Answers to Questions You've Never Asked

Explaining the 'What If' in Science, Geography and the Absurd

Joseph Pisenti

• Publisher: Mango Media
• Year: 2017
• eBook ISBN: 9781633536708
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World History
• Index: History

The #1 bestselling trivia collection with bizarre facts to entertain you for hours, from the creator of YouTube’s RealLifeLore.
 

• Where can I move to so that I’m never tempted by McDonald’s again?
• How far into the Pacific does Trump’s wall stretch?
• If Plato came back to life, what would he think of modern democracy?
• Why do all empires fail?
• Who decides what countries are allowed to participate in the Olympics?
• What makes Finland so great?

 
When you take the most absurd parts of history, science, economics, and geography, you end up with a pretty confusing picture of humanity. Why do we have borders, what’s the furthest you can get from the ocean, how do you qualify as a country, and why did Vikings wear those silly helmets? These are just a few of the strange questions that bounce around the head of YouTube sensation Joseph Pisenti, aka  RealLifeLore.
 
In his debut book, Pisenti explores the nonsensical humor of the universe with in-depth analysis of empires, economies, and ecosystems as he helps answer the ridiculous. Why, you ask? Because someone has to. Using line drawings, graphs, and charts, Pisenti not only details the absurd—he also provides explanations on why things are . . . and why they aren’t.

Chapter One

Why Do Strange Borders Exist?

Human society has dense borders—economic, religious, and cultural—inculcated from an early age. We hate change.

—Alejandro Jodorowsky, Chilean director and performer

What is a border, really? In simple terms, a border is where one country ends and another country begins.

Many borders have quite obvious features. They may be rivers, mountain ranges, oceans, or any other substantial geographic barriers. But then there are very strange borders that at face value don’t appear to make a lot of sense. Let’s begin by talking about countries that are entirely—or almost entirely—surrounded by one single other country.

Lesotho: The Mountain Kingdom

The country of Lesotho is a strange oddity in our world. It’s a little smaller than the US state of Maryland, is home to over two million people, and is a completely independent country with its own government and King.

Despite its legal independence, the whole country is completely surrounded by South Africa. This strange situation occurred over a century ago in 1910, when what is today modern South Africa was formed by the British out of four of their colonies: Cape Colony, Natal Colony, Transvaal Colony, and Orange River Colony. Notably absent from this list of colonies, that became part of the Union of South Africa, was what was then called Basutoland—modern day Lesotho.

Map of Lesotho

Why Is Lesotho Known as the “Mountain Kingdom?”

If you were to travel through Lesotho, chances are you’d mainly see mountains. Nearly two-thirds of the entire country consist of mountain ranges of every size and proportion you can imagine.

Lesotho also happens to feature the Highest Altitude Pub in Africa, which is aptly named, as it is nearly 2,900 meters above sea level. Located at the beginning of Sani Pass, it is an ideal place for a cold brew with a view.

The British attempted to include Basutoland within South Africa, but they failed due to the reluctance of the people within the colony. Basutoland would remain a British controlled colony even after South Africa achieved full self- governance in 1931, awkwardly placing a piece of British administered territory right in the middle of a self- governing former colony.

Basutoland finally gained independence from Britain in 1966, but its geographic situation means that the country has been severely influenced by South Africa ever since. All trade that comes into Lesotho has to first go through South Africa. Lesotho is completely landlocked and literally surrounded by South African territory on all sides, so all transportation to or from Lesotho must first go through South Africa. Even air travel has to venture through South African airspace first before it can enter Lesotho, which means that developments in South Africa will inevitably lead to the same occurrences in Lesotho.

But Lesotho isn’t the only landlocked country in the world that is entirely surrounded by another country. The next two happen to both be located in Italy.

Italian Frontiers

The first Italian border for discussion is Vatican City, which is a terribly complicated subject all on its own. Vatican City is the smallest internationally recognized, fully sovereign nation on Earth—smaller than Central Park in New York City at 110 acres and having a population around 1,000 citizens. Despite this, however, it’s...

Table of contents

• Contents
• Introduction
• Chapter One
• Chapter Two
• Chapter Three
• Chapter Four
• Chapter Five
• Chapter Six
• Chapter Seven
• Chapter Eight
• Chapter Nine
• Chapter Ten
• Chapter Eleven
• Conclusion
• Trivia Answers
• Notes
• Author