It’s one thing to be cold and distant, it’s another to be rude, which is why we decided to compile the list of rudest countries with strong nationalism in the world in 2017. This list is going to be of great use to all travelers heading on their vacations during this holiday season so they can make a difference between customs of one nation and their annoying, rude behavior.
We all had some unpleasant situations while visiting different countries. Either the waiter wasn’t polite enough, or people on the streets were glancing strangely at us. That’s why some countries or nations are seen as ruder than the others. For example, according to some sources, the rudest country in Africa is apparently Chad. When it comes to the rudest country in Asia, there are a few suggestions, and some of them are listed here. Europe also has its fair share in our rankings, as you’ll witness. Interestingly, there isn’t a single South American country on our list of rudest countries with strong nationalism in the world in 2017. All in all, even though this is a delicate topic, and you can’t really make generalizations, some countries got the reputation of the rudest ones according to many reasons as you will see in a bit!
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On the other hand, according to BBC Travel, the most polite country in the world is Japan. When it comes to Europe, 15 Nicest, Most Polite European Countries will answer the question. However, it should be noted that it is hard to make a polite country ranking. The same goes for the ranking of rudest countries. Basically, what you can do to find out how rude or polite is one country, is to follow and read what tourists said and wrote on forums, about countries they visited. But let’s think about rudest tourists for a second. Where do they come from? Are they from the countries we listed today? Well, there are definitely some overlaps, at least according to the opinion of Redditors. Nevertheless, we encourage you to broaden this topic by analyzing our list and lists of rudest tourists and countries they come from and to let us know the results. Furthermore, you can even check if the countries with strong nationalism from the list below are also the most racist countries in the world, and is there any correlation between nationalism and racism. Although this is an interesting topic, we have to get back to our list of rudest countries with strong nationalism in the world in 2017.
So, to compile the list, first we checked out websites and forums such as Quora, Yahoo answers, Travel CNN, Daily Mail and Forbes to see their judgment when it comes to the rudest countries in the world. Then, we searched for those countries which have nationalistic tendencies. So, we sought help from Quora (once again), Independent and Borgen Magazine. Next step was to single out the countries which were mentioned most in sources we used. The more mentions country had, the higher is placed on the list. The rudest country in the world in 2017 is, of course, on the top. What is important to say is that these are mostly opinions of ordinary people who probably had a bad experience while visiting these countries, so don’t let them ruin it for you. Maybe they are even some of the rude tourists we mentioned above. Moreover, some people could be overly critical due to their personal experience, so their anxiety is possibly transferred into these comments.
And now, without further ado, let’s see our results.
15. Slovakia
Slovakia is considered to be one of the Europe’s rudest countries with strong nationalism since on many occasions over the last few years the country had difficulties when it comes to coping with migration crisis. The Slovakia’s anti-migrant PM Rober Fico even said that “Islam has no place in Slovakia,” and that “tens of thousands of Muslims” are not welcome in this country. A number of anti-immigration rallies are held in Bratislava, and the nation was clear about its feelings towards migrants. On the other hand, those rallies might be the response to the “dictatorship of the EU.” Last year, Fico lost his parliamentary majority, and far-Right Slovak National Party entered the Parliament. It is more than obvious than nationalism in on the rise in this country. As for the rudest part, some of the tourists’ opinions imply that the service in restaurants is poor and that they are full of smoke since smoking is still allowed in some bars. Another thing is that most of the people are chronically unhappy.
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14. Hungary
Same as the Slovakia, Hungary showed its “real face” during the refugee crisis. They had very hard anti-migration politics and explicit rudeness towards migrants. You might remember some disturbing footage of Hungarian journalist on the border between Hungary and Serbia. In addition, many far-right nationalistic movements have appeared on the political scene. However, comparing it to other countries on our list, it was mentioned just several times on forums and other lists.
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13. Austria
Austria is famous for its musicians, artists, and other intellectuals who lived mostly in Vienna. Therefore, there are many tourists who are interested in seeing and ‘feeling’ this beautiful country. So, maybe for Viennese encountering with tourists is something they got fed up with. That could be one of the reasons why for some, Austria is seen as an unfriendly and rude country. Due to the immigrant crisis, Austria is also turning to the far-right (nationalistic) politics.
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12. Croatia
On the 12th place on our list of rudest countries with strong nationalism in the world in 2017 is Croatia. You may wonder, “why Croatia?” or “are Serbian people perhaps the reason for this country to end up on this list?” More than 20 years of nationalist and territorial disputes between neighboring countries definitely have something to do with it. The phenomena of nationalism and national conflicts in the Balkans is a well-known issue. Some other arguments for the rudeness of this country were that “waiters were barely wanted to get a glass of water.” So, if you visit Croatia, be sure to ask something else but water! According to some sources, we could see that nationalistic rhetoric could also return to this country.
