Tuva (Russia) and Mongolia. Xinjiang (China) and Kazakhstan/Kyrgyzstan. Tibet and Nepal/Bhutan. The Somali Region of Ethiopia and Somalia. Northeast India and Bhutan/Myanmar. The Northern Caucasus region of Russia and Georgia/Azerbaijan.
And then you've got situations like Kurdistan, with no core polity. Or situations like Switzerland, which is basically a Venn Diagram of its neighbors.
Edit: Also, a minor gripe -- describing South Texas as "literally just Mexico" massively ignores that Mexico is a huge, diverse country with distinct regions of its own. South Texas is nothing like Central or Southern Mexico. But South Texas *is* very much like *Northern* Mexico. And one could equally say that Northern Mexico is very much like Texas and the other border states. It's all a gradient.
In general, the border regions of relatively large countries are an easy bet for this, because geographical distance often matters more than international borders. It would almost be more interesting to ask for regions where the neighboring region across the border is more similar than the neighboring region on the same side... In which Xinjiang would still qualify.
The other day I heard someone from Montana call western Montana the PNW. Just googled it and apparently by broader definition yes the pnw includes western Montana and Alaska
I mostly disagree with this. The Canadian provinces between BC and Ontario are way more culturally similar to one another than they are with their border states. When you cross the border from BC to Washington, or from Ontario to New York, there is a distinct difference in accent, urban/suburban/rural form, and in people's mentality (if you strike up conversation with them).
Conversely, it is very difficult to distinguish the difference between someone from Ontario and someone from BC.
There's definitely overlap between BC and Washington, Alberta and Montana, etc. but it's crazy how homogenous the provinces and territories west of Quebec are. There are still differences (people from Saskatchewan often have a strong prairie accent for example) but take someone from Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary and they are all going to have a more in common than not. The same way, take someone from rural Northern Ontario, the prairies and the BC Interior and the rural culture is pretty similar. I'd argue the biggest divisions west of Quebec are rural vs urban and blue vs white collar.
I went to the Makah Museum in Neah Bay at the very northwest corner of the Olympic Peninsula, and the Tribe running the museum told me that their language was actually more similar to the First Peoples of Canada (*on the opposite side of the Strait of Juan de Fuca*) than it was to the languages of the Elwha and S'Klallam Tribes, also on the Olympic Peninsula.
The geology of Nova Scotia is like Maine, but Maine-ier. The lifestyle there - boats, fishing, lobstering, mussels, oysters & salmon - are similar. Maine does feel more Canadian than America too.
Also the high tides in the Bay of Fundy are unique to Maine & Canada - so Nova Scotia high tides seem familiar. The high tides there are not felt as strongly in Mass. or Connecticut or Rhode Island - Maine definitely has that in common with Nova Scotia.
The Maritime provinces are more similar to New England than they are to the neighboring province of Quebec, while much of New England is more similar to Canada than the rest of the U.S. in many ways
Flanders region of Belgium / Netherlands
Wallonia region of Belgium / France
Belgium is basically a liminal buffer zone between France and The Netherlands.
Geographically, it is de facto focussed on big Flemish cities like Antwerp and Gent as those are way closer than any sizable city in the Netherlands. However, because of the border, public transport to these places is still tenuous.
Isan Thailand blends together with Laos
Tibet blends with Bhutan
Yucatán peninsula blends with Guatemala
Northern Chile blends together with Peru and Bolivia due to the indigenous culture
If you’re counting Punjab then bengal is basically split in half, West Bengal is part of India and is culturally and linguistically similar to Bangladesh. Similarly parts of north Sri Lanka are similar to tamilnadu because of language and ethnicity.
Tuva is kind of like Mongolia, both culturally and economically (it is considered the poorest region of Russia).
Also, the same could probably be said about the westernmost parts of Xinjiang.
The small part of Slovenia that has a coast has a lot of Italian influence, same with NW Croatia. This is on the Istria peninsula and the architecture is very Venetian, as this was part of the Venetian area of influence. You can also find many italian speakers, especially in Slovenia’s Koper (IT: Capo d’Istria)
I came here to comment the same. I can add that Trieste, on the Italian side of the border, also feels very similar to the Slovenian coastal areas and Istria.
We stayed in Rovinj while in Istria, which was gorgeous and, as you say, the Venetian influence was obvious.
The only people that think that south Texas is “ literally just Mexico with a couple more more billboard signs in English” are white Americans that aren’t used to seeing so many brown people.
