Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I disagree with UK. I think our language is about the only major similarity we have together. The US has definitely grown apart from British culture since the 19th century.
Anyone who thinks New Zealand is similar to the US has obviously never lived there. There are obviously superficial similarities such as language and westernisation, but as a New Zealander now living in the US, there are huge cultural differences...huge. Kiwis are nothing like Americans.
Kiwis are more similar to Aussies than Americans obviously and Canadians are more similar to Americans than any other nation.
Do New Zealanders play/watch football, baseball or hockey, live in suburbs, drive SUVs, eat fast food, drive everywhere, hunt and fish? All of these things are prominent in North American culture.
Everything you mentioned is directly related to language.
By and large, New Zealanders do live in suburbs, drive SUVs, eat fast food, drive everywhere and even hunt and fish.
These are lifestyle things, which depending on your point of view, may or may not be included in "culture". (Although I think the OP did not specifically mention culture and lifestyle, and only asked with countries were "similar".)
Places like the UK and Ireland may not share these lifestyle traits with the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, principally because of geography and the proximity of "wide open spaces".
Lifestyle-wise, Canada (including Quebec), Australia and New Zealand are the countries most similar to the U.S.
"Culturally" (in the strictest definition of the term - folklore, arts, etc.), Canada (minus Quebec) is tops by a wide margin, followed by UK, OZ, NZ, Ireland in no particular order. Quebec if taken as a distinct entity would be a few rungs below them, followed by most places in Scandinavia probably. Then maybe Germany or the Netherlands. English-speaking South Africa is probably somewhere in the mix as well. As well as the Bahamas and a few other places in the West Indies.
Do New Zealanders play/watch football, baseball or hockey, live in suburbs, drive SUVs, eat fast food, drive everywhere, hunt and fish? All of these things are prominent in North American culture.
Minus the the American sports, you could be describing Norwegians.
1. Germany
2. Canada
3. UK
4. New Zealand
5. Ireland
Don't find Germany very similar really. Lot of folk live in villages instead of suburbs, have far more compact cities,not forgetting a whole set of social welfare policies in place that goes a long way in preventing social exclusion,
and provide medical care and a place to live in the form of a strong safety net,which in turn would be viewed as far too much to the left for a large number of Americans.
UK,only partially perhaps to some,but even with successive government interventions in recent decades in trying to take the UK more down the American path,thankfully it remains to a large part a very distinct nation.
If anywhere perhaps Australia is closest. Although the charecter does have some very obvious differences.
Canada tries a little too hard to be different, never been there,but i'd say a watered down version of America,offhand.
come on now, nothing watered down about Canada. We should envy Canada. They have a better standard of living, little debt, and almost no forclosures. Workers earn more, everyone has healthcare. Its the good old USA that should be looking up in the comparison......Canada number one, all the rest goes down from there.
If anywhere perhaps Australia is closest. Although the charecter does have some very obvious differences.
Canada tries a little too hard to be different, never been there,but i'd say a watered down version of America,offhand.
In some ways, Australia might be more similar in lifestyle because of the climate.
Canada is very similar to the northern part of the U.S. where it is colder but a much larger part of the U.S. doesn't really have winters that are that cold and this mildness/warmth influences the lifestyle greatly and may make it more similar to Australia.
On the other hand, Australia is culturally, sporting-wise, food-wise, and linguistically much more British than Canada is. While Canada on these fronts is very similar to the U.S.
Don't find Germany very similar really. Lot of folk live in villages instead of suburbs, have far more compact cities,not forgetting a whole set of social welfare policies in place that goes a long way in preventing social exclusion,
and provide medical care and a place to live in the form of a strong safety net,which in turn would be viewed as far too much to the left for a large number of Americans.
.
I am puzzled by the numerous references to Germany. Could it be because a large proportion of the American population is of German origin? This is true, but I am not sure how this fact has had that much of an influence on American culture/lifestyles. At least, not uniquely more than any of the other numerous ethnicities that are present in the U.S.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
