The 7.8 billion people globally are a fascinating mix of races, ethnicities, and religions. The many languages, cultures, religions, ethnicities, values, and traditions that we humans portray are a breathtaking variety.
It should be no surprise that most nations celebrate various cultures and ethnic groupings in light of this tremendous diversity. However, which nations are the most varied in ethnicity and culture?
Erkan Gören’s research on cultural diversity
According to a study published in 2013 by German researcher Erkan Gören, titled “Economic Effects of Domestic and Neighboring Nations’ Cultural Variety,” the degree of cultural diversity in 180 countries throughout the globe was assessed.
It was important to Gören that each country’s primary ethnic groups have a common language and ethnicity.
For Gören, groups with comparable languages were more likely to have similar cultural traits, whereas groups with divergent languages were more likely to have more pronounced cultural differences.
Each nation received a score between 0 and 1, with 1 being the most diversified and 0 being the least.
For Gören’s research, the focus was not on determining the most ethnically diverse countries but rather on the most culturally varied ones.
Rather than emphasizing racial distinctions (which many current ethnologists contend are due to social rather than genetic factors), the research focuses on cultural ones.
This approach is critical when looking at nations like Brazil. According to Gören, the country’s population is varied.
Still, since almost all Brazilians speak Portuguese as their main language, he concluded that their culture had become rather homogenized and classified Brazil as one of the least culturally diverse countries.
In Cameroon’s diversity into perspective, the country is home to more than 200 dialects and more than 250 indigenous groups.
According to UNESCO, Cameroon is an “example of variety to the world” because of its diverse cultures and faiths and the peace and tolerance they offer to one another.
Goren 2013 lists the world’s top ten most culturally diverse countries.
Togo – 0.8118 Democratic Republic of the Congo – 0.8111 Kenya – 0.8091 Guinea-Bissau – 0.7857 Democratic Republic of the Congo (Republic of) – 0.7764 Ivory Coast – 0.7723 Liberia – 0.7694
More than 100 ethnic groups call Chad, an African nation home to 8.6 million people, home to Gören’s most culturally varied country.
Due to its size (approximately 495,624 square miles), Chad’s ethnic groups have maintained their independence despite several efforts to unite them.
Ethnic groups in Chad are distinct from the origins of most of the country’s 100 native languages. Arabic is widely spoken in the country, as is Sara and French, the latter of which is a vital trade language.
Studies on cultural diversity frequently place African nations at the top of the list because of the wide variety of tribal groupings and languages that inhabit the continent. Although Canada is a western country, it is one of the world’s most diversified nations.
