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I could not care less whether Australia is diverse or not but one matter I can state is that there is an enormous difference in the climate of the tropical north and places like Tasmania. You would hardly compare the climate of the Gold Coast with Brisbane as they are an hours drive apart.
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Keep in mind though that US Highway 1 and Interstate 95 both run down the east coast of the U.S., from Houlton, Maine (which has a climate similar to that of Russia with snow on the ground and freezing temperatures 4-5 months of the year) to Miami, Florida which is basically a year-round summer climate similar to that of Brisbane.
Further inland, Interstate 35 runs as a single road from Duluth, Minnesota (again, a climate similar to that of Russia) to Laredo, Texas with average daily maximums of 20C or more during all 12 months of the year.
Even within a single state like Texas, you have the northeast part of the state (which is not mountainous BTW) where typical January maximums are around 5C and sometimes below freezing, and the southeastern part of the state around Brownsville where it is close to year-round summer with maximums of 20C or above in every single month.
Keep in mind though that US Highway 1 and Interstate 95 both run down the east coast of the U.S., from Houlton, Maine (which has a climate similar to that of Russia with snow on the ground and freezing temperatures 4-5 months of the year) to Miami, Florida which is basically a year-round summer climate similar to that of Brisbane.
Further inland, Interstate 35 runs as a single road from Duluth, Minnesota (again, a climate similar to that of Russia) to Laredo, Texas with average daily maximums of 20C or more during all 12 months of the year.
Even within a single state like Texas, you have the northeast part of the state (which is not mountainous BTW) where typical January maximums are around 5C and sometimes below freezing, and the southeastern part of the state around Brownsville where it is close to year-round summer with maximums of 20C or above in every single month.
Well, there’s a larger difference in climate in the US for sure, since it runs a greater difference in latitude from closest to the (north) pole to closest to the equator and there are higher and more numerous mountain ranges as well as the large Great Lakes system which creates a somewhat local microclimate region.
However, Australia is also quite large and there is definitely vastly varying climates within the country—just not as much variation as seen in the US.
The US is probably most diverse most ways you slice it.
I do think the Anglosphere countries included is interesting. I wonder if there are any at least semi-official requirements for such. I’d imagine it’d have to be that at the very least have to meet the requirements that government business is allowed and is conducted in English and that a majority of the population can speak it as a first or second language, but maybe that’s still too loose? There are certainly a lot of Caribbean nations that meet that criteria as well as other former British colonies.
I do think the Anglosphere countries included is interesting. I wonder if there are any at least semi-official requirements for such. I’d imagine it’d have to be that at the very least have to meet the requirements that government business is allowed and is conducted in English and that a majority of the population can speak it as a first or second language, but maybe that’s still too loose? There are certainly a lot of Caribbean nations that meet that criteria as well as other former British colonies.
Not sure if there is anything suspicious in the choice of countries. (The thread was started three years ago BTW.)
It basically includes all of the countries with the highest population that speaks English more or less natively, with the notable exception of South Africa.
The US is probably most diverse most ways you slice it.
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Just checked the OP and this thread was supposed to be about people, not about geography and climate. Though a few us have diverged towards geography and climate.
Not sure if there is anything suspicious in the choice of countries. (The thread was started three years ago BTW.)
It basically includes all of the countries with the highest population that speaks English more or less natively, with the notable exception of South Africa.
Highest proportion or raw numbers? I’m pretty sure there are several Caribbean nations with a higher proportion of native English speakers than Canada (due primarily to Quebec) and there are definitely countries with more absolute number of native English speakers than New Zealand. I’m not saying there’s nefarious intent, but rather a question about how Anglosphere is defined.
Just checked the OP and this thread was supposed to be about people, not about geography and climate. Though a few us have diverged towards geography and climate.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Milky Way Resident
If geography and climate are of concern, then the US wins hands down.
I think even without putting that into consideration, the US is probably the answer.
I could not care less whether Australia is diverse or not but one matter I can state is that there is an enormous difference in the climate of the tropical north and places like Tasmania. You would hardly compare the climate of the Gold Coast with Brisbane as they are an hours drive apart.
Gold Coast and Brisbane are only an hours drive apart, and still have very similar climates. You could drive from many areas of lakeside Pennsylvania, which have a continental climate with lots of lake-effect snow, and arrive at Philadelphia, and be in a climate that is a borderline, seasonal humid subtropical, itself a greater difference than the one between Gold Coast and Brisbane.
Sydney has a population of five million so is hardly a small city. It is actually extremely diverse in its ethnic composition. Melbourne is almost as large and equally diverse.
Yes Australian culture is quite uniform across the country as is the accent.
Australia is dominated by a hot desert or hot semi-arid regime, with a substantial humid subtropical coastline, some smaller areas of mediterranean and cold semi-arid climates, some regions of tropical savanna, and some smaller regions of tropical rainforest, tropical monsoon, and oceanic maritime climates, mainly in the far southern coastal regions and on Tasmania.
Climatically, it is moderately diverse. However, it is much more dominated by a singular climate or two, whereas America's climatic make up is much more complex, driven by a larger size, the obvious islands and exclaves, and a more complex geography that encompasses much more significant rises and falls in elevation, lakes, deserts, and a greater percentage of humid climates and forested area. The US has many microclimates, and has a total of 26 Koppen climate types named within the borders of the continental US alone, the most of any country in the world, and it has regions of extremes in temperature and climate, due to the clashing climatic barriers, that Australia doesn't have.
There's also the matter of population distribution and the location of it's cities, and as I've said before, the vast majority of Australia's cities, and the bulk of it's population, live in east coast cities with humid subtropical mild climates. Even the few cities that do diverge (Perth, Mediterranean, and Darwin, tropical rainforest), don't diverge quite as much as, say, Boise (hot summer mediterranean continental) and Charleston (humid subtropical coastal), or Madison, Wisconsin (warm summer humid continental) and St. George, Utah (Hot Desert).
As for Sydney and Melbourne being diverse, yes, I'm aware, but that diversity is much more recent. Australia as a whole received much less immigration, and a much more limited array of immigrants before WW2, relative to the US. I never said Sydney was a small city, it just isn't quite a megacity like New York City, or Los Angeles are.
Australia's diversity is driven by newer, primarily Asian immigrants, and what more diverse immigrants they've received from Europe since World War 2. So it isn't as ethnically and racially mixed and stratified and "diverse" as the US.
Last edited by creneb56; 03-11-2020 at 03:09 AM..
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