EDIT: Sorry, I meant *former* colonies.
If so, how are they different or the same culturally?
I have never been to any US territories as most of them are far away islands. And mostly used as Navy bases. I think the US wanted Navy bases around the world 100 years ago because obviously airplanes were new, so military power was mainly about ships.
Although I did know a girl from the US Virgin Islands who came to the mainland for university. She was annoyed that she could not do her homework on the beach like back home.
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Pretty sure no european country has colonies anymore.
We haven’t had any colonies/territories for about a hundred years, all because a bloke called Archie Duke shot an ostrich ’cause he was hungry.
Though we sometimes refer to East Germany as “the colonies”, but only if we want to be friendly.
> She was annoyed that she could not do her homework on the beach like back home.
Valid. Who wouldn’t be annoyed at that?
As for Poland it’s not really a thing. We didn’t have far away territories. However, it’s not that uncommon for people to visit Lviv (at least before the war) or Vilnius as these were important cities before WWII. To see how it looks now and if there’s still some residual Polish culture there. And also to party.
The Aran Islands off the west coast of Ireland are quite different culturally from the mainland. Irish is the primary language, which can be seen to have come from the Irish-speaking people of Connacht having emigrated to the islands to escape the 17th century Cromwellian conquest. The islanders had interesting farming techniques, creating fertile soil from mixing sand and seaweed on top of rocks. This also provided grazing grass for cattle and sheep; the wool is used to make famous Aran sweaters. They also created unique boats for fishing and lived in thatched cottages. The islands have become far more homogeneous with the rest of the mainland in the years since, but still retain their own strong cultural identity, including their own dialect of Gaeilge, sean nós singing and a particular dance style.
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A few, depending on how you count it. I’ve been to a decent chunk of Canada, I’ve also been to the US but the bit I went to was never actually a British colony. I suppose Ireland counts as a former colony too?
I have heards Serbs argue that Serbia was technically colonised by the Monarchy, and I have been to Serbia. The thing is, I’ve been to the part that was Hungary proper before WW1, and it still has a significant Hungarian minority. It was a very similar experience to going to Slovakia i. e. most of the people were Hungarians / spoke Hungarian, but the traffic signs were in Serbian.
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I didn’t (although Belgium was once part of The Netherlands, I have been there). But my sister once went to Bali, Indonesia. And to New York City, which was founded by the Dutch.
I think you will find more or less influence of Dutch presence in all the colonies which were Dutch in the past. Every former colony has their own history and therefore own story and relationship with The Netherlands.
In Suriname Dutch is still one of the official language and used by many. There is a large Suriname community in The Netherlands.
In the Caribbean areas there are also many Dutch influences but depending on the island also large American influences due to tourism. However, there is a significant Caribbean community in The Netherlands as well. Both Suriname as well as the former Caribbean Dutch areas are visited by Dutch tourists.
In Indonesia the Dutch influence is less widespread. There is a significant Dutch Indonesian community, especially Mollucans. There are many known Dutch celebrities with Indonesian heritage. Also Indonesian food is well known in The Netherlands. However, Indonesia is much bigger and has a larger population so the Dutch has less impact. Dutch people like to go to Indonesia and especially Bali, but because of the Dutch past over there.
I’ve been to all the former Dutch Antilles, which was really interesting.
Especially learning more about the history and seeing it with my own eyes.
(Belgium technically was also a colony, and i’ve visited them countless if times xd)
Not really, and [there aren’t a lot exactly](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_overseas_colonies). I have probably driven through a few of the ones in Europe, but none outside of the local proximity. Pretty much only one outside of Europe lasted more than a few years.
Yes, but I’m half Indonesian (mom was born there) so I have a ton of family still living in the region. So I’ve been to SE Asia a bunch of times. In terms of Dutch influence, it’s basically nonexistent. There are a handful of colonial era buildings around but besides that and a few loanwords that’s basically it.
edit: oh I forgot. One fun anecdote is that I once met some very very distant relatives and we were getting to know eachother. It was a grandma and her granddaughter. The granddaughter was about 16 years old I’d guess and spoke really basic English. But grandma was from before the independence so presumably was taught Dutch at school. She spoke this fluent ’40s-’50s Dutch and was actually translating for her granddaughter.
We’ve had colonies so long ago all over the Mediterranean I’m not even sure if I have
Only Ceuta, which was a former colony and now belongs to Spain. Felt very much like being in Morocco.
Yes, they’re called the Balkan
Also been to South Tyrol
Yes Portuguese going to Brazil often, its nice.
Have been in Cape Verde who never wanted independence in the first place and that culture is much closer to the Portuguese.
I love all the different accents and can really see what we have in common is much more than what separates us
Former colonies: yes – it’s almost impossible to go anywhere in the world without visiting a former British colony. My list includes –
Australia
Cyprus
Egypt
Fiji
India
Iraq*
Ireland**
Kenya
Kuwait*
Malaysia
Malta
Myanmar
Sudan*
Tuvalu
USA
(*) Not formally a Colony, but still for a time under British rule as a Protectorate.
(**) Not formally a Colony, but under British rule by incorporation into the UK.
In terms of cultural similarity, it varies a lot, depending on the nature of the colony, the length an intensity of British rule, and patterns of migration and settlement.
At one extreme, it is very hard to find any traces of British rule in, say, Egypt. A bit of 19th century architecture. The British Empire left almost no cultural impression.