Country | Cultural Diversity Index | 2022 Population |
---|---|---|
chad | 0.8514 | 17413.5800 |
cameroon | 0.8426 | 27911.5480 |
nigeria | 0.8306 | 216746.9340 |
togo | 0.8118 | 8680.8370 |
kenya | 0.8091 | 56215.2210 |
guinea-bissau | 0.7857 | 2063.3670 |
Republic of the Congo | 0.7764 | 5797.8050 |
ivory coast | 0.7723 | 27742.2980 |
liberia | 0.7694 | 5305.1170 |
gambia | 0.7666 | 2558.4820 |
central african republic | 0.7414 | 5016.6780 |
gabon | 0.7379 | 2331.5330 |
tanzania | 0.7353 | 63298.5500 |
south africa | 0.7289 | 60756.1350 |
guinea | 0.7182 | 13865.6910 |
suriname | 0.7108 | 596.8310 |
sudan | 0.6961 | 45992.0200 |
canada | 0.6924 | 38388.4190 |
qatar | 0.6868 | 2979.9150 |
benin | 0.6845 | 12784.7260 |
pakistan | 0.6820 | 229488.9940 |
angola | 0.6721 | 35027.3430 |
mali | 0.6718 | 21473.7640 |
senegal | 0.6706 | 17653.6710 |
zambia | 0.6681 | 19470.2340 |
bolivia | 0.6671 | 11992.6560 |
mozambique | 0.6577 | 33089.4610 |
burkina faso | 0.6501 | 22102.8380 |
ghana | 0.6500 | 32395.4500 |
afghanistan | 0.6478 | 40754.3880 |
indonesia | 0.6473 | 279134.5050 |
belize | 0.6436 | 412.1900 |
niger | 0.6409 | 26083.6600 |
india | 0.6367 | 1406631.7760 |
united arab emirates | 0.6246 | 10081.7850 |
andorra | 0.6022 | 77.4630 |
kazakhstan | 0.5976 | 19205.0430 |
philippines | 0.5894 | 112508.9940 |
malaysia | 0.5877 | 33181.0720 |
malawi | 0.5858 | 20180.8390 |
mauritania | 0.5843 | 4901.9810 |
peru | 0.5768 | 33684.2080 |
bhutan | 0.5751 | 787.9410 |
iran | 0.5750 | 86022.8370 |
nepal | 0.5718 | 30225.5820 |
namibia | 0.5501 | 2633.8740 |
fiji | 0.5459 | 909.4660 |
eritrea | 0.5458 | 3662.2440 |
mexico | 0.5418 | 131562.7720 |
belgium | 0.5374 | 11668.2780 |
kuwait | 0.5307 | 4380.3260 |
djibouti | 0.5235 | 1016.0970 |
guyana | 0.5198 | 794.0450 |
latvia | 0.5168 | 1848.8370 |
moldova | 0.5136 | 4013.1710 |
guatemala | 0.5112 | 18584.0390 |
ethiopia | 0.5067 | 120812.6980 |
brunei | 0.5007 | 445.4310 |
switzerland | 0.4960 | 8773.6370 |
thailand | 0.4958 | 70078.2030 |
myanmar | 0.4889 | 55227.1430 |
tajikistan | 0.4886 | 9957.4640 |
estonia | 0.4835 | 1321.9100 |
georgia | 0.4818 | 3968.7380 |
ecuador | 0.4800 | 18113.3610 |
trinidad and tobago | 0.4783 | 1406.5850 |
luxembourg | 0.4782 | 642.3710 |
north macedonia | 0.4674 | 2081.3040 |
sierra leone | 0.4628 | 8306.4360 |
bahrain | 0.4576 | 1783.9830 |
serbia | 0.4573 | 8653.0160 |
jordan | 0.4558 | 10300.8690 |
laos | 0.4490 | 7481.0230 |
morocco | 0.4445 | 37772.7560 |
mauritius | 0.4350 | 1274.7270 |
palau | 0.4301 | 18.2330 |
oman | 0.4101 | 5323.9930 |
sri lanka | 0.4074 | 21575.8420 |
syria | 0.4008 | 19364.8090 |
new zealand | 0.3925 | 4898.2030 |
singapore | 0.3857 | 5943.5460 |
france | 0.3799 | 65584.5180 |
kyrgyzstan | 0.3747 | 6728.2710 |
botswana | 0.3670 | 2441.1620 |
uganda | 0.3630 | 48432.8630 |
iraq | 0.3627 | 42164.9650 |
uzbekistan | 0.3564 | 34382.0840 |
bulgaria | 0.3527 | 6844.5970 |
libya | 0.3466 | 7040.7450 |
ukraine | 0.3349 | 43192.1220 |
liechtenstein | 0.3275 | 38.3870 |
equatorial guinea | 0.3252 | 1496.6620 |
