Which 10 countries are culturally most similar to the US? (eat, cars)

[Tom Lennox 70]

I think the Philippines is more like Latin America than the US. And within Latin America I think the Philippines is most similar to Central American countries rather than Mexico or Argentina. Mexico has a unique culture that's somewhat different than Central America due to their ancient civilizations. The Philippines is probably similar to El Salvador with a mostly indigineous population that didn't have any major civilizations before Spanish colonialism.

I think the countries most like the US are Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland, and South Africa. Beyond that the cultural differences are very great. Most European countires are much more socialist and collectivist and not very religious. I think Israel is somewhat similar to the US in that it was settled by Europeans and is a democracy.

[P London]

I really don't get how the UK is constantly listed as being most similar to the united states, Britain is a European nation and I think Brits only realise this when they fully compare the USA with Europe setting aside any prejudgements. A lot of the things that define America are quite odd for some Britons I think British people are more introverted, uptight but more genuine (that's not to say Americana are not genuine just) The UK isn't a immigrant nation as is America, many immigrants arrived in the last 50 years only creating a culture that's only starting to include overseas culture into the mainstream culture whereas in the USA overseas cultures is part of american culture.

Also Americans are all consuming which is the opposite of Europe.

I'd say the only countries similar to the USA are Canada, Australia and new Zealand with Britain way down.

[ABQConvict]

Originally Posted by P London

I really don't get how the UK is constantly listed as being most similar to the united states, Britain is a European nation and I think Brits only realise this when they fully compare the USA with Europe setting aside any prejudgements. A lot of the things that define America are quite odd for some Britons I think British people are more introverted, uptight but more genuine (that's not to say Americana are not genuine just) The UK isn't a immigrant nation as is America, many immigrants arrived in the last 50 years only creating a culture that's only starting to include overseas culture into the mainstream culture whereas in the USA overseas cultures is part of american culture.

You make a lot of valid points. The only problem is most continental Europeans tend to disagree. It is not that many see the UK as 'Americentric', as the US is, in most categories, essentially Eurocentric if you look at it without bias. The thing is America's culture and mores tend to reflect Europe about 75 years ago and not the post-modern, non-traditionalist, progressive Europe of today.

OK, now on '3', every European and Brit attack me. One - Two - Thr-

[Hamtonfordbury]

1. Canada - No explanation needed, eh.
2. Australia - Bogans/rednecks, descended from colonists and criminals, Mel Gibson, AC/DC, etc. They even have their own weird style of football, just like the US.
3. UK - Since everyone else is considering it a "country". I will subdivide it into its actual member countries:
   1. England - the "Mother" country.
   2. Scotland - The United States is very Scottish in culture. Rebels from Scotland were very influential in the "independence" movement, especially the Scots-Irish mountain men. Many prominent presidents have been of Scottish descent (Buchanan, Reagan, Jackson, and so forth)
   3. Wales - Guess where a lot of the "American" folk/country music, and all these "Jones" surnames come from.
   4. Northern Ireland - AKA "Ulster". Most "Scots Irish" people descend from here.
4. New Zealand - I would rank it higher, but few parts of the US have such a large Polynesian influence, except for maybe Hawaii or Utah.
5. Japan - Commercially, it is practically the same. The Asian cultural factor keeps it down on the list, since America is only like 5% East Asian in ancestry. (Japan is still very traditional.)
6. Germany - Two words: Operation Paperclip. Not only that, but German settlements in the United States date back to the 1600s.
7. Brazil - Its history mirrors American history in a lot of ways. Very big country with 200M people, and has a similar collection of ethnicities.
8. Ireland - At least on March 17.
9. Mexico - The USA's southern neighbor. Obviously there is overlap, especially near the border.
10. Russia - This may seem odd, but even in Cold War "communistic" times, there were a lot of similarities. Now that is has become more capitalistic, it has really become more of a Eurasian United States.

[Lexito]

I would like to give a more academic perspective to this question since many of the replies are purely based on peoples personal experience. The most internationally recognized researcher in the field of culture traits is Geert Hofstede. He developed 6 cultural dimensions that reflects the cultural traits of a country. These cultural dimensions are: Individualism, Masculinity, Power distance, Pragmatism and Indulgence. If you want to know more check out his website: geert-hofstede.com.

