Which country do you feel culturally the closest to?
July 9, 2025
Which country do you feel culturally the closest to?
19 comments
very good question. The closest are Poland and the Netherlands, but honestly both cultures are somewhat distant for me. I guess I have to say Poland, because I know more about Polish memes than about Dutch memes…
I have never been to Ukraine, but I grew up practicing Ukrainian traditions because of my Ukrainian grandma. So I’ve always felt closest to this culture.
Maybe Italy or Spain in Europe, but also Algeria and Morocco if we’re talking about countries in a broader sense (south of France, people from the north might not feel the same at all lol)
Scotland & the Isle of Man, then Wales, then England.
On the mainland, it’s a tough one. We are decidedly a North Western European country, so in lots of ways from cultural norms and how people live, we are similar to Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark & Belgium.
But we are also a culturally Catholic country, so we actually find a lot of cultural familiarity with big Italian families, Spanish Holy Communions and Portuguese grandmothers with oversized statues of Our Lady.
Third culture kid here but grew up in Switzerland. My parents really dont really have too many Finnish cultural traits either so I feel Swiss.
Portugal. I’m Portuguese. I also never left my country. I’m poor and live on an island far from any continent.
First and foremost, Cyprus.
A certain proximity to the Balkans.
Stong affection for the rest of the Mediterranea/ Southern Europe (Italy, Spain, Portugal).
Lots of love for LATAM.
Estonia because my spouse is Estonian and we spend a lot of time there, it’s like a second home. But most Finns probably would say Sweden. This subject pops up on the Finnish subreddit every once in a while and the overwhelming majority always says Sweden. We are close geographically, historically and culturally… we even study Swedish at school (even though most of us never actually become fluent and are somewhat averse to studying it)
Tough question. Cultually speaking – only including countries – I’d say I associate more with Switzerland or Austria than some „national German“ culture.
Germany is much akin to the United Kingdom or Spain, in that many of the subdivisions have their own, sometimes decidedly different culture.
If we include subregions, I of course associate with Swabia and Franconia as that is the approximate region that I am from and have lived in my whole life.
I’m not Swedish but I was born and raised here and I was surrounded by the culture so it’s the only thing I “know”. So I feel closest to Swedish culture.
In prioritised order
1. My scandinavian brothers Norway and Sweden. And as brothers do, they ofc hate each other (looking at you Sweden), but we are the only ones that can bully each other, everyone else we got each other’s backs
2. The rest of the Nordics (Iceland, Finland)
3. The Netherlands. Culturally seems very similar. I have family there so might be a bit biased.
4. Germany. We share a border and learn German in school. Might be more connected to Germany than the other Scandinavian countries are.
Grew up in Latvia, been living in Sweden for a long time now. A few other countries feel close.
Germany – lived and worked there for a couple years, I liked it. Plenty may annoy me there but for some reason Germany and the culture somehow clicks with me. I’m mostly thinking of the northern half here.
Norway and Denmark – these two and Sweden may well be the same country in some aspects. Norway is like Sweden where they speak with a funny intonation and love frozen meals too much. Denmark is like a compact version of Sweden where the people act a bit more like Germans.
Finland is like a dear, slightly weird cousin. Some beloved characters are from there (like Moomins) and Finns are lovable.
As any Latvian, I have special affection for our Baltic neighbors. The actual culture is different enough, but a century of the same struggles, plus connections like Estonia having the same obsessive choir culture as Latvia, or Lithuania having the only language that at least remotely looks like Latvian, that creates a feeling of closeness though it’s a different one from how say Sweden/Norway feels.
I spent half my 70 years married to a Finnish woman, so I have to say Finland, food wise, holiday wise and language wise, I have been heavily invested in the country.
Czechia and Austria. Sometimes I actually feel culturaly closer to Czecha than people in rural areas of my own country.
1. Japan (food, media, some observable similarities, martial arts, philosophy)
2. France (food+learning language+media)
3. Italy (food)
I guess there’s more that could be said but there’s a brief top 3 based on what I’ve encountered/pursued.
southern germany, so austria, obviously. then switzerland i guess? could also be the netherlands or luxemburg but i’m not familiar enough with those two to decide that.
I’m from Normandy, France. I think England (especially southern england) is culturally the closest, and then comes the low countries (especially wallonia), Switzerland,southern germany, northern Italy and northern Spain.
As Belgian/Flemish I would still say Northern France.
Different language but we share more with the Ch’ti than with the Dutch.
Weirdly enough I really felt at home in Poland too.
Poland.
I’m 19/20 Polish, genetic wise. My dad come from Poland. And mom too. Oh, and grandpa. The second one too. And grandmas too! What were the chances, huh?