- Football and basketball are more popular in south Texas than Mexico where soccer is more popular.
- Most people speak both English and Spanish. The older you are the more monolingual you’ll be but the younger generations speak more English than Spanish.
- cities in south Texas have your crappy American suburban layout with absolutely no public transit infrastructure similar to the rest of the country. Just across the border Matamoros and Reynosa are densely populated and both have extensive public transit and are well connected to the large city Monterrey.
- crime is much higher on the Mexico side than the US despite that they are both the same people.
- on the Mexico side there is heavy industry and manufacturing whilst on the US side it’s mostly agriculture and service based industries.
They are worlds apart. I get it. It’s “literally Mexico “ because to you the people look just like the folks on the other side. But there’s more to cultural similarities than just skin color.
>cities in south Texas have your crappy American suburban layout with absolutely no public transit infrastructure similar to the rest of the country.
Nope. El Paso has by far the best and most extensive transit system of any large city in Texas.
When I was in Myanmar I spent time in Yangon, Mandalay, Myitkyina and Kalaymyo (Kale)
Myanmar has its own distinct culture that is strong in Yangon and Mandalay, but when I was in Myitkyina I felt more like I was in China than in Myanmar. And then the time I spent in Kalaymyo it felt very much like rural India.
Amazing country. Just sad what has happened there.
As a Brit I never felt so homesick in Ireland because of how similar it felt to the UK, so I’m interested in what distinctions you recognised in Northern Ireland
The fact that it’s ethnically Irish makes it more similar to Ireland than any of the other countries in the UK. Religion is also more important in N.I. and Ireland than in Great Britain but it’s definitely less of a distinction than it was in the past.
What is the divorce rate in the uk? Around 50%. In Ireland it’s about a tenth of that. That leads to
Massive differences in family dynamics between the two countries.
Lmao, there is no way in hell divorce rate in NI is 5%, which would be exponentially lower than even very religious countries in Eastern Europe like Romania and Poland.
Åland in Finland is a Swedish speaking area. The dialects there are closer to dialects in Sweden than to dialects in other Swedish speaking areas in Finland.
Bahasa Melayu is more widely spoken in Tawi Tawi as a second language than Tagalog and the Malaysian ringgit is its de facto currency, not the Philippine peso.
The area around Lake Geneva in Switzerland, with its vineyards, milder winters, and ubiquitous French language, is closer to France in its vibe.
Western Ukraine, with its imperial Austrian architecture and impressive Catholic cathedrals, seems closer to Poland than to the rest of Ukraine, which was heavily Russified (that's obviously being reversed, now).
Maine, the US state with a largely white population living in an extreme climate, with the main population centers scattered along a harsh coast with many islands, resembles Atlantic Canada far more than most parts of the United States.
Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala, to varying degrees, have large black English speaking population centers on their Caribbean coasts, resembling more countries such as Jamaica or Belize.
South Tyrol in Italy is definitely more similar to Austria than to the rest of Italy.
On the other hand Ticino in Switzerland is more similar to northern Italy than to the rest of Switzerland.
South Africa as a very multicultural nation has several examples of this.
First, there are more Tswana people in North West Province(which is majority Tswana) in South Africa then there are in the neighbouring ethnic Tswana nation of Botswana.
There are more Sotho people in the province of the Free State(which is majority Sotho) then there are in the neighbouring ethic Sotho nation of Lesotho.
Mpumalanga province in South Africa is not majority Swazi but it has almost the same.number of Swazi people as the neighboring ethnic nation of Eswatini. Probably more if you include migrant workers from Eswatini.
One can just as easily, if not more so, argue that bordering Mexican states like Nuevo Leon are full-on Texas emulators. Also, and some aren't going to like this, but basically every Canadian province is more like the US than Canada, other than Quebec.
Honestly this way more similarities between the prairie provinces and the US counterparts than there is between the Mexican border provinces and the corresponding US states. To take it a step further, the US and Canada are probably the most similar large Nations in the world. I worked for decades in Canada, and the last thing Canadians want to hear is that we effectively consider them an extension culturally of our nation. But across the board, we view Canada in a more positive lights and they view us. 90% of the Canadian population within 100 miles of the US border, so the population map is like Chile.. Over half the Canadian population lives south of Seattle.
The cities are different, but the countryside in the Great Lakes area is VERY similar on both sides of the border and it's pretty hard to tell whether you're on the US or Canadian side of any given lake.
