The Least Similar Country to Every Country in the World

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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 data from the Index was used to determine the least similar country to each country in the world. The above map reflects the results, where many patterns emerge.

For nearly one-third of the countries (58 in total), Japan is their least similar country, including nearly every African country. Somalia is second with a total of 14. For many Eastern European nations, Melanesian countries like the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea are the least similar. For the rest of Europe, the least similar countries tend to be located in Africa. The least similar countries to South and Southeast Asian nations tend to be located in Europe, United States, Canada, and Australia. Interestingly enough, no country has a Central Asian nation as its least similar.

The following table shows the least similar country to every country in the world and the amount of similarity between them. According to the Index, Japan and Niger are the absolute two least similar countries in the world. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Albania has the most similar least similar country, Singapore.

Country	Least Similar	Similarity
JAPAN	NIGER	25.4
NIGER	JAPAN	25.4
CHAD	JAPAN	25.5
MALI	JAPAN	26.8
SOMALIA	JAPAN	27
MAURITANIA	JAPAN	27.2
ERITREA	JAPAN	27.3
SUDAN	JAPAN	27.8
YEMEN	JAPAN	27.9
TAIWAN	SOMALIA	28.1
SOUTH SUDAN	JAPAN	28.2
CENT AFR REP	JAPAN	28.5
SOUTH KOREA	NIGER	28.8
BURKINA FASO	JAPAN	28.9
NEW ZEALAND	NIGER	29
BURUNDI	JAPAN	29.2
CANADA	ERITREA	29.3
GREAT BRITAIN	CHAD	29.5
TOGO	JAPAN	29.6
AFGHANISTAN	JAPAN	29.7
UGANDA	JAPAN	29.9
BENIN	JAPAN	30
ETHIOPIA	JAPAN	30
SWITZERLAND	SOMALIA	30.3
SINGAPORE	NIGER	30.3
NETHERLANDS	SUDAN	30.4
ANGOLA	JAPAN	30.4
DEM REP CONGO	JAPAN	30.4
GERMANY	ERITREA	30.6
LUXEMBOURG	SOMALIA	30.7
DJIBOUTI	JAPAN	30.9
GAMBIA	JAPAN	30.9
NORWAY	SOMALIA	31
GUINEA BISSAU	JAPAN	31
RWANDA	JAPAN	31
SENEGAL	JAPAN	31
IRELAND	ERITREA	31
CAMBODIA	UNITED STATES	31.2
MOZAMBIQUE	JAPAN	31.2
UNITED STATES	CAMBODIA	31.2
CAMEROON	JAPAN	31.4
FINLAND	YEMEN	31.5
BELGIUM	SUDAN	31.5
DENMARK	ERITREA	31.5
ICELAND	SUDAN	31.6
IVORY COAST	JAPAN	31.8
SWEDEN	ERITREA	31.8
LAOS	CANADA	31.9
REP CONGO	JAPAN	32
AUSTRALIA	LAOS	32.1
TANZANIA	JAPAN	32.1
BANGLADESH	CANADA	32.1
GUINEA	JAPAN	32.3
SIERRA LEONE	JAPAN	32.3
AUSTRIA	SOMALIA	32.5
NIGERIA	JAPAN	32.6
ZAMBIA	JAPAN	32.6
EQUAT. GUINEA	JAPAN	32.8
MALAWI	JAPAN	32.8
KENYA	JAPAN	32.9
PAPUA NEW GUINEA	ISRAEL	32.9
