# Foreign countries - which US states do they resemble? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 27, 2011, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-countries-which-us-states-do-they-resemble/572808 "2011-02-27T17:09:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-countries-which-us-states-do-they-resemble/572808/1 "2011-02-27T17:09:48Z")
I haven’t travelled much outside the US - just to Canada and the Caribbean. I am wondering how to visualize foreign countries (until I have enough money to visit them). Since I have visited plenty of US States, do certain countries strongly resemble any states? I know that most North American cities, except Montreal, don’t really resemble European ones due to the age difference. I’m more interested in countrysides and how they compare. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-countries-which-us-states-do-they-resemble/572808/2 "2011-02-27T17:30:33Z")
Except Montreal? You mean Quebec City. The surviving old part of Montreal mostly dates from British times (Rue St-Jacques, formerly St James Street), and looks a bit like London. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-countries-which-us-states-do-they-resemble/572808/3 "2011-02-27T17:31:34Z")
I’m told that the South of France resembles Southern California in climate, but not architecture. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-countries-which-us-states-do-they-resemble/572808/4 "2011-02-27T17:31:57Z")
If we’re talking countryside, there’s a lot of overlap around the world. That always fascinates me - it sure seems like someplace halfway around the world should look different than my backyard, but a lot of times, it doesn’t. Parts of Greece, for example, looks an awful lot like parts of the American southwest, minus the oceans. Dry climate, red dirt, mostly small trees & bushes as opposed to big deciduous forests. When driving from Paris to Beaune, Mr. Athena and I remarked on how much it looked like parts of Nebraska and Iowa - farms, corn, rolling hills. Unless there was something obviously French in the pictures, like a church steeple in the distance, you couldn’t tell the difference in places. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-countries-which-us-states-do-they-resemble/572808/5 "2011-02-27T17:35:40Z")
Southern Finland and central Sweden strongly resemble Central Ontario (the Shield country, the Thousand Islands). I was quite surprised by this; I had thought that the SHield country was unique in the world. But there are little rocky islands topped with cottages that could be straight out of Muskoka… in the middle of the bay around Helsinki. Southern Sweden resembles Southern Ontario. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-countries-which-us-states-do-they-resemble/572808/6 "2011-02-27T17:36:42Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Except Montreal? You mean Quebec City. The surviving old part of Montreal mostly dates from British times (Rue St-Jacques, formerly St James Street), and looks a bit like London. Well, I’ve been to Montreal but not Quebec City. I have heard that Quebec does look very European. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-countries-which-us-states-do-they-resemble/572808/7 "2011-02-27T17:47:28Z")
I’m told that Western Wisconsin resembles the Rhine River district in Germany. Obviously. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-countries-which-us-states-do-they-resemble/572808/8 "2011-02-27T17:51:07Z")
I was in Wisconsin and it reminded me of Ireland, especially Ulster. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-countries-which-us-states-do-they-resemble/572808/9 "2011-02-27T18:26:26Z")
You can see echos of very specific places in other very specific places. [Tereldj National Park](http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/694b7/6d6/) in Mongolia looks a lot like the [Sierra Nevadas](http://www.trekway.com/spain-andalusia/photos-03-sierra-nevada.html). The [hills outside of Lijiang](http://travel.webshots.com/photo/1527910724044754651uPsymw) in Yunnan Province, China look very much like the [California Coastal range](http://geology.about.com/library/bl/wallpaper/n_wp_CAcoastrange_panocheslump.htm). North Cameroon’s [Mandara Mountains](https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/aAHz1zBNsYC4n9fG5FIF6g) can look like parts of [Arizona](http://www.gemland.com/redmtn.htm). Really, deserts look like deserts, temprate forests look like temprate forests, and scrubland looks like scrubland. Travel enough and eventually you get familiar with most basic landscapes. Now and then you get some real geographic surprises, like [karst](http://www.flatrock.org.nz/topics/money_politics_law/madagascan_karst.htm) [landscapes](http://english.cri.cn/6566/2008/11/25/1881s427000.htm) or [high](http://www.walkopedia.net/walks/display-walk.asp?WalkID=1) [mountains](http://www.pbase.com/bamford_birds/image/81808965), but most places don’t look entirely unfamiliar. