
Lesotho
Smallest volume of carbon dioxide emissions, at 18,000 metric tons per year.
Luxembourg
Highest consumption of wine per capita, 8.16 litres/year.
Malaysia
Tallest twin buildings, Kuala Lumpur City Centre, 1483ft. Building finished on the Petronas Towers in 1996, and between 1998 and 2004 they were the world's tallest buildings, until Taipei 101 in Taiwan was built.
Oldest world leader currently in power, Mahathir Mohamad, at age 93.
Mauritania
Largest percentage of people in slavery at 4 per cent.
Mexico
Largest avocado producer, output of 1,264,141 tons. The huge demand for avocados is adding to deforestation, with 20,000 hectares cleared in the Michoacan forest every year for agriculture.
Although almost all of the parts come from Asia, Mexico is the largest exporter of flat screen TVs.
Monaco
Most densely populated, 47,850 per km² and the highest median age of population, 51 years old.
Mongolia
Least densely populated, 1.92 per km ² . Most of Mongolia's land is unsuitable for growing crops, and 45 per cent of their population live in the capital city, Ulaanbaatar.
Myanmar
World's largest book, stands upright, set in stone, in the ground deck of Kuthodaw pagoda in Mandalay. It is written on 730 stone tablets, with the text covering both sides.
The text on the tablets is the entirety of Theravada Buddhism’s religious canon, and was built in 1857.
Netherlands
Tallest people, both men (1.837 m) and women (1.693 m).
Pakistan
Highest perinatal mortality rate; 433,800 newborn baby deaths per year.
Papua New Guinea
Although many of us would associate cannabis with the Netherlands, it's actually Papua New Guinea that sees the highest annual prevalence of cannabis use.
PNG also has the most languages spoken in a country, at 832 languages. It has four official languages - English, Tok Pisin, Hiri Motu, and PNG Sign Language.
Portugal
Earliest abolition of life imprisonment, 1884. The maximum sentence for criminals in Portugal is just 25 years with the possibility for parole.
Oldest operating bookshop, Chiado's Bertrand booksellers, open in 1732.
Qatar
Lowest death rate, 1.53 deaths per 1,000 persons.
Russia
Most time zones (contiguous territory), 9.
Largest tank army, 20,550 tanks.
San Marino
Most motor vehicles per capita, 1,263 per 1,000 population.
Saudi Arabia
Most expensive building, the Abraj Al Bait, which cost £11.5billion to build. The Abraj Al Bait is a group of skyscrapers owned by the Saudi government.
The name translates to Towers of the House of God, and is built close to the Grand Mosque of Mecca.
It was built on the grounds of the Ajyad Fortress, an Ottoman citadel built in 1780, which was demolished in 2002, sparking an international outcry.
Sri Lanka
Highest suicide rate with 15 per 100,000 people taking their own lives each year.
Swaziland
Lowest overall life expectancy, 32 years.
Switzerland
Longest railway tunnel - the Gotthard Base Tunnel which is 187,349 ft long. The railway tunnel runs through the Alps and opened in 2016.
Syria
Least peaceful nation, according to Global Peace Index.
Turkey
Largest apricot, cherry, fig and hazelnut producer.
United States
Largest incarceration rate, at 760 prisoners per 100,000 people.
Largest cheese producers in the world, creating 5,878,000 tons in 2018.
Venezuela
Best performance at Big Four Beauty Pageants ( Miss Universe, Miss World, Miss International, Miss Earth) - 21 times winner, as of 2014.