10 Places That Became World Leaders for Unexpected Reasons

Istanbul, Türkiye, is sometimes referred to as the city cats , and estimates of the number of cats living in the city range from over 100,000 to a million. That's a heck of a thing to be famous for. Located in Madrid, Spain the oldest restaurant in the world . And if you go to Columbia, South Carolina, you'll find the world's largest fire hydrant Many cities claim to be famous, but some are decidedly weirder than others.

10. Billings, Montana has the highest depression rate in America.

Disney World is sometimes called the happiest place on Earth. Ever wonder what the opposite is? Well, statistically it seems that Billings, Montana has the dubious honor of having the highest depression rate in America.

According to research, 31% residents Billings was diagnosed with depression by a psychiatrist. Compare that with national data, which shows only 7,1% of the population suffers from depression.

In 2020, it was reported that 38.5% adults in Billings experienced symptoms of chronic depression. The city's suicide rate is nearly twice the national average. Reasons this have been linked to social isolation in relatively small populations over a large area, alcoholism, high-risk groups such as veterans and Native Americans, and even vitamin D deficiency, which is linked to depression.

9. Okinawa, Japan, has the highest percentage of centenarians in the world.

If you want to live to 100, you might want to consider moving to Okinawa. The city has the distinction of being the place with the highest rate of centenarians in the world. Out of every 100,000 residents, 68 of them over 100 years old. That's more than three times as many centenarians as similar-sized U.S. cities.

Naturally, science has tried to understand why Okinawans in particular live longer than anyone else in the world. One potential explanation lies in the citizens’ diet, which is relatively high in carbohydrates and generally low in protein. The ratio for the Okinawan diet is about 10 to 1. This means there are 10 times more carbohydrates than protein, which is pretty much the opposite of what many modern Western diets suggest. Sweet potatoes make up most of their calories, and Also abundance ginger in a shell . It seems to work well because many residents enjoy good health for hundreds.

8. American Samoa has the highest military conscription rate in America.

Patriotism is not easy to measure in any meaningful way, and sometimes it is not even easy to define. But if one of your criteria is a person's willingness to defend their country by joining the military, then you have to give the people of American Samoa credit for being among the most patriotic in the country. American Samoa has the highest rate of military enlistment in the entire United States.

The small island is home to just 46,000 people, with the highest poverty rate in the country, but their recruiting station occupies first place out of 800 nationwide. American Samoa has more soldiers per capita than any other state, and has done so for years. The military gives residents the ability to better provide for their families at home. Apparently, a running joke among residents is that there are two ways off the island – NFL or military .

7. Japan has the highest cremation rate in the world.

You wouldn’t think that death is something that leaves room for much innovation, but it has undergone some surprising changes over the years, at least in terms of how the living deal with it. Obviously, burying the dead has been common in many societies for many years, but there have been other methods, from burying the body at sea to sky burial, that have also had their place throughout history. Some modern methods include dissolving the body. And, of course, cremation.

Cremation has become the most popular way of dealing with the body after death, replacing burial. And nowhere is it more popular than in Japan. About 44% Americans choose cremation, while in Japan the figure is almost 100%.

In 2012, cremation rates in Japan reached staggering levels 99,9% . The popularity can be attributed to several sources, including Buddhism, which believed that burying a body pollutes the environment, while cremation purifies the spirit. When Emperor Jito was cremated in 703, he had a major impact on the population, who began to support the idea, despite Confucianism opposing it.

Also, Japanese funerals today are just horribly expensive, approximately five times more expensive than an American funeral, which costs about $16,000. They also lack the space to bury people. The country is four percent the size of the United States, but it also has 40% of America's population. From a cultural and economic standpoint, cremation makes more sense.

6. Papua New Guinea has the highest rate of oral cancer in the world.

Nobody wants to be the world leader in anything terrible, but the reality is that somebody has to be the world leader in all things terrible, whether they like it or not. That's the case in Papua New Guinea, which has the highest rate of oral cancer in the world.

In Papua New Guinea 20,4 people per 100,000 will develop oral cancer, compared to the next highest rate in the world, Pakistan, which has a rate of 12.2. In the USA near 10,5 . The reason PNG prices are almost twice as high as in America is due to something called betel food .