The US scores high on individualism (nr 1), masculinity and indulgence and low on power distance, uncertainty avoidance and pragmatism. Unsurprisingly by far the most similar countries are all in the Anglo-sphere (e.g. Canada, Australia, NZ and the UK). The UK scores significantly higher on pragmatism, NZ & Ireland score lower on PD and individualism the former two have pretty much equal scores on all dimensions. So first 5 countries are:

1. Canada
2. Australia
3. New Zealand
4. Ireland
5. the UK (the study did not look into the differences of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales)

Now it gets more difficult, there was already a strong consensus about the first 5. Some of the respondents to this threat said that France, Japan, Argentina, Mexico, Singapore and the Philippines are very similar to the US. But they show little similarities to the US in cultural dimensions. After the first 5, other Germanic countries follow, out of those the Netherlands and the Scandinavian countries show the most similarities. The Netherlands and especially the Scandinavian countries score much lower on masculinity but show strong similarities to all other dimensions. These countries also have the highest fluency of English of all non-English speaking countries. After those Germany, Switzerland and Austria show most similar traits.

Point of criticism. The cultural dimensions don't capture the amount of influence the American' culture has on the specific countries. I have been to both Mexico and the US and I have several Mexican and American friends and believe that Mexico should be somewhere in the top 10 due to its close proximity to the US. There are much more American products and companies in Mexico than in European countries. Plus Mexican infrastructure is much more "spatial" like the US. I have studied in the US and I have been a mentor for exchange students in the Netherlands for over 2 years. Therefore I know many people from different countries and have a pretty strong indication how much those countries are influenced by the US. So my final five are:

6. Mexico
7. the Netherlands
8. Scandinavian countries (maybe unfair to put them under one header)
9. Germany
10. Switzerland

[Mornnb]

In regards to Canada and Australia. I think there are US states that differ as much from each other as Canada and Australia differ from the US.

This Pharrell Williams Happy music video rather well captures modern Australia.

[Tall Traveler]

1. Canada
2. UK
3. Australia
4. Mexico
5. Ireland
6. Netherlands
7. Germany
8. Singapore
9. Sweden
10. New Zealand

[Tall Traveler]

Originally Posted by P London

I really don't get how the UK is constantly listed as being most similar to the united states, Britain is a European nation and I think Brits only realise this when they fully compare the USA with Europe setting aside any prejudgements. A lot of the things that define America are quite odd for some Britons I think British people are more introverted, uptight but more genuine (that's not to say Americana are not genuine just) The UK isn't a immigrant nation as is America, many immigrants arrived in the last 50 years only creating a culture that's only starting to include overseas culture into the mainstream culture whereas in the USA overseas cultures is part of american culture.

Also Americans are all consuming which is the opposite of Europe.

I'd say the only countries similar to the USA are Canada, Australia and new Zealand with Britain way down.

A substantial number of Americans are descendants of the UK, those people brought over the law, language and values of the UK. The other 2 largest groups in the USA are German & irish descendants so those values and cultural norms influenced Americans particularly in certain areas...and also those groups also emigrated to the UK. The USA has a substantial black and Mexican population which UK doesn't have in the same % and this does differentiate the USA from UK or anywhere in Europe. The ancestors of the UK and mine may be the same.

In military power, only Russia can come close to us. In economic power, only China comes close. In technology, only Germany & Japan comes close. But culturally, we are still linked to the UK.

[makaraka66]

Originally Posted by Tom Lennox 70

I think the Philippines is more like Latin America than the US. And within Latin America I think the Philippines is most similar to Central American countries rather than Mexico or Argentina. Mexico has a unique culture that's somewhat different than Central America due to their ancient civilizations. The Philippines is probably similar to El Salvador with a mostly indigineous population that didn't have any major civilizations before Spanish colonialism.

I think the countries most like the US are Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland, and South Africa. Beyond that the cultural differences are very great. Most European countires are much more socialist and collectivist and not very religious. I think Israel is somewhat similar to the US in that it was settled by Europeans and is a democracy.

As a kiwi/Aussie can I say that Aus/NZ are nothing like the USA. Take a rifle down to where our head of state is having a meeting and the Special Air Service will put a 338 slug through you. NZ and Aus are both Constitutional Monarchies, the USA is a Republic, which is why Americans cannot join the British army as they are not seen as loyal. Totally different politics,if the largest party in our house of representatives decided to shut NZ down the Governor -General would fire them that day and then call new elections, and nor do we have politicians gerrymandering the electorates. The Law, some Americans seem to believe that English common law is in force in the USA, wrong, Unlike the UK you have a Constitution which overrides any common law. And the USA hardly has barristers in it's courts does it ? And that is before we get onto sports etc, I doubt if many Americans have heard of the MCC laws.

[singaporelady]

Singapore seems pretty similar to US in terms of culture... Dont know how many people will disagree on that ?