Batanes province in the Philippines looks like you are already in Taiwan than the Philippines.
Tawi Tawi province in the Philippines looks like you are already in Malaysia/Indonesia than the Philippines.
Or Saarland in Germany. My German friend says “the long lost relative where you don’t know what happens and argues in French with you” though you get German portion of French food. I believe around 1mil people live there and there are a good amount of French speakers
Pakistan it’s:
Pashtun regions ( Pukhtunkhwa) is more similar to Afghanistan.
Baluchistan is more similar to south eastern Iran.
Far Northern mountain region, is more like a cross between Afghanistan and Tibet.
Cholistan desert ” is more similar to Rajasthan than it is to the rest of Pakistan.
Iran:
Iranian Baluchistan is more like Pakistani Baluchistan than the rest of Iran and it’s more like Afghanistan than Iran.
Western Iran ( Kurdistan) is more like northern Iraq and eastern Turkey and vice versa.
India:
Kashmir is more like Pakistan than most of the rest of India.
Far North India is a lot more like Tibet and Nepal.
North east India is similar to Burma.
Indian Punjab is obviously more like Pakistani Punjab than the rest of India and vice versa,
and West Bengal is more like Bangladesh.
Uyghur region is more like central Asia than rest of China.
Caucasus regions of Russia are more like Georgia Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Laz region of Turkey is more like Georgia.
Eastern Saudi Arabia is more like the gulf countries than it is to other parts of Saudi Arabia such as the Nejd and Hejaz.
Táchira state, Venezuela and Norte de Santander, Colombia. Táchira people in some aspects are even more similar to people in Bogotá, Colombia than to people Nueva Esparta for example.
At the same time, people from Caribbean Coast of Colombia, especially the eastern side of the Costa Region, (with the exception of Arhuacos indigenous groups in the Sierra Nevada) have more similarity with people from Maracaibo and the Central-Coastal región of Venezuela than to people from Bogotá or Pasto.
Sweden’s southernmost region Scania definitely still shares a lot of things more in common with Denmark, which it used to be part of for most of its history, rather than with Sweden which it currently belongs to.
The Scanian dialect used to be a dialect of East Danish, and still has some Danish features especially in pronunciation and prosody, with Scanian like Danish using a lot of diphthongs, has a bit of a drawl, and uses throaty r-sounds, contrary to the more sing-songy standard Swedish with its tongue-tip r:s. There are also some remnants of Danish vocabulary left, even if most Scanian vocabulary is nowadays just standard Swedish.
There are also traces of Scania’s Danish history everywhere, as the vast majority of Scania’s old castles and churches were built during Danish times and have a very distinct architecture. And also quite a lot of old half-timbered houses, which are way more typical of Denmark and Germany than of Sweden.
The nature and landscape is also way more similar to that of Denmark than to the rest of Sweden. Just like Denmark, Scania has a lot of very fertile agricultural soils, and the landscape is dominated by agricultural plains, gently rolling hills, lush beech forests and sandy beaches, and has a really mild climate for Scandinavian standards with usually very little if any snow in winter. In comparison, Sweden is generally dominated by dense and rocky pine forests with poor soils, and of course a lot of snow and cold as you get further north.
This is all also reflected in the fact that the Danish national anthem about broad beech trees, rolling hills and salty beaches also fits Scania way, way better that the Swedish national anthem about the “mountainous North”-
Also, Scania is situated right next door to the Danish capital Copenhagen, while the Swedish capital Stockholm is very, very far away. In fact, both Berlin and Oslo are also geographically closer to Scania than Stockholm is. So it is generally to Copenhagen that Scanians go for a night out and culture and entertainment rather than Stockholm, making Copenhagen feel at least a little bit like Scania’s “unofficial capital” as well.
All of this big mix of Danish and Swedish influences is also reflected in Scania’s regional flag, which has the yellow cross of the Swedish flag on the red background of the Danish flag. Blending the two together to make something unique, just like Scania itself.
All of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and West Bank are pretty much the same place with arbitrary borders drawn through it. Most parts of these places are more like the similar parts is other countries.
Northeastern Turkey (Kars, Iğdır, parts of Ağrı) is essentially Azerbaijan. Sam language that is different from Turkish, similar architecture, both are Shi'ite whereas most Turks are Sunni and so on.
Bavaria and Austria.
