Does you country have any isolated regions where the locals still practice the stereotypical culture that represents your country?

19 comments

1. The problem with this question is that what time period is considered “traditional”?

   For example what is called “Traditional Hungarian Food” is almost exclusively made from New World ingredients like potatoes, corn, tomatoes, new world beans, bell peppers etc. and has more in common with Aztec food traditions than what Hungarians would have eaten before the 19th century when these New World crops started spreading in Central Europe. A Hungarian sent back in time to 1490 to Tenochtitlan would find more familiar dishes there than a Hungarian sent back to 1490 to the Kingdom of Hungary.

   Farming your own land can sound very traditional, however this lifestyle only dates back to the 1960s. Prior to that Hungary had large-scale Stalinist collective farming, prior to that a semi-feudal Manorial economy under Horthy and the Austrian Empire, and prior to 1848, real Medieval Feudalism.

2. [Dalarna](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalarna) is practically the quintessential Swedish province at least regarding traditions that take place during spring and summer months and a lot of local organizations there helps to keep it them in forefront of that really.

   But I would say that it is also a mostly central Swedish (Svealand) thing, if you look to the south or the north you would see other cultural traditions that doesn’t align with it in the same way, in fact even me that lives quite close in coastal Uppland feels that some traditions there is a bit far from what I grew up with but in the Swedish psyche it has taken that place and I also wouldn’t call it isolated really just that they have managed their cultural heritage a bit more successfully than other provinces.

   But you can divide Sweden into 3 parts from north to south it goes [Norrland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norrland), [Svealand](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svealand), [Götaland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6taland) and all of those will have their own particular (or peculiar) traditions and cultural heritage although the local flavours have diminished since the industrialization and homogenization that started right around the turn of the 20th century in distant and low population like Norrland in the far north or along the border to Norway as well as in Värmland you can still find distinct local traditions but they represent their area and not my coastal upbringing with celebrations that the herring catch was done for the year or that the ice have become thick enough to travel between islands in the archipelago or over to Åland.

   But still I would still give the answer Dalarna mostly because local engagement keeps traditions alive there on a more wide basis.

3. People will probably answer Reddit’s favorite, Urk, but Staphorst is a lot stronger. Hardline Bible Belt.

4. I mean we have Iceland – pretty much Norway’s backup from 1000 years ago. Just very slightly modified over the centuries.

   Then we have some places in the US, which contains backups taken in the 1800s. A lot of those places keep holding on to traditions that are long lost in Norway.

5. I don’t think anything like that exists inside Germany. There are some people who choose some kind of self sufficiency as a lifestyle, but those are individual choices, not really relating to geography or tradition.

   The closest to a community would be the Amish, but they live in the Americas. Not sure about the ones in South America, but those in the USA speak a German that’s based on a southwestern dialect of German and heavily influenced by English. Their culture is strongly centered around a specific form of Christianity and they reject any social habits or technologies that might threaten the way their community works.

6. The last person I knew who farmed with a horse in modern times was my moms deceased brother. He bought his first, small tractor in, like 2018 and sold the horse in 2019. Earlier he even had a single cow for milk and f.e. used to make his own cheese. But he was kind of extreme example tbh.

   Anyway, we still do some traditional stuff here in eastern Poland, especially food. I did my own “nalewka” (fruit infused spirit) few times, my dad and father-in-law do those on daily basis. Moonshine is not unheard of and is a requirement of every wedding here in east. My dad every two years or so buys half of fresh pig – yes, literal slain pig without intestines etc, just meat and bones, and makes the butcher work, smoking etc. Now he’s older he found a guy who does part of the job (like sausage making) for him, but still enjoys it. Oh, and recently he was growing edible mushrooms in basement. Worth adding, he’s retired construction company owner. My father in law also keeps bees and makes his own honey. He’s also not a farmer.

   Both my mom and my mother-in-law make all kinds of jams and marinated veggies for the winter. My mom is also an expert baker. Worth adding that my wife is probably on the same baking level as her. They both grow their own veggies too.

7. Yep. I’m in Scotland. Burghead still burns it’s clavie, some of the Shetland islands are still on the Julian calendar, we’ve got ceilidhs, trad music and wee local festivities all dotted about outside the central belt that hold to this 

8. There are some fairly traditional people in Northwestern Jutland, but it is mostly a mentality and religious attitude thing.

   Regarding technology, food making, the way of living, they are pretty much like everyone else.

9. Devon and Cornwall. They’re the most sparsely populated regions in England.

   Many meat, fish, apples, and dairy products are locally sourced and people are proud of the quality, given the strong agricultural heritage in this part of the country.

   In Cornwall especially you’ll find more traditional foods, like pasties and saffron buns, instead of the cosmopolitan cuisine in other parts of England. Traditional methods are still often used to catch seafood, and are a lot of independent bakeries serving baked goods from authentic local recipes in both regions.

   There’s a much greater connection to the land in both Devon and Cornwall – people go surfing, swimming, snorkelling, do nature photography, gardening, stargazing, etc.

   A lot of people are also proud of their cultural heritage and take good care of the traditional architecture of Devon and Cornwall. There are also a number of local events like sea shanty festivals, oyster festivals, St Piran’s Day, various other food festivals etc.

