McDonald’s has conquered worldwide gastronomy, sinking its golden arches as deep as the soil can run. In relation to the last blog on Food Advice, there are unfortunately some skies in the world the golden yellow arches do not graze. McDonald’s have always represented familiar and comforting food when nostalgia hits in a foreign land.
Reassuring or troubling, there still are a decent number of countries not “lovin’ it”, that high-salt, high-fat content burgers and fries that everybody drools over. A few of these countries have long-awaited for the guy in the red curly ‘do, but due to politics of so and so, some of them have just settled with dupes.
According to the Mickey D’s corporate website, there are 119 countries in the world with McDonald’s branches.
However, these are the TOP 10 picks of interesting locations for a McD’s joint. What do you think?
1. Nepal – What will a Big Mac taste like at the hailed “roof of the world”? A branch 8,000 m above sea level would be totally rad.
2. Afghanistan –The answer to peace in Afghanistan or cause for more turmoil?
3. North Korea –McDonald’s may just about help N. Korea get in the radar.
4. Lesotho – Isn’t transport a little rough in Lesotho?
5. Iran – The people of Iran seem to hold so much onto the past. It must be time to move on. Does a McD Kebab sound good?
6. Iraq – With questions on the Iraqi security forces’ capacity to protect, the real question is: are they enjoying what they’re eating? Trust a good Big Mac to put a big smile on big people of the force.
7. Somalia – For all you know, McD’s might be the solution for world hunger.
8. Sudan – Maybe Sudanese just need to slow down for a while. With a McDonald’s, soldiers can cool down with a hot fudge sundae rather than worry about and acting on politics.
9. Kazakhstan - The biggest country without a McDonald’s.
10. Holy See – The smallest country without a McDonald’s. Confession-booth style branch perchance?
Other countries without McDonald’s include:
- Albania
- Algeria
- Angola
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Armenia
- Bangladesh
- Barbados
- Belize
- Benin
- Bhutan
- Bolivia
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Botswana
- Burkina Faso
- Burma
- Burundi
- Cambodia
- Cameroon
- Cape Verde
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Comoros
- Republic of the Congo23
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Cote D’Ivoire
- Djibouti
- Dominica
- East Timor
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Ethiopia
- The Federated States of Micronesia
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Ghana
- Grenada
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Guyana
- Haiti
- Jamaica
- Kenya
- Kiribati
- Kyrgyzstan
- Laos
- Liberia
- Libya
- Madagascar 49
- Malawi
- Maldives
- Mali
- The Marshall Islands
- Mauritania
- Mongolia
- Montenegro
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Nauru
- Niger
- Nigeria
- Palau
- Papua New Guinea
- Rwanda
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Senegal
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Solomon Islands
- Swaziland
- Syria 75
- Tajikistan
- Tanzania
- Togo
- Tonga
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Tunisia
- Turkmenistan
- Tuvalu
- Uganda
- Uzbekistan
- Vanuatu
- Vietnam
- Yemen
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
The question remains if the universal presence of McDonald’s renders more good than bad. Nonetheless, we can always rely on good ol’ Ronald’s house to provide us tourists free and clean public toilets outside our motherland. True, no squat toilets…so far.
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Joshua Boorman - Editor-in-chief
Herika Manaligod - Blog Editor
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Backpacking Addictz is a website set up by backpackers for the use of backpackers. On this site you will find valuable backpacking information surrounding different destinations and countries from around the world.
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Mc Donalds opened its first restaurant in Sarajevo last summer, so Bosnia and Herzegovina has already Mc Donalds.
I would love to see the clergy popping into McD’s for a ‘happy meal’ in the Holy See. What a photo opportunity! I know Cornwall in England resisted for quite sometime, but even they have gave in!
Love the blog, kind regards, Si