Betel nuts, which come from a type of palm tree, are crushed and wrapped in lime-coated leaves. This is called betel food. If you chew it, your lips and mouth will turn a very noticeable red or purple color. They chew it near 600 million people in the world, and it is carcinogenic.

Near 25,000 people die every year in Papua New Guinea from mouth cancer. The nut gives a mild buzz when people chew it, and it only costs $1, so it's very popular. And even though the World Health Organization tries to convince people it's dangerous, it's still advertised as harmless, so many people don't believe it, and efforts to curb hot flashes have been slow.

5. Scotland has the highest rate of cocaine use in the world

The stereotypical things we associate with Scotland are kilts, bagpipes and haggis. You can add another to the list, as it turns out Scotland also has the highest rate of cocaine use in the world.

A little less 62% respondents Scotland used cocaine, and they also tended to use twice as much as the global average. While most people consumed 0.5 grams in a single session, Scots consumed 1.2 grams.

In total, about 3.9% residents of Scotland aged 16 to 64 have used cocaine in a given year. That's well ahead of England with 2.5% and the US with 2.4%. Within the UK, Scotland also ranked first for heroin, weed, methamphetamine and ecstasy.

4. Iran has the highest rate of rhinoplasty in the world.

Iran and its treatment of women has long been a hot button issue, and it has led to serious violence and protests in 2022. But it certainly didn't happen in a vacuum, and the expectation of women to live up to standards has been an issue in Iran for some time. More in 2008 Oprah did a show about the prevalence of rhinoplasty in a country that has the highest rate of rhinoplasty in the world.

In 2011, the number of nasal surgeries in Iran was 180 per 100,000 people , or 134,766 per year. That's about four times the American average. One reason for this appears to be the dress code for women in Iran, which leaves so much of the face covered that it makes facial features appear more prominent. And because the nose is such a prominent feature, there's been a push to make it "perfect," by whatever standards someone decides that means.

At some point, nose jobs became a status symbol, and there are stories of women wearing bandages on their noses long after their noses have healed, just so people will see them and think they’ve had surgery recently. And getting a nose job isn’t always about needing or wanting to do it. Surgery shows that you come from a family that has the means to take care of you, so a surgically altered nose is considered more desirable than a nose that’s considered genetically perfect. In other words, it’s better to pay for a perfect nose than to just have a perfect nose.

3. Eswatini has the highest number of lightning deaths per capita.

They say lightning never strikes twice, but don't tell anyone that in Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland. They hold the dubious distinction of being the country with the most lightning deaths per capita.

From 2000 to 2007 from lightning strikes in the country 123 people died , which is about 15.5 people per 1,000,000 population. Near 20 people lightning strikes kill people in America every year, but keep in mind that the U.S. has a population of nearly 330 million. Eswatini has a population of 1.16 million. If people in the U.S. died at the same rate as Eswatini, there would be over 4,200 lightning deaths per year.

Interestingly, the majority of lightning deaths were men, accounting for 66% victims, and most often they occurred in houses when they were walking and hiding under a tree, rounding out the top three in terms of the number of deaths.

2. Texas has the highest percentage of uninsured people in America.

It's hard to overstate the importance of insurance in the world we live in. Literally any kind of insurance. But when you live in America, health insurance should be number one. Average Cost of a Day in a Hospital in America is $2,607 If you had a heart attack, you could pay over $100,000 . And some Covid-19 survivors literally got million dollar bills from their hospitals. So yes, you need insurance. And that's bad for Texans.

As of 2021 more 20% Texans are uninsured, the highest rate in the country, with the national average being 9,2% This makes Texans twice as likely to be uninsured. This is due to the lack of Medicaid expansions and the fact that many jobs in Texas are simply do not offer insurance .

1. The United States has the highest rate of illegal drug use in the world.

We showed earlier that Scotland is the world's number one cocaine user, but that was just one drug. If you look at illicit drugs as a whole, United States will become the country with the highest level of their consumption. More 5% Americans are addicted to illegal drugs, more than in any other country.

In the US, 22.03 people per 100,000 die as a result of drug use, a rate second only to Belarus, but the difference is that Belarus's figures are for alcohol, not drugs. In 2021, about 32 million Americans used any drugs. Marijuana and prescription stimulants were at the top of the list, along with methamphetamine.