   The atmosphere and lifestyle are very different to somewhere like London, Birmingham or Manchester.

10. I suppose France maybe has some, in our overseas parts of the country such as Guyanne, over there in South America

11. Well, idk, perhaps somewhere in the south of Spain, something like the hinterland of jaen?

    Tbh the hard part is knowing what a foreigner would understand as “stereotypical spanish culture”

12. If by “traditional” you mean a more simple life, yes, there are areas in Castilla y León, Extremadura and Galicia/Asturias where the people who mostly live in rural areas live off farming, cattle or traditional and/or ancestral trades. Unfortunately this kind of lifestyle is dying.

13. Yes, [Kihnu island](https://visitestonia.com/en/a-glimpse-of-life-on-estonias-remote-kihnu-island). It does not represent maybe the traditional innerland culture of Estonia but the island fisher culture. Kihnu culture is in the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2008 and is often referred to as Europe’s last surviving matriarchy (men fishing and hunting and women in charge of houses).

14. Same for Romania, we still have the rural areas with pretty much everything you described. People there, for the most part, have smartphones, TVs and access to the internet but everything about their daily lives is exactly as it was 200 years ago.

15. There are definitely still people who live like it’s… idk, 1960 or so? Earlier than that, I don’t think so.

    What I mean by 1960s is, no connection to the electrical grid, no public water supply, living off their own land etc. You can find such homesteads in the mountainous regions, such as Lika, Kordun, or Banija.

    I remember visiting a village in Kordun once (2019 iirc) and getting coffee with milk straight from a cow. It’s nothing to be romanticized though, those people are living in abject poverty.

16. It depends what you consider traditional. Plenty of people live in small villages doing their own thing, grow their own vegetables in their own garden and so on. There are also villages which are still deeply religious for example. But distances are short in my country. So there arent any real isolated areas. Maybe the Frisian Islands a bit.

17. Finland is quite big country and the traditional way of life was somewhat different in Western and Eastern parts, not to mention Lapland and the Archipelago.

    But at least for the Western Finnish ways I’d nominate Ostrobothnia/Pohjanmaa (esp. Southern parts). Agriculture and primary production are still bigger part of the regional economy there than anywhere else in Finland. The region also has some other “remnants from past”, like e.g. textile industry (Lapuan Kankurit, Jokipiin Pellava, Lennol, etc). That said, the ways of farming and manufacturing products are as modern as anywhere else, it’s not like it’s an outdoor museum.

    Ostrobothnia is also known for traditional big red ochre houses, which are generally called [“Ostrobothnian houses/pohjalaistalot”](https://www.vastavalo.net/albums/userpics/10119/normal_kaksfooninkinen1.jpg) in Finland. They are held in high regard in the region and I’ve also seen some local companies re-produce these houses in (mostly) traditional ways. Sometimes people even move the old houses in new places, lol.

    Other specifically Ostrobothnian thing which doesn’t really exist anywhere else in Finland are Easter bonfires, originally burnt to scare away witches and evil spirits. The tradition is still going very strong in there, and maybe thanks to that, [Easter witches/trullit](https://images.cdn.yle.fi/image/upload/ar_1.7777777910232544,c_fill,g_faces,h_357,w_636/dpr_2.0/q_auto:eco/f_auto/fl_lossy/13-3-5299444) are still doing quite good also (a Finnish tradition which is a bit similar to Halloween).

    Some Western Finnish cultural heritage also survived a bit better/longer in Ostrobothnia than in the South. Like for example big, long lasting village weddings (often called [kruunuhäät/crown wedding ](https://fiare-prod-thumbor.assettype.com/i-mediat/2024-08-22/4paz3u1g/0821_UUT_h%C3%A4%C3%A4t67.jpg?w=980)for the bridal crowns) and traditional folk music (nowadays the biggest folk music festival in Nordic countries is held in Central Ostrobothnia). Ostrobothnian weddings and other parties might still be a bit bigger than average (e.g. open invitations for graduation parties are often published in local newspapers so that almost anyone who dares can join the fun), but other than that, these kind of things have unfortunately lost ground in there as well. Performative “crown weddings” are nowadays organised only occasionally by village associations and such.

18. Depends how you mean by ‘traditional’. If you mean a stereotypical ‘village fairs on the church green, door to door Christmas wassailing, Morris dancing, Whitsun ales, going around the pole on May Day, farmers’ market days, etc.’ then any rural area, probably. If you mean places where people make their own ciders, meads and ales, then a farm or monastery. Horses and carts are still quite common on country lanes and even in urban settings like a few towns or cities. Some people own/ride horses for fun. Traditional old trams are still used in a few towns like Blackpool etc. and heritage railroads still operate steam trains.

19. Yes, there are some remote regions in Transylvania, mainly in Székelyföld, where people are isolated from the rest of the country. Many of them don’t even speak the “official” language (Romanian), angering the officials in Bucharest. They speak an archaic form of Hungarian that some Hungarians from Hungary might have trouble in understanding some words or phrases. It’s a really remote region, somewhat closed from the rest of the country.