(Countries on the Asian continent defined as Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Cyprus, East Timor, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen)
Determining the country most similar to 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.
Asia is extremely diverse, so no one country exhibits a huge amount of traits in common with all nations on the continent. However, since most countries in Asia are Middle Eastern or Central Asian, it is no surprise that the data shows a mostly Muslim nation, Jordan, as the most similar to the average country in Asia. Like a large portion of the continent has a lot of barren desert. Like many nations in the region, its people natively speak Arabic. Asia has a mix of political systems. Jordan is a constitutional monarchy, but its king retains some power. It is not very wealthy like some countries on the Arabian peninsula, but it is not very poor either.
On the other end of the spectrum, East Timor is the least similar to the average Asian nation, among countries considered to be part of Asia. Unlike most of the continent’s countries, it was a Portuguese colony and the vast majority of its people are Catholic. The country primarily uses that Latin alphabet, unlike the majority of Asian nations. East Timor has more in common with many Melanesian and Polynesian nations in the South Pacific. Despite abundant natural resources, East Timor faces significant economic challenges and relies heavily on foreign aid, differentiating it from many of its more economically developed Asian counterparts.
Interestingly enough, Egypt is the most similar country to the average country in Asia outside of the continent. The vast majority of its land is located in Africa. Other North African countries like Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco make top four list. Islam is the predominant religion in both the Middle East and Central Asia, as well as Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Malaysia, shaping societal norms and practices. In addition, Egypt is relatively well-developed, but not nearly as wealthy as its counterparts on the Arabian peninsula like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.
According to the data, the least similar country to the average Asian country is Canada. Its climate is far colder than most of Asia’s countries. Canada’s history is shaped by European colonization, particularly by the French and British. In addition, the country’s parliamentary system and federal structure differ significantly from the political systems prevalent in many Asian countries. It is significantly more democratic and has far less conservative laws. Canada tends to have more developed infrastructure, including transportation, communication, healthcare, and education.
