(Middle Eastern countries are defined as Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen)
Determining the country most similar to the Middle East and North Africa region 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, the most average country in the Middle East is Jordan. It is at the confluence between North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and the Levant. It is mostly barren desert, since its climate is hot and dry. Like the vast majority of countries in the region, its people natively speak Arabic and are predominately Sunni Muslim. Jordan is a constitutional monarchy, but its king still retains a lot of power. This makes the country in between the absolute monarchies and more democratic states in the region. It is not extremely wealthy like some countries on the Arabian peninsula, but it is not extremely poor either.
An analysis of the data shows that Djibouti is the country most similar to the Middle East and North Africa that is not clustered in with the region. Although it is clearly part of Sub-Saharan Africa, it has a lot in common with Middle Eastern nations. A majority of its people are Muslim. Furthermore, it is just across the Red Sea from Saudi Arabia, so these countries have had a multitude of cultural exchanges. Most of the Middle East has a hot, dry climate and barren landscapes, just like Djibouti.
(Does not include any transitional countries like Sudan, Mauritania, Afghanistan, and Pakistan)
Unsurprisingly, the data shows that Japan is the least similar country to the Middle East. Japan is an island in the Pacific with a temperate climate. It is heavily forested and densely populated, unlike most of the Middle East. Furthermore, its population is not nearly as religious as most countries in the Middle East. Shintoism and Buddhism are the country’s two most prominent religions. Furthermore, its language and writing system are completely different from Arabic. Middle Eastern people tend to be less outgoing than the Japanese as well. Politically, Japan is democracy, unlike many Middle Eastern countries that have authoritarian governments.