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-countries-which-us-states-do-they-resemble/572808/10 "2011-02-27T20:00:35Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > I’m told that the South of France resembles Southern California in climate, but not architecture. I think perhaps you mean Northern California? My parents went there several years ago because the previous year they had been to Barcelona and then flown to Amsterdam, and along the way flew over the South of France. They thought it looked beautiful from the air and decided they wanted to go there. Their descriptions of it - rolling hills and vineyards - made it sound, well, really similar to the part of Northern California where my parents live (Sonoma County). Only with castles. I’m still kind of scratching my head that my parents traveled around the world to see the sort of landscapes they can see every day at home. (I think they are too, a little, actually. They had a nice time, but ultimately decided that they shouldn’t have spent a whole week there, a few days would have been enough.) I am thinking about the places I have been and it’s hard for me to answer the question. I guess parts of Northern Israel, like the Galilee, look like Northern California. That’s about it. I think every place is pretty unique, and I disagree that desert looks like desert and mountains look like mountains. The deserts in Arizona don’t look like the deserts in Sinai, and the rolling green hills in Bosnia don’t look like the rolling green hills in Pennsylvania. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-countries-which-us-states-do-they-resemble/572808/11 "2011-02-27T20:59:48Z")
I’ve heard the [Hudson](http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2008/10/04/gal_greg-miller_1.jpg) river called America’s [Rhine](http://www.safety4sea.com/admin/images/media/2011-1-18-RhineRiver.jpg) because of the [similar](http://photos.igougo.com/images/p351746-hudson_river_valley-The_Hudson_River.jpg) [terrain](http://eurorivercruises.com/images/rhinevalley1.JPG) they [flow](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xEehooYC6Rk/S_yBB7utH0I/AAAAAAAACM8/4qTQvuE6Dms/s1600/Hudson_river_from_bear_mountain_bridge.jpg) [through](http://ryanhellyer.net/files/2009/03/rhein_panorama2-1024x816.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-countries-which-us-states-do-they-resemble/572808/12 "2011-02-28T00:23:08Z")
Maria Von Trapp found Vermont to be a reasonable stand-in for Austria. ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-countries-which-us-states-do-they-resemble/572808/13 "2011-02-28T00:51:40Z")
Australia pretty much looks like most of America. From Snow capped mountains to broad deserts, to tropical rainforests to temperate rainforest and everything in between. Oh except for Alaska, we don’t have that. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-countries-which-us-states-do-they-resemble/572808/14 "2011-02-28T01:29:04Z")
Central Coastal California looks like the South of France actually the area between San Francisco and Los Angeles. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-countries-which-us-states-do-they-resemble/572808/15 "2011-02-28T01:39:06Z")
The closest I’ve ever seen to Ireland was the Pacific Northwest. But that’s mostly in terms of climate; the geology is completely different. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-countries-which-us-states-do-they-resemble/572808/16 "2011-02-28T03:04:38Z")
Israel is another place that somewhat resembles Southern California. Both have the sea to the west, and mountainous deserts a bit inland. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-countries-which-us-states-do-they-resemble/572808/17 "2011-02-28T03:11:59Z")
Bogotá is a lot like San Francisco. Hilly, grey, and cosmopolitan. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-countries-which-us-states-do-they-resemble/572808/18 "2011-02-28T04:38:47Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > Israel is another place that somewhat resembles Southern California. Both have the sea to the west, and mountainous deserts a bit inland. That would explain why there are a LOT of Israelis in Los Angeles. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-countries-which-us-states-do-they-resemble/572808/19 "2011-02-28T04:41:30Z")
I guess I’ll be the first that says that southern Ontario looks a lot like the USA. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-countries-which-us-states-do-they-resemble/572808/20 "2011-02-28T05:40:52Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > That would explain why there are a LOT of Israelis in Los Angeles. Israelis tend to congregate in Los Angeles and New York City because they remind them of home. LA because of the climate, NYC because of the attitude. (Although it isn’t entire accurate - Israel is hotter in summer and colder in winter than LA; and Israelis tend to find New Yorkers a bid too polite and standoffish). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-countries-which-us-states-do-they-resemble/572808.md?page=2)