Determining the country in the South Pacific region most similar to Southeast Asia 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 shows that Samoa is the most similar country in the South Pacific region to Southeast Asia. On the other end of the spectrum, Papua New Guinea is the least similar.
(Southeast Asian countries are defined as Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam)
In terms of demographics and geography, Samoa has slightly more traits in common with Southeast Asia than other countries in the South Pacific region.
Demographics
Polynesians, including the people of Samoa, have a genetic heritage that is more closely related to people from Southeast Asian than Melanesians. In fact, the ancestors of Polynesians started in Southeast Asia, and over the course of thousands of years populated many islands in the South Pacific. Furthermore, Southeast Asia tends to be more educated than the South Pacific region. Samoans have some of the highest levels of education among the countries in its region. Its literacy rate is close to 100 percent. In contrast, only about two-thirds of people in Papua New Guinea are literate.
Geography
Southeast Asia is densely populated and developed. Unlike some other islands in the South Pacific that are sparsely populated and heavily forested, Samoa has a higher population density and more developed land. Samoa has over 70 people per square kilometer. Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea have less than half the population density. Many of Samoa’s forests have been cleared agriculture.
The Most Similar East Asian Country to Samoa
The Country Similarity Index suggests that the Philippines is easily the most similar country in the Southeast Asia region to Samoa. Both countries use English as their official language and the Latin alphabet, unlike several nations in Southeast Asia. Furthermore, Samoa is predominately Christian. The Philippines has the highest percentage of Christians in the Southeast Asia region. Both countries are located on mountainous islands in the Pacific Ocean.
