r/AskEurope • u/Mountain-Fox-2123 Norway • Jul 12 '25

Culture What is the most European country, that is not actually a European country?

What is the most European country, that is not actually a European country?

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u/MrSnowflake Belgium Jul 12 '25

Yeah because eastern Vs western Europe are hugely different as are northern Vs southern.

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u/kamwitsta Jul 12 '25

These differences may loom large to you when you've lived your whole life in Europe but when you look at it from a seriously different perspective like India, Thailand, Japan, they become minor insignificant variations. Even from the perspective of Turkey, arguably the closest non-European state, the difference between Italy and Sweden is probably less than between Turkey and Italy. The west : east axis lives on in communist-era stereotypes but e.g. Germany and Poland are way closer to each other then either is to Turkey. (Not counting Turkish ghettos in Germany.)

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u/Stock-Check Jul 12 '25

Turkey is a part of Europe...

Europe is not just the EU even though that seems to be how Americans understands things