Which country in the world is most similar to United Kingdom?

[whylie]

Originally Posted by Yamato2

Criteria:

Economy
Politics
Entertainment
Culture
Geography
People and communities
Religion (or lack of it)
Arts
"Overall feel"

Excluding Ireland, given the historic closeness of the two-

Economy - toss up between Netherlands, Sweden and the Commonwealth nations (Australia, New Zealand, and Canada)

Politics - Same as above

Entertainment - USA

Culture - Netherlands

Geography - Mix between somewhere like Norway, and New Zealand

People and communities - Mishmash of the French and the Dutch

Religion (or lack of it) - mmmm, probably Scandinavia or the Netherlands in that there's a state church and notable religious influence in a 19th/20th century sense, similar pagan histories, plus regional and local variation plays a role, but it's pretty atheistic in recent years.

Arts - the USA

"Overall feel" - On balance, it's probably most similar to France, (dynamic, populous European countries with notable history, a dominant, world famous metropolis with a great array of towns acting as regional/local hubs, global colonial influence, reputation for snobbery and intellectualism), though in other areas, the UK diverges notably from France and is more similar to the Netherlands or Scandinavia (economically, politically, geographically) or the USA (in regards to the arts and entertainment).

Final verdict: 50% France, 50% Netherlands

Just because I want to reflect on my country (USA):

Economy: A bit hard to say - it's kind of a mash-up of a business-oriented, hard working East Asian culture (like South Korea), a rugged colonial culture like South Africa or Australia, and an influential, mixed, leftist capitalist culture like the UK. Probably the UK, overall, as both developed quite similarly, in an economic + technological + industrial sense.

Politics: Mash-up of France, the UK, and Russia

Entertainment: Mash-up of the UK, Germany, and Brazil

Culture: "Central European, tilted northwestern" - Kind of feels like an amalgam of Germany, the Netherlands, and/or Austria, with obvious Afro- and Latin influences that make it unique. Discarding Canada, Cuba and Brazil are similar, as are Mexico and Chile (I'd probably say Cuba feels the most American, actually, above even Mexico - this is disregarding politics).

Geography: A mash-up of China (climatically, in regards to temperature, precipitation - arid west, humid east - and the presence of a variety of forests with similar species, mountains, canyons, and plains) and maybe Australia (lower, forested mountains, beaches, hot deserts, flatland, mediterranean and oceanic zones). It shares a ton of weird similarities with China, climatically, geographically, and floristically (the latter due to the North American-East Asian floristic disjunction)

People and communities: Almost Brazilian in some respects (the USA seems to marry the greater Europeanness, the high sense of development/order, and the humble politeness of a country like Canada with the rugged, individual eclecticism, brashness, and ethno-racial mixes and quirks of a place like Brazil). At the same time, Americans have the tendencies towards subculture and ingenious ambition of, say, the British or the Japanese

Religion (or lack of it): Kind of a tossup - less religious than Brazil, but it feels similar, given the eclectic religious composition of both places. Due to it's history with de jure secularism, it can feel relatively French at times, with various religious ideologies and a strong campaign of anti-religion and atheism competing with each other, against a back-drop of Christian heritage, Jewish influence, new Evangelism, etc.... Maybe a more religious European country with a large ethnic diaspora in the US, like Ireland, Poland, or Italy.

Arts: Dutch, German, British, or Scandinavian. I'd lean German/Scandinavian.

"Overall feel": In Europe, Germany. in this hemisphere, Cuba or Brazil. Also shares a lot with Australia, IMO.

Final verdict: 33.33% Germany, 33.33% Brazil, 33.33% Australia