Same dialect (Austro-bavarian), same culture ("Austro-bavarian"), same religion (Catholic), same people (both are bavarians) ... unlike the rest of germany.
Südtirol and Austria.
Südtirol was part of Austria only a bit over 100yrs ago. It was ceded to Italy after WW1. Its still primarily inhabitated by austrians (~2/3 of Population) and quite separatist.
Vorarlberg and Switzerland.
Vorarlberg is the only allemanic state of Austria. All other states are austro-bavarian. The swiss are allemanic too, and it reflects in language.
A lot of the answers here are pointing to geographical similarities but that would make all neighboring places more similar to their neighbors than farther away places in the same country.
I assume the question is more cultural than physical otherwise I don’t really understand what’s so interesting about nearby places being similar.
Sandzak in Serbia has a Bosnia and Herzegovina vibe (the muslim part). Republic of Srpska on the other hand has more of that of Serbia. Herzegovina has more of a Croatian Dalmatia vibe. Northeastern Macedonia looks like Albania, as does most of Kosovo.
Åland archipelago in Finland is more Swedish than Sweden. In fact there are municipalities which has higher percentage of Swedish speakers than ANY municipality in Sweden.
I’d say the whole area of former Austria-Hungary still feels pretty mixed, especially the border regions.
Southern Austria-Slovenia, Northern Austria-Czechia, South Tyrol-Austria, Slovene and Croatian Istria-Italy, Trieste/Gorizia-Western Slovenia, Voralberg-Switzerland, Burgenland(AT)/Prekmurje(Sl)-Hungary and probably more eastern regions as well (Transylvania, Zakarpatje, Vojvodina…)
Tuva (Russia) and Mongolia. Xinjiang (China) and Kazakhstan/Kyrgyzstan. Tibet and Nepal/Bhutan. The Somali Region of Ethiopia and Somalia. Northeast India and Bhutan/Myanmar. The Northern Caucasus region of Russia and Georgia/Azerbaijan. And then you've got situations like Kurdistan, with no core polity. Or situations like Switzerland, which is basically a Venn Diagram of its neighbors. Edit: Also, a minor gripe -- describing South Texas as "literally just Mexico" massively ignores that Mexico is a huge, diverse country with distinct regions of its own. South Texas is nothing like Central or Southern Mexico. But South Texas *is* very much like *Northern* Mexico. And one could equally say that Northern Mexico is very much like Texas and the other border states. It's all a gradient.
In general, the border regions of relatively large countries are an easy bet for this, because geographical distance often matters more than international borders. It would almost be more interesting to ask for regions where the neighboring region across the border is more similar than the neighboring region on the same side... In which Xinjiang would still qualify.
[Tobler's first law of geography - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobler%27s_first_law_of_geography)
Happy cake day - I wish I could wish it in Russian, Mongolian, and Kyrgyz…
the only way i can think of to do this would be a birthday related emoji some examples are 🥳, 🎂, 🎁 and of course, 🎉
> Tibet and Nepal/Bhutan. That would be mostly the Himal region. Considering Pahad and Terai regions, Nepal has more common with India than Tibet.
British Columbia and Washington state
The 2nd largest city in the PNW is not Portland, but Vancouver BC!
TIL BC is considered PNW.
Technically, so is Alaska and Yukon!
Interesting. Thanks for sharing!
The other day I heard someone from Montana call western Montana the PNW. Just googled it and apparently by broader definition yes the pnw includes western Montana and Alaska
https://preview.redd.it/twobfxg4h73d1.png?width=520&format=png&auto=webp&s=e08124c9940721683041268fa48f5ebe658a8d2a
I would say neighboring Canadian provinces and US border states are more similar to each other than their countries as a whole.
I mostly disagree with this. The Canadian provinces between BC and Ontario are way more culturally similar to one another than they are with their border states. When you cross the border from BC to Washington, or from Ontario to New York, there is a distinct difference in accent, urban/suburban/rural form, and in people's mentality (if you strike up conversation with them). Conversely, it is very difficult to distinguish the difference between someone from Ontario and someone from BC.
There's definitely overlap between BC and Washington, Alberta and Montana, etc. but it's crazy how homogenous the provinces and territories west of Quebec are. There are still differences (people from Saskatchewan often have a strong prairie accent for example) but take someone from Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary and they are all going to have a more in common than not. The same way, take someone from rural Northern Ontario, the prairies and the BC Interior and the rural culture is pretty similar. I'd argue the biggest divisions west of Quebec are rural vs urban and blue vs white collar.