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11. Poland
Poland ranks 11th on our list of rudest countries with strong nationalism in the world in 2017. It has the similar reputation as Hungary and Slovakia when it comes to migrants. During the refugee crisis, the countries of so-called Visegrád Four or V4, are characterized as countries with nationalistic tensions and anti-migrant politics. Therefore, many arguments on forums were because of those allegations and because of the rise of far-right parties in recent years which have a negative attitude towards foreigners. Also, on their Independence Day, thousands of nationalistic orientated Poles gathered in Poland’s capital to participate in the nationalist march, which indicates the rising issue of nationalism in this country.
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10. Argentina
Strangely for some, Argentina is also on our list of rude countries. Even though it is known as the country of tango and steak, where people can enjoy, now it could also be known as the rudest one. At least according to some. What bothers people the most is their arrogant attitude.
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9. Spain
Many statements on forums stated that Spain which ranks 9th on our list of rudest countries with strong nationalism in the world in 2017, is one of the friendliest countries. However, many tourists claimed that they had a bad experience when encountered with Spanish people. Precisely, 3.15% of surveyed people think Spanish are rude to tourists. Most of the remarks were in restaurants and cafes. However, their nationalism is on the rise with firing issue of Catalonia. How do you feel about Spain?
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8. Germany
Although there are some who think that Germans are too polite, there are those who have opposite opinion. Even though there were not many negative remarks, it is still on our list as it was found in several statements as the rude country as well as the nationalistic one. There are definitely signs of upcoming nationalism in Germany.
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7. USA
On the seventh place on our list of the rudest countries with strong nationalism in the world in 2017 is the USA. Nationalistic affiliations are demonstrated in the last year’s presidential elections. People who visit America, and especially New York, either hate it or love it. There is nothing in between. Therefore, in our list, we concentrated on the ones that evidently hated it. Lots of crowd on the streets, pushing and yelling is what people chose as the top negative things about the USA.
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6. Italy
Italians, rude? Yes, and many would agree. Foreigners say that they are too nationalistic-oriented as they only speak their own language, care about their own culture and eat nothing except their food! Would you blame them? Italians are known for many best recipes in the world, however, rudeness is evidently not their strength. Moreover, as in whole Europe due to the immigrant crisis, their nationalistic parties are on the rise.
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5. Great Britain
British are known as cold, distant and a bit rude towards tourists for many years now, and our research confirms that. Another thing that expresses their nationalistic orientation could be seen through their politics towards the European Union, or better say its ‘Brexiting‘ out of it. Even though it’s a bit simplifying of the situation, some people on forums mention this reason as well.
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4. Greece
Usually, you visit Greece in summer as they have beautiful places and extraordinary beaches. However, according to some people, Greece is not the friendliest country in the world to spend a summer vacation. Some mentioned that waiters are not as friendly, nobody smile that much once they are aware you are a foreigner, etc. In the same time, there were many comments defending this Mediterranean country as the place with the best food offer and cheerful people. Nationalistic affiliations come as a result of the ever-lasting immigrant crisis since Greece is one of the first countries on their way to the European continent.
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3. Russia
One of the major comments about Russia as the rudest country is its coldness not just when it comes to weather, but people as well. First of all, Russian don’t speak many languages and all they can do is to drink vodka, at least according to some. However, we think this is a generalization, as there are many friendly Russians. Moreover, most of the negative comments were about Putin and his nationalistic politics, and that’s why this country ended up third on the list of rudest countries with strong nationalism in the world in 2017.
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2. China
Some say that the big difference in cultures is a reason for China to be this high on the list of rudest countries with strong nationalism in the world in 2017. However, others wouldn’t agree. Apparently, Chinese people react strangely when it comes to foreigners since they tend to stare at them, without a smile on their faces. It seems that they even don’t try to understand them when they ask for help. Moreover, on the political scene they are nation-orientated which is why they are second on our list.
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1. France
On the top of our list of the rudest countries with strong nationalism in the world in 2017 is definitely France. This country was mentioned in absolute majority of comments as the country where tourists had a bad experience with waiters, workers in shops and generally people on the streets. French don’t like to speak English even if they know it, and they prefer everybody else know their own language, which is pretty nationalistic point. Moreover, Marie Le Pen is one of the main politicians who are proclaiming national affiliations and far-right movement.
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