The Most Similar Countries to Russia

Russia Similar Countries Map

Have you ever wondered how similar or different two countries are? The Country Similarity Index attempts to quantify how similar countries are to each other relative to other countries. The index is a statistically-based way to measure this. It weighs equally five major aspects of countries: their demographics, culture, politics, infrastructure, and geography. The methodology is exactly the same for each country. The research combines 1,000 different data points to arrive at the conclusions.

Russia Similar Countries Diagram

Top 10 Countries Most Similar to Russia

Russia is in the North Eurasia region. Four of the five most similar countries to Russia were once part of the Soviet Union. Most were part of the Russian Empire at one time or another too. With the exception of Latvia, they all use the Cyrillic alphabet. Their infrastructure is similar as well. They all use Type C, F electrical outlets and drive on the right side of the road. In addition, four of the five use the Russian railroad track gauge. These countries also tend to have high levels of atheism and many irreligious people, due to their government’s oppression of religion in the past.

  1. Belarus was a former member of the Soviet Union and retains more ties to Russia than others. Citizens of both countries can move freely between them and also work. Belarus also has the highest percentage of Russian speakers outside of Russia. The biggest difference is that most of Belarus is agricultural land, while Russia is far more sparsely populated and has more wilderness.
  2. Ukraine had been part of the Russian Empire for over 100 years, even before it became part of the Soviet Union. Their demographics, culture, and technology are all quite similar, even though diplomatic relations between the two countries at this point have broken down significantly. Like Ukraine, the biggest difference between the countries is geography, although they border each other.
  3. Kazakhstan, like Ukraine, had been part of the Russian Empire for over 100 years. Both countries still maintain significant economic and military ties. The biggest difference between Russia and Kazakhstan is the ethnicity of its people. Kazakhs are Turkic people who practice Islam. However, there still are a large amount of Russians living in Kazakhstan and Russian is still an official language there. Their governments are quite similar as well. Both countries are sparsely populated, but Kazakhstan has a warmer and drier climate.
  4. Serbia is the only country on this list that was not part of the Soviet Union. Most Russians and Serbians speak Slavic languages and are Orthodox Christians. They also both use the Cyrillic alphabet, although Serbian can be written in the Latin script as well. Their laws are also similar. Both do not allow same sex marriage or prostiution. They also do allow abortion. One difference is that Serbia has a parliamentary system of government with a unicameral legislature.
  5. Latvia was also part of the Soviet Union, before it became independent. It is now part of the European Union. The country is located between the Baltic Sea and Russia. It is a diverse mix of Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox Christians, although both Latvia and Russia are not very religious. However, in general, Latvians are less outgoing than Russians. In addition, it has a higher level of development and is now part of the European Union and NATO.
  6. Lithuania, 7. Bulgaria, 8. Romania, 9. Montenegro, 10. Slovakia

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Top 10 Countries Least Similar to Russia

The least similar to Russia countries come from primarily two different places. Melanesia has little similarity, despite the fact that both countries are predominately Christian. Another group of countries with little similarity to Russia are predominately Muslim countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. These countries all tend to be far less developed than Russia. Their average temperatures are much warmer as well.

  1. Solomon Islands is an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean. Unlike Russia, which has one of the strongest militaries in the world, Solomon Islands doesn’t even have a military. The islands also need to import all their energy in the form of oil, while Russia relies on domestically produced natural gas. The country is also more democratic and uses the parliamentary system of government. However, both countries are mostly Christian.
  2. Sierra Leone is an African country on the Atlantic Coast. It was originally created by the British as a place for freed slaves to settle. It is especially different from Russia demographically. Its people are much skinnier and shorter than Russians on average. In addition, it has a high rate of poverty. The country is predominately Muslim and more religious than Russia. The diet of people in Sierra Leone is especially dissimilar since they mostly eat rice and cassava.
  3. Gambia is another predominately Muslim former British colony in Africa. The country is densely populated and its land is concentrated along the Gambia River. Like other countries on this list, its climate is far hotter than Russia, although they get about the same amount of rainfall. The country also has a much higher birth rate and few elderly people in contrast to Russia.
  4. Somalia is located in Africa on the Indian Ocean coast. It is conservative Muslim country. The country has been at civil war, so its infrastructure is not well developed. In contrast to Russia’s subarctic taiga, it is located in a tropical desert. Still, both countries are sparsely populated and have a lot of coastline.
  5. Papua New Guinea is one of the hottest and wettest countries in the world. Its people have little in common demographically or culturally with Russia. Furthermore, although its people are Christians, they are generally Protestants and more religious. In addition, its technology is far different from Russia’s, since it drives on the left, uses Type I electrical outlets, and has no railroads in use.
  6. Bangladesh, 7. Malawi, 8. Niger, 9. Guinea-Bissau, 10. Liberia