zimbabwe | 0.3187 | 15331.4280 |
algeria | 0.3175 | 45350.1480 |
mongolia | 0.3101 | 3378.0780 |
turkey | 0.3100 | 85561.9760 |
romania | 0.2975 | 19031.3350 |
madagascar | 0.2943 | 29178.0770 |
turkmenistan | 0.2932 | 6201.9430 |
lithuania | 0.2901 | 2661.7080 |
israel | 0.2830 | 8922.8920 |
spain | 0.2816 | 46719.1420 |
san marino | 0.2808 | 34.0850 |
united states | 0.2780 | 334805.2690 |
papua new guinea | 0.2718 | 9292.1690 |
bahamas | 0.2642 | 400.5160 |
taiwan | 0.2487 | 23888.5950 |
russia | 0.2353 | 145805.9470 |
vietnam | 0.2350 | 98953.5410 |
slovakia | 0.2309 | 5460.1930 |
jamaica | 0.2208 | 2985.0940 |
panama | 0.2176 | 4446.9640 |
croatia | 0.2102 | 4059.2860 |
albania | 0.2086 | 2866.3740 |
cambodia | 0.2049 | 17168.6390 |
azerbaijan | 0.2032 | 10300.2050 |
seychelles | 0.2009 | 99.4260 |
lesotho | 0.2007 | 2175.6990 |
belarus | 0.1965 | 9432.8000 |
chile | 0.1861 | 19250.1950 |
saudi arabia | 0.1800 | 35844.9090 |
egypt | 0.1793 | 106156.6920 |
el salvador | 0.1781 | 6550.3890 |
greece | 0.1768 | 10316.6370 |
tuvalu | 0.1629 | 12.0660 |
germany | 0.1625 | 83883.5960 |
poland | 0.1506 | 37739.7850 |
hungary | 0.1492 | 9606.2590 |
paraguay | 0.1490 | 7305.8430 |
slovenia | 0.1461 | 2078.0340 |
denmark | 0.1422 | 5834.9500 |
china | 0.1379 | 1448471.4000 |
lebanon | 0.1262 | 6684.8490 |
honduras | 0.1250 | 10221.2470 |
bosnia and herzegovina | 0.1199 | 3249.3170 |
armenia | 0.1195 | 2971.9660 |
finland | 0.1119 | 5554.9600 |
solomon islands | 0.1110 | 721.1590 |
somalia | 0.1092 | 16841.7950 |
netherlands | 0.1053 | 17211.4470 |
austria | 0.0994 | 9066.7100 |
nicaragua | 0.0936 | 6779.1000 |
antigua and Barbuda | 0.0935 | 99.5090 |
cyprus | 0.0933 | 1223.3870 |
australia | 0.0929 | 26068.7920 |
united kingdom | 0.0901 | 68497.9070 |
barbados | 0.0875 | 288.0230 |
tonga | 0.0869 | 107.7490 |
ireland | 0.0869 | 5020.1990 |
italy | 0.0820 | 60262.7700 |
saint vincent and the grenadines | 0.0786 | 111.5510 |
colombia | 0.0774 | 51512.7620 |
dominica | 0.0715 | 72.3440 |
saint lucia | 0.0711 | 185.1130 |
iceland | 0.0678 | 345.3930 |
grenada | 0.0667 | 113.4750 |
hong kong | 0.0620 | 7604.2990 |
marshall islands | 0.0600 | 60.0570 |
czech republic | 0.0594 | 10736.7840 |
costa rica | 0.0584 | 5182.3540 |
sweden | 0.0583 | 10218.9710 |
saint kitts and nevis | 0.0582 | 53.8710 |
norway | 0.0581 | 5511.3700 |
Eswatini | 0.0579 | 1184.8170 |
burundi | 0.0506 | 12624.8400 |
kiribati | 0.0491 | 123.4190 |
portugal | 0.0451 | 10140.5700 |
vanuatu | 0.0405 | 321.8320 |
north korea | 0.0392 | 25990.6790 |
venezuela | 0.0392 | 29266.9910 |
tunisia | 0.0391 | 12046.6560 |
malta | 0.0294 | 444.0330 |
cuba | 0.0198 | 11305.6520 |
bangladesh | 0.0183 | 167885.6890 |
japan | 0.0119 | 125584.8380 |
brazil | 0.0119 | 215353.5930 |
samoa | 0.0078 | 202.2390 |
south korea | 0.0020 | 51329.8990 |
comoros | 0 | 907.4190 |
uruguay | 0 | 3496.0160 |
dominican republic | 0 | 11056.3700 |
haiti | 0 | 11680.2830 |
rwanda | 0 | 13600.4640 |
argentina | 0 | 46010.2340 |
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