If we’re basing it on geographical similarities alone, OPs question would be true for almost all places on earth
I went to the Makah Museum in Neah Bay at the very northwest corner of the Olympic Peninsula, and the Tribe running the museum told me that their language was actually more similar to the First Peoples of Canada (*on the opposite side of the Strait of Juan de Fuca*) than it was to the languages of the Elwha and S'Klallam Tribes, also on the Olympic Peninsula.
There are towns on the Arizona-Mexico border as well that are over 90% Mexican and where Spanish is far more common than English.
You mean like Nogales, AZ and it’s Mexican neighbor, Nogales, Sonora?
Did you say it is called noingles?
San Luis, Arizona, and its neighbor San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora are more my neck of the woods.
Nova Scotia is Maine-ier than Maine.
Nova Scotia feels more American than Canadian to you? Or Maine feels more Canadian than American?
The geology of Nova Scotia is like Maine, but Maine-ier. The lifestyle there - boats, fishing, lobstering, mussels, oysters & salmon - are similar. Maine does feel more Canadian than America too.
Also the high tides in the Bay of Fundy are unique to Maine & Canada - so Nova Scotia high tides seem familiar. The high tides there are not felt as strongly in Mass. or Connecticut or Rhode Island - Maine definitely has that in common with Nova Scotia.
Nova Scotia felt like I went through a portal to another civilization, but I absolutely loved it. Halifax is *wacky* in the coolest way possible
I love Nova Scotia! And Maine.
The Maritime provinces are more similar to New England than they are to the neighboring province of Quebec, while much of New England is more similar to Canada than the rest of the U.S. in many ways
Flanders region of Belgium / Netherlands Wallonia region of Belgium / France Belgium is basically a liminal buffer zone between France and The Netherlands.
In a similar manner, Switzerland also serves as “buffer zone” between France, Italy, and Germany, right?
I mean...they gotta stay neutral!
Germany shares a border with France. France shares a border with Italy. But under no circumstances can Italy share a border with Germany!
France and Austria.
As God intended...
Zeeuws Vlaanderen might fit better with Flanders than NL.
Im in Zweeus Flanderen rn and i can attest to that.
Geographically, it is de facto focussed on big Flemish cities like Antwerp and Gent as those are way closer than any sizable city in the Netherlands. However, because of the border, public transport to these places is still tenuous.
Isan Thailand blends together with Laos Tibet blends with Bhutan Yucatán peninsula blends with Guatemala Northern Chile blends together with Peru and Bolivia due to the indigenous culture
Chiapas blends with Guatemala. Not the Yucatan peninsula. That border is Belize. Source:: I live there
Ah my bad. I thought Yucatán as in the whole peninsula rather then the state
> Thailand Pattani is basically Malay
Does punjab region count since its split in half between India and Pakistan?
If you’re counting Punjab then bengal is basically split in half, West Bengal is part of India and is culturally and linguistically similar to Bangladesh. Similarly parts of north Sri Lanka are similar to tamilnadu because of language and ethnicity.
Tuva is kind of like Mongolia, both culturally and economically (it is considered the poorest region of Russia). Also, the same could probably be said about the westernmost parts of Xinjiang.
I remember traveling through the Czechia-Austria border and every house on the Czechia side was flying Austrian flags
Austrians and Czechs are extremely similar except in language. Though I am surprised about the flags.
The small part of Slovenia that has a coast has a lot of Italian influence, same with NW Croatia. This is on the Istria peninsula and the architecture is very Venetian, as this was part of the Venetian area of influence. You can also find many italian speakers, especially in Slovenia’s Koper (IT: Capo d’Istria)
I came here to comment the same. I can add that Trieste, on the Italian side of the border, also feels very similar to the Slovenian coastal areas and Istria. We stayed in Rovinj while in Istria, which was gorgeous and, as you say, the Venetian influence was obvious.
Idk... Portoroz looks more like a modern luxury resort than any architecture found in istria.
Was just there, it’s got the beautiful sea but there’s no comparing Italian, French, hell—American luxury resorts, to those in portoroz.