I was born in Poland. And I live in Poland. I guess I may be Polish.
19 comments
very good question. The closest are Poland and the Netherlands, but honestly both cultures are somewhat distant for me. I guess I have to say Poland, because I know more about Polish memes than about Dutch memes…
I have never been to Ukraine, but I grew up practicing Ukrainian traditions because of my Ukrainian grandma. So I’ve always felt closest to this culture.
Maybe Italy or Spain in Europe, but also Algeria and Morocco if we’re talking about countries in a broader sense (south of France, people from the north might not feel the same at all lol)
Scotland & the Isle of Man, then Wales, then England.
On the mainland, it’s a tough one. We are decidedly a North Western European country, so in lots of ways from cultural norms and how people live, we are similar to Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark & Belgium.
But we are also a culturally Catholic country, so we actually find a lot of cultural familiarity with big Italian families, Spanish Holy Communions and Portuguese grandmothers with oversized statues of Our Lady.
Third culture kid here but grew up in Switzerland. My parents really dont really have too many Finnish cultural traits either so I feel Swiss.
Portugal. I’m Portuguese. I also never left my country. I’m poor and live on an island far from any continent.
First and foremost, Cyprus.
A certain proximity to the Balkans.
Stong affection for the rest of the Mediterranea/ Southern Europe (Italy, Spain, Portugal).
Lots of love for LATAM.
Estonia because my spouse is Estonian and we spend a lot of time there, it’s like a second home. But most Finns probably would say Sweden. This subject pops up on the Finnish subreddit every once in a while and the overwhelming majority always says Sweden. We are close geographically, historically and culturally… we even study Swedish at school (even though most of us never actually become fluent and are somewhat averse to studying it)
Tough question. Cultually speaking – only including countries – I’d say I associate more with Switzerland or Austria than some „national German“ culture.
Germany is much akin to the United Kingdom or Spain, in that many of the subdivisions have their own, sometimes decidedly different culture.
If we include subregions, I of course associate with Swabia and Franconia as that is the approximate region that I am from and have lived in my whole life.
I’m not Swedish but I was born and raised here and I was surrounded by the culture so it’s the only thing I “know”. So I feel closest to Swedish culture.
In prioritised order
1. My scandinavian brothers Norway and Sweden. And as brothers do, they ofc hate each other (looking at you Sweden), but we are the only ones that can bully each other, everyone else we got each other’s backs
2. The rest of the Nordics (Iceland, Finland)
3. The Netherlands. Culturally seems very similar. I have family there so might be a bit biased.
4. Germany. We share a border and learn German in school. Might be more connected to Germany than the other Scandinavian countries are.
Grew up in Latvia, been living in Sweden for a long time now. A few other countries feel close.
Germany – lived and worked there for a couple years, I liked it. Plenty may annoy me there but for some reason Germany and the culture somehow clicks with me. I’m mostly thinking of the northern half here.
Norway and Denmark – these two and Sweden may well be the same country in some aspects. Norway is like Sweden where they speak with a funny intonation and love frozen meals too much. Denmark is like a compact version of Sweden where the people act a bit more like Germans.
Finland is like a dear, slightly weird cousin. Some beloved characters are from there (like Moomins) and Finns are lovable.
As any Latvian, I have special affection for our Baltic neighbors. The actual culture is different enough, but a century of the same struggles, plus connections like Estonia having the same obsessive choir culture as Latvia, or Lithuania having the only language that at least remotely looks like Latvian, that creates a feeling of closeness though it’s a different one from how say Sweden/Norway feels.
I spent half my 70 years married to a Finnish woman, so I have to say Finland, food wise, holiday wise and language wise, I have been heavily invested in the country.
Czechia and Austria. Sometimes I actually feel culturaly closer to Czecha than people in rural areas of my own country.
1. Japan (food, media, some observable similarities, martial arts, philosophy)
2. France (food+learning language+media)
3. Italy (food)
I guess there’s more that could be said but there’s a brief top 3 based on what I’ve encountered/pursued.
southern germany, so austria, obviously. then switzerland i guess? could also be the netherlands or luxemburg but i’m not familiar enough with those two to decide that.
I’m from Normandy, France. I think England (especially southern england) is culturally the closest, and then comes the low countries (especially wallonia), Switzerland,southern germany, northern Italy and northern Spain.
As Belgian/Flemish I would still say Northern France.
Different language but we share more with the Ch’ti than with the Dutch.
Weirdly enough I really felt at home in Poland too.
Poland.
I’m 19/20 Polish, genetic wise. My dad come from Poland. And mom too. Oh, and grandpa. The second one too. And grandmas too! What were the chances, huh?
I was born in Poland. And I live in Poland. I guess I may be Polish.