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USA (Northeast, Midwest, South, West; East Coast vs West Coast)
Japan (Kanto vs Kansai)
Italy (Milan vs Rome)
Spain (Barcelona vs Madrid)
United Kingdom (England vs Scotland)
These countries are well-known competitive with their regional cultures.
Indoneisa: hundreds of tribes, despite being all Indonesians, culture, language. And tradition varies within each ethnic groups, and your ethnic background becomes identity of the people. In an island alone there is more than one tribe.... For example sundanese in west java doesn't like it when people mistaken them as javanese who lives in central-east Java, just because they look similar. Similarly the Minangkabau in West Sumatra don't want to be identified as Malays.
Going to different island is almost like travelling to different countries.
It is mostly a question of semantics. The "country", as most people in the world understand that meaning, is the UK. Full stop.
England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are internal sub-entities of a country similar to U.S. states, Australian states, Canadian provinces or German landers. Whether they are referred to as "countries", "fiefdoms" or "polo clubs" doesn't really matter.
With respect, I come from Scotland and am here to tell you that your present "doesn't really matter" perspective could get you killed in any one of the other three countries mentioned. There's nothing united about the United Kingdom. The memories of the Scottish, Welsh, and Irish people are long, and England is hated by all three for the atrocities committed against them over several centuries. And yes, I did say hated. It's just the way it is there. There's a similar 'war' simmering between Catholics and Protestants. Not pleasant, but there you have it.
Italy, for sure. More than the rivalry between Milan and Rome, people of each region are proud to be in that place. When for the first time I took a taxi in Venice, I heard of the driver that 'Veneto is the most beautiful region of the entire Italy' and he mentioned a lot of cities to visit in that region outside Venice; he was from Belluno. The same applies to Tuscany, where lives a friend of my mother; she said the people from Firenze seldom travel outside of Tuscany in the holidays.
I once met a few people from somewhere near Barcelona on a tour. They just wouldn't identify themselves as Spaniards, but only as Catalonians. Now that's what I would say is putting regional identities first.
In Europe we don't consider that a regional identity but simply a nationality or national identity, which may be difficult to grasp for an american since you consider nationality to be equivalent with legal citizenship. In the Czech Republic the official survey reveals that half a million people consider themselves to have a Moravian nationality as opposed to Czech nationality so about 20% of people living in Moravia region don't consider themselves Czech, only Czech citizens.
Last edited by FrankCostello; 11-08-2014 at 03:15 PM..
With respect, I come from Scotland and am here to tell you that your present "doesn't really matter" perspective could get you killed in any one of the other three countries mentioned. There's nothing united about the United Kingdom. The memories of the Scottish, Welsh, and Irish people are long, and England is hated by all three for the atrocities committed against them over several centuries. And yes, I did say hated. It's just the way it is there. There's a similar 'war' simmering between Catholics and Protestants. Not pleasant, but there you have it.
FWIW,
Mahrie.
Let me tell you, I do NOT hate England. Please don't talk for all three countries.
Let me tell you, I do NOT hate England. Please don't talk for all three countries.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dunno what to put here
Yorkshire is one glaringly obvious example of an area of a country that places more emphasis on regional pride as opposed to national pride. Yorkshire arguably has the strongest identity of any British county. Most people here would also identify as English but not British.
You'd probably be hard pressed to find many people exhibiting significant pride for their cities - Liverpool is an exception as they are extremely proud of their city and ultra defensive. People from Birmingham are more likely to think of Birmingham as a sh*thole.
I hven't been to Yorkshire but they come across as quite arrogant. I can't understand why, its no different to any other rural part of England.
I was raised to say nothing and act modest. This nonsense is foreign.
Let me tell you, I do NOT hate England. Please don't talk for all three countries.
I would not presume, Summerwhale. I'm documenting what I grew up with, not how I myself feel. I don't hate anyone anywhere, but my philosophy earned me not a few slaps as a child and youth.
I've seen it with Americans, Mexicans, Spaniards, Brazilians, Belgians, Italians, the Swiss, Cambodians, Laotians, Japanese and Koreans.
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