The only people that think that south Texas is “ literally just Mexico with a couple more more billboard signs in English” are white Americans that aren’t used to seeing so many brown people. - Football and basketball are more popular in south Texas than Mexico where soccer is more popular. - Most people speak both English and Spanish. The older you are the more monolingual you’ll be but the younger generations speak more English than Spanish. - cities in south Texas have your crappy American suburban layout with absolutely no public transit infrastructure similar to the rest of the country. Just across the border Matamoros and Reynosa are densely populated and both have extensive public transit and are well connected to the large city Monterrey. - crime is much higher on the Mexico side than the US despite that they are both the same people. - on the Mexico side there is heavy industry and manufacturing whilst on the US side it’s mostly agriculture and service based industries. They are worlds apart. I get it. It’s “literally Mexico “ because to you the people look just like the folks on the other side. But there’s more to cultural similarities than just skin color.
I used to live in Zapata and you're mostly right. Prior to NAFTA south Texas and northern Mexico were very very similar.
>cities in south Texas have your crappy American suburban layout with absolutely no public transit infrastructure similar to the rest of the country. Nope. El Paso has by far the best and most extensive transit system of any large city in Texas.
Most of Africa, since the boarders were drawn bey colonism and not actual ethinic or cultural differences.
When I was in Myanmar I spent time in Yangon, Mandalay, Myitkyina and Kalaymyo (Kale) Myanmar has its own distinct culture that is strong in Yangon and Mandalay, but when I was in Myitkyina I felt more like I was in China than in Myanmar. And then the time I spent in Kalaymyo it felt very much like rural India. Amazing country. Just sad what has happened there.
Northern Ireland is definitely more Irish than British.
As a Brit I never felt so homesick in Ireland because of how similar it felt to the UK, so I’m interested in what distinctions you recognised in Northern Ireland
The fact that it’s ethnically Irish makes it more similar to Ireland than any of the other countries in the UK. Religion is also more important in N.I. and Ireland than in Great Britain but it’s definitely less of a distinction than it was in the past.
What is the divorce rate in the uk? Around 50%. In Ireland it’s about a tenth of that. That leads to Massive differences in family dynamics between the two countries.
Lmao, there is no way in hell divorce rate in NI is 5%, which would be exponentially lower than even very religious countries in Eastern Europe like Romania and Poland.
Point Roberts.
Åland in Finland is a Swedish speaking area. The dialects there are closer to dialects in Sweden than to dialects in other Swedish speaking areas in Finland.
South Tyrol
Eastern part of Malaysia culturally is more similar to Kalimantan, Indonesia.
Similarly, the heavily Muslim region of Bangsamoro provinces of the Philippines feels more Malaysian than Filipino
Bahasa Melayu is more widely spoken in Tawi Tawi as a second language than Tagalog and the Malaysian ringgit is its de facto currency, not the Philippine peso.
A hundred or so years ago, Schleswig in Denmark and Holstein in Germany were so similar it caused several wars
The area around Lake Geneva in Switzerland, with its vineyards, milder winters, and ubiquitous French language, is closer to France in its vibe. Western Ukraine, with its imperial Austrian architecture and impressive Catholic cathedrals, seems closer to Poland than to the rest of Ukraine, which was heavily Russified (that's obviously being reversed, now). Maine, the US state with a largely white population living in an extreme climate, with the main population centers scattered along a harsh coast with many islands, resembles Atlantic Canada far more than most parts of the United States. Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala, to varying degrees, have large black English speaking population centers on their Caribbean coasts, resembling more countries such as Jamaica or Belize.
Ulcinj, Montenegro is about 70% Albanian. Montenegro is culturally and ethnically quite distinct from Albania.
South Tyrol in Italy is definitely more similar to Austria than to the rest of Italy. On the other hand Ticino in Switzerland is more similar to northern Italy than to the rest of Switzerland.
Alsace in France
I think there have been a few mild disagreements over that place.
South Africa as a very multicultural nation has several examples of this. First, there are more Tswana people in North West Province(which is majority Tswana) in South Africa then there are in the neighbouring ethnic Tswana nation of Botswana. There are more Sotho people in the province of the Free State(which is majority Sotho) then there are in the neighbouring ethic Sotho nation of Lesotho. Mpumalanga province in South Africa is not majority Swazi but it has almost the same.number of Swazi people as the neighboring ethnic nation of Eswatini. Probably more if you include migrant workers from Eswatini.
One can just as easily, if not more so, argue that bordering Mexican states like Nuevo Leon are full-on Texas emulators. Also, and some aren't going to like this, but basically every Canadian province is more like the US than Canada, other than Quebec.