In the middle of the spectrum are places like India and Kenya, where British influence is very evident at an institutional / official / legal level, and perhaps in some elements of the educational system (higher education is in English, upper and upper-middle class Indians speak English). There might also be other influences: in India, cricket is a hugely popular sport. In Kenya, the Anglican church is very strong. But at the day-to-day level people have their own languages and cultures. Fiji and Malta are also sort of in this category, although they both feel much more ‘British’ than India or Kenya.
Then there are places like Australia, which are culturally disorientating in a different way. You travel all the way around the world, after a very long flight, and you expect something exotic and different. What you find is basically a home-from-home with the heat turned up. Coogee Beach is basically Bournemouth or Brighton. Syndey is a better, cleaner, nicer, more compact, version of London. You’d be driving along a road called something like ‘Edward Street’ or ‘Victoria Road’. There would be a church or a school built exactly like those in late 19th century England.
The only difference is that instead of oak trees there are eucalyptus, and instead of hedgehogs there are drop bears. They even have decent fish and chips in Australia, even though it is made with fish from the southern oceans rather than Northern cold water fish like cod or haddock.
I felt completely culturally at home in Australia.
Not so in the US. The US was in ‘uncanny valley’. Everything was sufficiently familiar to me, but also weirdly different. I found it more difficult than expected to make myself understood – my standard Scottish English accent was hard on their ears sometimes. The social norms and the way things worked were all just that little bit different. That said, I only visited the Deep South of the US. Maybe things are different in New England or the Midwest.
I’ve been to the Republic of Ireland and Australia. The similarities and differences really depend on where you are.
Dublin clearly has a very international outlook with the tourism and the uni and all the companies based there, but it did feel a lot like the UK.
We were sat having coffee in the M&S café in the city centre and we could have been in any number of British cities.
Even the countryside around there looks pretty similar to much of England – pleasant and rolling. It’s not the wild, rugged landscape you get in the west of the island, which is what a lot of people picture when they think of the Irish countryside.
Cork felt much more distinctively Irish. I wish I could speak for the rest of the country but I’ve not had much chance to explore with covid and everything.
Australia also very much has its own identity. It feels like some Aussies really embrace the British influence and some totally reject it.
But either way, it definitely has a much more modern feel than the UK in terms of architecture and infrastructure (at least in the cities). UK infrastructure looks pretty decrepit compared to some of the stuff they have out there.
I’ve also been to Egypt, which was an unofficial and then (briefly) an official protectorate of the United Kingdom.
The British influence is really not that noticeable there – the currency is called the pound, but I think that predates Britain’s involvement.
I’m half Dutch, half Indonesian (North Sumatra, Batak Toba), and I’ve visited Indonesia many times already.
Dutch influence on the Indonesian culture is limited, though still visible. Indonesian has many loanwords from Dutch, and that makes Malaysian and Indonesian more distinguishable from each other. For example: bag in Malay is “beg” (pronounced the same as in English) while in Indonesian, it’s “tas”, from Dutch “tas.”
Some food is also influenced by the Netherlands. Some dishes include chocolate sprinkles (hagelslag). What is also remarkable is that some of the things we do at King’s day, are done in Indonesia as well, except just a bit differently. For example: koekhappen. Having to eat some biscuits from a rope while blinded by a towel. In Indonesia, they do the same but with Krupuk.
My region is also influenced by the Dutch church, unlike the rest of Sumatra. Some other regions, especially in Eastern Indonesia are also Christianised.
Personally, I think Indonesia had a bigger influence on Dutch culture, with the cuisine. A lot of people in the Netherlands have Indonesian roots after all. Some of them are even Javanese from Surinam.
As someone hailing from one of the greatest colonial empires to ever exist (Latvia), I can say that I don’t know anyone personally who would have gone to Tobago or Gambia.
I’ve been to Curaçao when I was 8. Not really a colony, but more like different part of the kingdom.
Ummmm… I visited Moldova, which was part of Romania, then war and Russian interests got involved and now it’s separated from us. But it’s not a former colony or something like that.
It was like stepping back in time some good years, but I think right now they’re ahead of us in a lot of fields.
[Iceland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Norway_(872%E2%80%931397))was part of Norway for many hundred years, though finally ended on danish hands when denmark took norway. In the end got it’s independence in 1944..
Norway has a lot of simalirities and common things with iceland though it is a long time since the norwegian empire. Back in the viking age iceland was settled by people from norway.. much of the history of the norwegian king were written by a poet on Iceland by the name of [Snorre](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snorri_Sturluson). The countries have in common the spectacular nature. And of course being big fishing nations. Not to speak of neither om them are members in the EU. The language is variant of old norwegian. Almost impossible to understand today, so generally you have to speak english on Iceland. People also seems to be pretty much in love with eachothers.. During the financial crises on Iceland some people there even thougth of becoming a part of norway again (most likely because of the oil wealth). And when Iceland played in the Euros(football/soccer) etc. You would find no other country in europe rooting more for the icelandics than norway. The people also looks pretty identical. If you had an “average” norwegian and icelandic standing next to eachother, you wouldn’t be able to spot who is who..
Though historically Iceland has tended to be much “cooler” than norway. Back in the days before internet etc. Iceland because of its closeness to USA was known to be among those places where the cool things came first to europe.. while norway were debating on whether we should have color tv or stick to black-and-white..
I wish I could, but the safest option is too far away (Tientsin), and the second-best is Eritrea, which isn’t too good.
They do say that Eritrean culture can be considered an “alternate branch” of Italian culture, as they are said to be pretty similar Italy in the Fifties in that regard, and their native languages have tons of Italian influences, on top of having preserved the architecture from the era of Italian domination. But I sadly cannot testify it for myself.