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Russia is like if Belarus was more like Canada

Belarus is by far the most similar country to Russia. Geography is the biggest difference between these countries, despite the fact that they border each other. Canada’s geography much more closely resembles Russia, although they are not especially similar countries in other respects. These countries are less densely populated and have colder climates than Belarus. Much more of their landscape is covered with coniferous forests and they have a far lower percentage of agricultural land. The both border the Arctic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, and Atlantic Ocean, while Belarus is landlocked. Much of their land is covered with freshwater lakes.

Full Ranking of Countries and Territories Most Similar to Russia

All data accurate as of 2020.

Russia Similar Countries Graph

Country Superlatives

Most Similar Demographics: Belarus
Most Similar Culture: Belarus
Most Similar Government: Belarus
Most Similar Infrastructure: Ukraine
Most Similar Geography: Canada

Least Similar Demographics: Niger
Least Similar Culture: Cambodia
Least Similar Government: Saudi Arabia
Least Similar Infrastructure: Haiti
Least Similar Geography: Bahrain

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28 Comments

  1. Balto-slavic is just a controversial theory that once these languages used to be connected historically. But they have split up and if you would take a Russian speaker and make him listen to Latvian or Lithuanian they would not understand anything.
    It would make so much more sense to have Serbia instead. And I think Moldova, a country that has moved from it’s USSR past much less than fully democratic EU member states of Latvia and Lithuania.

  2. Serbia and Russia both use cyrilic alphabet, both have ortodox faith, both love soccer, both are not fully-democratic, languages are mutually intelligable.

    Also, Russian language is super similar to Bulgarian. It is as close as it gets. Because of this during the Soviet times Bulgaria was nicknamed as the 16th republic of USSR. Both Bulgaria and Russia have similar GDP, similar wages, both use cyrilic alphabet, both are ortodox. Both sit on the Black sea.

    1. Totally wrong.

      Bulgarian is a South Slavic language with Turkic and Greek influences, and thus very different to East Slavic languages like Russian and Ukrainian, as well as West Slavic languages. The fact that “Bulgaria was nicknamed as the 16th republic of USSR” does not show closeness but reveals why Bulgaria has now completely removed itself from the Russian sphere of influence and is instead an ally of the US, as well as an EU and a NATO member state. For this reason, Bulgaria is developing very rapidly, wages are increasing and so is the standard of living. Meanwhile, the Russians are struggling to buy bread under the Putin regime.

      As regards the Cyrillic alphabet and Orthodox faith, the first was created in Bulgaria and the second Bulgaria adopted from the Byzantine empire before Russia even existed.

      In short, Bulgaria is a modern European country with very little in common with Russia below the surface.

    2. What do you mean by them not being fully democratic? Russia is an authoritarian dictatorship. Meanwhile Serbia is a flawed democracy, but still, a democracy. Absolutely nothing like Russia. In fact it’s considered more democratic than Ukraine, which is a hybrid regime. You not liking Serbian politics doesn’t make it undemocratic.

  3. Fuck off. Your article is trash. Your comparison to the least similar countries was quite negative and false . I’ve reported this article and page. I hope it gets taken down spreading false information about African/Muslim countries.

  4. Jane Flueta. You improper person. How can you cyber attack a person just because you do not agree with that person? Do you think using bad words can stop that person? I am allied with that person and if you continue with this I am going report this comment and report you to the cops for cyber offense.

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