Determining the European country most similar to Latin America requires considering various social, cultural, economic, and political factors.
One way to answer this complex question is by analyzing the data from the Country Similarity Index. The index attempts to quantify how similar countries are to each other relative to other countries, using a variety of statistics from five broad categories: demographics, culture, politics, infrastructure, and geography.
The data suggests that Spain is the most similar European nation to Latin America. This is not surprising, since most of the countries in the region were colonized by it. On the other end of the spectrum, Finland is the least similar European country.
(Latin America countries are defined as Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela)
Culture is the biggest reason why Spain is the most similar country in Europe to Latin America. However, there are also a few geographical and political reasons why they are somewhat alike as well.
Culture
Spanish colonization had a profound and lasting impact on the culture, language, and traditions of many Latin American countries. As a result, Spanish is the official language in most of these countries. Due to Spanish missionaries, the majority of these countries are predominately Catholic as well. Furthermore, people in Spain and Latin America tend to be more extroverted than most countries in Europe.
Politics
Both Spain and many Latin American countries follow the civil law tradition, based on the Napoleonic Code. Their judicial systems place an emphasis on comprehensive legal codes that cover a wide range of legal matter. In addition, Spain and many Latin American countries have experienced political instability and corruption. This can be attributed to factors such as economic challenges, social issues, and historical legacies.
Geography
Since Spain is in southwestern Europe, it is on of the closest countries in Europe to Latin America. Spain’s average temperature is warmer than most European countries, since it is further to the south. In fact, some of its regions support tropical vegetation. Latin America also tends to have a warmer climate than Europe. Spain also has a variety of different climates, so its diversity is akin to the variation found across Latin America.
The Most Similar Latin American Country to Spain
The Country Similarity Index suggests that Chile is the most similar Latin American country to Spain, although Argentina and Uruguay also have many similarities. Chile is a Spanish-speaking country where a high percentage of its population has European ancestry. Since both countries feature a wide variety of climates from arid to temperate, their geography is somewhat similar as well. In fact, Chile has the most land in the Mediterranean climate of any Latin American country. Furthermore, Chile has been relatively stable economically and politically compared to some other Latin American nations.
