(Southeast Asian countries defined as Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam)
Determining the countries 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.
According to the data, Malaysia is the most average Southeast Asian country. It is located between Thailand and Indonesia, spanning Mainland Southeast Asia and the Southeast Asian Islands. Like Brunei, Indonesia, and Singapore, it has a variety of Malay as one of its official languages. The country is also quite religiously diverse, like the region. It is mostly Muslim, but around 20 percent of its people are Buddhist. Like all countries in the Southeast Asia region, Malaysia has a tropical climate, because it tends to be hot and humid. It borders both the Indian and Pacific Oceans as well.
Although Sri Lanka is outside Southeast Asia, it has many characteristics of the region. Geography and culture are the two biggest reasons why. Most Sri Lankans follow Theravada Buddhism, which is also practiced in several Southeast Asian countries. The country also has significant Muslim and Christian populations as well, reflecting Southeast Asia’s religious diversity. Furthermore, rice is by far the most commonly eaten ingredient in both Sri Lankan and Southeast Asian diets. Sri Lanka has a tropical climate. Furthermore, since Sri Lanka is an island with an abundant amount of coastline, like the majority of Southeast Asian countries.
Located in the Northern Hemisphere, Iceland is the least similar country to Southeast Asia, according to the data. It has a much lower percentage of forests and agricultural land than Southeast Asia. It also is significantly less densely populated. Iceland is a predominately Protestant country, although the nation is not especially religious. Iceland also uses far more electricity per capita than the average Southeast Asian country. Iceland’s laws are significantly less conservative than Southeast Asia’s as well. Furthermore, people in Iceland are much wealthier on average.