ISRAEL	PAPUA NEW GUINEA	33
LIBERIA	JAPAN	33.3
LIBYA	JAPAN	33.5
ZIMBABWE	JAPAN	33.7
FRANCE	SUDAN	33.8
BAHRAIN	LESOTHO	33.8
LESOTHO	BAHRAIN	33.8
GHANA	JAPAN	33.9
NORTH KOREA	AUSTRALIA	33.9
MYANMAR	ICELAND	34.1
BHUTAN	UNITED STATES	34.3
CZECHIA	ERITREA	34.3
QATAR	DEM REP CONGO	34.3
ESTONIA	SUDAN	34.5
HAITI	SAUDI ARABIA	34.5
SOLOMON ISLANDS	ISRAEL	34.5
SAUDI ARABIA	HAITI	34.5
ITALY	NIGER	34.6
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES	LESOTHO	34.6
BAHAMAS	YEMEN	34.7
PAKISTAN	TAIWAN	34.7
GABON	JAPAN	34.8
SYRIA	JAPAN	34.8
KUWAIT	LESOTHO	34.9
INDIA	ICELAND	35.1
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO	ERITREA	35.1
SPAIN	NIGER	35.2
GREECE	NIGER	35.3
EGYPT	JAPAN	35.3
BELARUS	PAPUA NEW GUINEA	35.4
NAMIBIA	JAPAN	35.4
SLOVENIA	SUDAN	35.5
TAJIKISTAN	JAPAN	35.5
LITHUANIA	SOMALIA	35.6
CAPE VERDE	EAST TIMOR	35.6
EAST TIMOR	CANADA	35.6
ESWATINI	JAPAN	35.7
PORTUGAL	SUDAN	35.8
LATVIA	ERITREA	35.8
MADAGASCAR	JAPAN	35.9
NEPAL	UNITED STATES	36
RUSSIA	SOLOMON ISLANDS	36.1
ALGERIA	JAPAN	36.1
CHINA	CENT AFR REP	36.2
IRAQ	JAPAN	36.3
THAILAND	NIGER	36.6
HUNGARY	YEMEN	36.7
COSTA RICA	SOMALIA	36.7
CUBA	BHUTAN	36.7
POLAND	SUDAN	36.8
KAZAKHSTAN	SOLOMON ISLANDS	36.8
UKRAINE	SOLOMON ISLANDS	36.9
IRAN	SOLOMON ISLANDS	37
TURKMENISTAN	JAPAN	37
CROATIA	ERITREA	37
JAMAICA	NORTH KOREA	37.2
SLOVAKIA	SOMALIA	37.4
CYPRUS	DEM REP CONGO	37.4
OMAN	JAPAN	37.5
CHILE	SUDAN	37.8
INDONESIA	CANADA	37.8
BULGARIA	NIGER	37.9
BOTSWANA	JAPAN	37.9
VANUATU	SAUDI ARABIA	38
SAMOA	SAUDI ARABIA	38.1
BOLIVIA	JAPAN	38.1
JORDAN	JAPAN	38.1
URUGUAY	SUDAN	38.2
SOUTH AFRICA	NORTH KOREA	38.2
PANAMA	SUDAN	38.5
HONDURAS	BAHRAIN	38.5
AZERBAIJAN	SOLOMON ISLANDS	38.6
MOROCCO	JAPAN	38.7
PARAGUAY	JAPAN	38.7
FIJI	YEMEN	38.9
SERBIA	SOMALIA	38.9
ARGENTINA	NORTH KOREA	39.2
NICARAGUA	JAPAN	39.2
GUYANA	CHINA	39.2
BRUNEI	BURKINA FASO	39.2
MONGOLIA	TRINIDAD & TOBAGO	39.4
UZBEKISTAN	SOLOMON ISLANDS	39.4
SRI LANKA	ICELAND	39.4
ARMENIA	SOLOMON ISLANDS	39.6
ROMANIA	SOMALIA	39.7
TUNISIA	JAPAN	39.7
VIETNAM	CANADA	40
GUATEMALA	BAHRAIN	40
TURKEY	SOLOMON ISLANDS	40.1
MAURITIUS	NORTH KOREA	40.1
LEBANON	PAPUA NEW GUINEA	40.4
NORTH MACEDONIA	PAPUA NEW GUINEA	40.4
MALAYSIA	CHAD	40.4
GEORGIA	SOMALIA	40.5
KYRGYZSTAN	BAHAMAS	40.5
COLOMBIA	SOMALIA	40.7
SURINAME	NORTH KOREA	40.7
PERU	BAHRAIN	40.7
BOSNIA	SOLOMON ISLANDS	40.8
EL SALVADOR	SUDAN	41
VENEZUELA	JAPAN	41
BELIZE	CHINA	41
MONTENEGRO	SOMALIA	41.1
MOLDOVA	SOLOMON ISLANDS	41.2
ECUADOR	BAHRAIN	41.2
BRAZIL	YEMEN	41.3
PHILIPPINES	FINLAND	41.5
MEXICO	SOMALIA	41.6
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC	NORTH KOREA	42.1
ALBANIA	SINGAPORE	43.4