citizens of the united states of america often call themselves 'americans'. while this is true, there are 23 countries in north america, 14 countries in south america, and 7 countries in central america.

all of the people who live in these countries are americans.

if you immigrate to switzerland, your neighbors decide whether or not you can become a swiss citizen.

between 1907 and 1922, american women who married men born in other countries lost their american citizenship. in 1917, women who married german men had to register as 'enemy aliens'.

if you get a job in svarlbard, no matter what country you're from, you can work there until you die without a visa or becoming a citizen.

if a foreign-born female gives birth in u.s. airspace or on a ship within 12 nautical miles of the u.s., her baby is automatically born a u.s. citizen.

the obama administration has issued 12 times as many fines to companies suspected of hiring illegal aliens as the bush administration. what no one mentions, however, is that the u.s. government is the largest single employer of suspected illegal aliens - roughly 60,000 of them - who work in detention centers that hold (drum roll, please) illegal aliens.

the suspected illegal aliens who watch and take care of the other aliens are paid in the neighborhood of one u.s. dollar per day.

want to know which u.s. citizens have chosen to renounce their citizenship to avoid paying taxes? you can find out here.

the u.s. passed a new tax law in 2010 that required foreign banks to disclose the names and assets of all of their u.s. customers. most countries - with the exception of switzerland - complied. to avoid paying u.s. taxes, a record number of these customers have renounced their u.s. citizenship.

side note: 22,000 american customers of the bank credit-suisse have refused to disclose their assets, and the swiss bank has said that it will not honor the u.s. law. every person involved is at least a millionaire, and several are billionaires.