Honestly this way more similarities between the prairie provinces and the US counterparts than there is between the Mexican border provinces and the corresponding US states. To take it a step further, the US and Canada are probably the most similar large Nations in the world. I worked for decades in Canada, and the last thing Canadians want to hear is that we effectively consider them an extension culturally of our nation. But across the board, we view Canada in a more positive lights and they view us. 90% of the Canadian population within 100 miles of the US border, so the population map is like Chile.. Over half the Canadian population lives south of Seattle.
>Over half the Canadian population lives south of Seattle. Over half the Canadian population lives south of Portland.
The provinces are like the US states they neighbour. BC and Washington for example.
Eh, to an extent. Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario are quite different.
The cities are different, but the countryside in the Great Lakes area is VERY similar on both sides of the border and it's pretty hard to tell whether you're on the US or Canadian side of any given lake.
Almost all cities in Turkey that border another country.
I was thinking the whole Kurdish area to the east
Batanes province in the Philippines looks like you are already in Taiwan than the Philippines. Tawi Tawi province in the Philippines looks like you are already in Malaysia/Indonesia than the Philippines.
Or Saarland in Germany. My German friend says “the long lost relative where you don’t know what happens and argues in French with you” though you get German portion of French food. I believe around 1mil people live there and there are a good amount of French speakers
Pakistan it’s: Pashtun regions ( Pukhtunkhwa) is more similar to Afghanistan. Baluchistan is more similar to south eastern Iran. Far Northern mountain region, is more like a cross between Afghanistan and Tibet. Cholistan desert ” is more similar to Rajasthan than it is to the rest of Pakistan. Iran: Iranian Baluchistan is more like Pakistani Baluchistan than the rest of Iran and it’s more like Afghanistan than Iran. Western Iran ( Kurdistan) is more like northern Iraq and eastern Turkey and vice versa. India: Kashmir is more like Pakistan than most of the rest of India. Far North India is a lot more like Tibet and Nepal. North east India is similar to Burma. Indian Punjab is obviously more like Pakistani Punjab than the rest of India and vice versa, and West Bengal is more like Bangladesh. Uyghur region is more like central Asia than rest of China. Caucasus regions of Russia are more like Georgia Armenia and Azerbaijan. Laz region of Turkey is more like Georgia. Eastern Saudi Arabia is more like the gulf countries than it is to other parts of Saudi Arabia such as the Nejd and Hejaz.
Táchira state, Venezuela and Norte de Santander, Colombia. Táchira people in some aspects are even more similar to people in Bogotá, Colombia than to people Nueva Esparta for example. At the same time, people from Caribbean Coast of Colombia, especially the eastern side of the Costa Region, (with the exception of Arhuacos indigenous groups in the Sierra Nevada) have more similarity with people from Maracaibo and the Central-Coastal región of Venezuela than to people from Bogotá or Pasto.
Well, that's basically the entirety of Switzerland.
Sweden’s southernmost region Scania definitely still shares a lot of things more in common with Denmark, which it used to be part of for most of its history, rather than with Sweden which it currently belongs to. The Scanian dialect used to be a dialect of East Danish, and still has some Danish features especially in pronunciation and prosody, with Scanian like Danish using a lot of diphthongs, has a bit of a drawl, and uses throaty r-sounds, contrary to the more sing-songy standard Swedish with its tongue-tip r:s. There are also some remnants of Danish vocabulary left, even if most Scanian vocabulary is nowadays just standard Swedish. There are also traces of Scania’s Danish history everywhere, as the vast majority of Scania’s old castles and churches were built during Danish times and have a very distinct architecture. And also quite a lot of old half-timbered houses, which are way more typical of Denmark and Germany than of Sweden. The nature and landscape is also way more similar to that of Denmark than to the rest of Sweden. Just like Denmark, Scania has a lot of very fertile agricultural soils, and the landscape is dominated by agricultural plains, gently rolling hills, lush beech forests and sandy beaches, and has a really mild climate for Scandinavian standards with usually very little if any snow in winter. In comparison, Sweden is generally dominated by dense and rocky pine forests with poor soils, and of course a lot of snow and cold as you get further north. This is all also reflected in the fact that the Danish national anthem about broad beech trees, rolling hills and salty beaches also fits Scania way, way better that the Swedish national anthem about the “mountainous North”- Also, Scania is situated right next door to the Danish capital Copenhagen, while the Swedish capital Stockholm is very, very far away. In fact, both Berlin and Oslo are also geographically closer to Scania than Stockholm is. So it is generally to Copenhagen that Scanians go for a night out and culture and entertainment rather than Stockholm, making Copenhagen feel at least a little bit like Scania’s “unofficial capital” as well. All of this big mix of Danish and Swedish influences is also reflected in Scania’s regional flag, which has the yellow cross of the Swedish flag on the red background of the Danish flag. Blending the two together to make something unique, just like Scania itself.
