Toilets of the World

Welcome to the Toilets of the World

Are you wondering why people hoard toilet paper? Wondering how to use a bidet, or even what a bidet is? Curious about what the toilets are like in other countries? Toilets from ancient history? Do you wonder who invented the flush toilet? (It wasn't Thomas Crapper!) You've come to the right place!

Toilets around the world:
Belgium Bulgaria China France Greek Islands Japan Morocco Trinidad Russia and many others
Toilets from throughout history:
The Stone Age Ancient Greece Ancient Rome Bible era King Arthur's England Invention of the flush toilet To the toilets of the future

243 days until Thomas Crapper's birthday

302 days until World Toilet Day

Answers for your important questions: Why do people hoard toilet paper? Did Thomas Crapper invent the flush toilet? Should I squat or sit? Should I wipe or wash? Where do I put used paper, in the bowl or in the bin? When did public toilets become segregated by sex? What is a bidet? What is a toilet snorkel? Should I incinerate my sewage in the basement?

Toilets of world leaders, artists, and authors: The Ottoman Sultan Woodrow Wilson Leon Trotsky Winston Churchill Adolf Hitler Dwight Eisenhower Robert Kennedy William Shakespeare Edgar Allan Poe Vincent Van Gogh Jim Morrison Lady Gaga

Squat Toilets and Raised Commodes

Squat toilet in Xingping, in Guangxi Provence, southeastern China.

This is the biggest toilet question in the minds of most international travelers. For some potential travelers, especially Americans, it may be the biggest question of all and a large part of what keeps them from traveling out of their fear of the different and the unfamiliar:

When I visit that country, what will the toilets be like?

Will they be squat toilets, pans in the floor?

Or will they be raised commodes, like porcelain chairs?

For absolutely everything I have on the topic of toilets, arranged on a country by country basis, see my collection of international toilets. But allow me to attempt to summarize the distributions of squatters and commodes, of pans and thrones:

Some Turkish toilets are raised porcelain commodes, like many (but not all!) those found on trains and in hotels and restaurants catering to foreign visitors. Turkish raised commodes typically have a somewhat intrusive copper tube providing cleaning water, as seen here.

Turkish squat toilets are accompanied by a water spigot and a small bucket or pitcher, which for mysterious reasons is almost always red.

Turks have traditionally used water for cleaning, with tissue paper only provided rarely for drying oneself. But a recent trend has rolls of toilet paper appearing throughout Turkey.

Check back tomorrow for another featured toilet!

Who is the Toilet Guru?