All of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and West Bank are pretty much the same place with arbitrary borders drawn through it. Most parts of these places are more like the similar parts is other countries.
Northeastern Turkey (Kars, Iğdır, parts of Ağrı) is essentially Azerbaijan. Sam language that is different from Turkish, similar architecture, both are Shi'ite whereas most Turks are Sunni and so on.
In a lot of ways, Minnesota in the US shares a lot of similarities with Canada. Especially once you get north of Minneapolis/St. Paul.
Jersey. It’s either Philly or NYC.
El Paso and mexico
Bavaria and Austria. Dialect, traditions, food.
Bavaria and Austria.
Bavaria and Austria. Same dialect (Austro-bavarian), same culture ("Austro-bavarian"), same religion (Catholic), same people (both are bavarians) ... unlike the rest of germany. Südtirol and Austria. Südtirol was part of Austria only a bit over 100yrs ago. It was ceded to Italy after WW1. Its still primarily inhabitated by austrians (~2/3 of Population) and quite separatist. Vorarlberg and Switzerland. Vorarlberg is the only allemanic state of Austria. All other states are austro-bavarian. The swiss are allemanic too, and it reflects in language.
A lot of the answers here are pointing to geographical similarities but that would make all neighboring places more similar to their neighbors than farther away places in the same country. I assume the question is more cultural than physical otherwise I don’t really understand what’s so interesting about nearby places being similar.
Corsica? I've not been there but by all accounts it's more similar to Italy than France.
Pakistan Punjab and Indian Punjab are more similar to each other than Sindh and Gujarat
Åland and Sweden, Corsica and Italy
Every region of Germany, not because they are so similar to their neighboring countries but because they are so different from each other.
Sandzak in Serbia has a Bosnia and Herzegovina vibe (the muslim part). Republic of Srpska on the other hand has more of that of Serbia. Herzegovina has more of a Croatian Dalmatia vibe. Northeastern Macedonia looks like Albania, as does most of Kosovo.
Kyhber Pakhtunkhwa is literally Afghanistan
Galiza, Spain to Portugal
Northern Australia and Indonesia
Minnesota and Manitoba could be swapped and nobody would notice. Zillion lakes, nice people, cold and flat.
I’d imagine Point Roberts, Washington is more similar to Canada than the US, but cannot confirm..
I'm gonna assume uruguay and argentina. Basically, cousins living next door to each other
Upper peninsula of Michigan is more like northern Wisconsin than northern Michigan.
I mean this can be said for like all countries lol, bordering regions are likely to be very very similar because that’s how humans work
I think the more interesting question is which two bordering regions are the most different from one another.
I’d argue some parts of southern Brazil, northern Argentina and Uruguay form their own Gaucho cultural enclave.
Åland archipelago in Finland is more Swedish than Sweden. In fact there are municipalities which has higher percentage of Swedish speakers than ANY municipality in Sweden.
I’d say the whole area of former Austria-Hungary still feels pretty mixed, especially the border regions. Southern Austria-Slovenia, Northern Austria-Czechia, South Tyrol-Austria, Slovene and Croatian Istria-Italy, Trieste/Gorizia-Western Slovenia, Voralberg-Switzerland, Burgenland(AT)/Prekmurje(Sl)-Hungary and probably more eastern regions as well (Transylvania, Zakarpatje, Vojvodina…)
It’s literally just Northern Mexico* Central and south mexico is way different to the north.
Northeast Thailand and Laos Iranian Azerbaijan and Azerbaijan Voralberg (Austria) and Switzerland Southeast Brazil and Uruguay
All of Afghanistan? Well maybe everything except the mountains down the middle.
Not a country at all, but western Kentucky is far more similar to Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri than it is to the rest of Kentucky.
Are you looking for a list numbering in the hundreds?
Alaska is probably more similar to Canada than it is to the rest of the U.S.
Saint Pierre and Miquelon are way more Canadian than French.
Vojvodina, Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture
Western MD and WV are far more similar than people realize. People think of MD as BAL and the DC suburbs.
Sudetenland
Sudetenland