[cachen]

i know a lot of countries, or states even, differentiate between the northern and southern parts. for purpose of this thread we will ignore other regional identities, like midlands, western, etc. some examples of places with northern and southern identities might be: the us, england, china, california, germany, spain, italy... and so on. a lot of place have this north/south difference in identity.

what are the differences and stereotypes between the two where you come from?

 

[JoHaN 15]

South africa:

The Northern province of gauteng is the richest, most population but is like a 50th of the country's size and we also have nationalistic pride(more than south).

THe south is where some british live, drinking tea etc. and some of the 'common' people. Also cape malay live in the south, while black people are more concentrated in the north.

 

[brightside.]

In my country there is only 1 big city in the south, and the difference between it and the north are huge. The north is cleaner and greener, but the south is more liberal and cosmpolitan.

 

[goschio]

Germany:
The north is poor and protestant while the south is rich and catholic.

 

[urbanfan89]

There's no North and South in Canada...given that 80% of the land is frozen wasteland with only Inuits and mineral workers anyways...

 

[Xusein]

Somalia...well, ummm...the Northern parts has a little thing that the South lacks: Peace.

Before the war and for centuries, it was where ALL the wealth was. They do tend to be (or used to be) more liberal, and less addicted to khat and other drugs than Northerners are.

I'm from the North, BTW.

 

[meghnarmajhi]

People from North Bengal have better Bengali accent then the rest of the country. I'm from the middle. Southern Bengal has the Bay of Bengal they really know how to use coconut in food. Their shrimp curry in coconut milk is awesome.

 

[schmidt]

In Brazil, in the North/Northeast people are more open, the climate is warm and the region is poorer. The Northeast is very traditional and it's basically where Brazil was 'born'.

In the South/Southeast people are a bit more closed (especially in the South) and the region is more industrialized and more cosmopolitan.

 

[earthJoker]

There is a strong north and south differentiation in Switzerland. There are two reason for it.
1st the alps. They are a big geographical barrier, only few passes and tunnels connect the parts. Climate and Weather are also different between the two parts.
2nd the language, in the northern parts people speak (mostly) German and French in the south (mostly) Italian.

 

[earthJoker]

Double post, due board lag.

 

[northern italian]

Well, Italy is probably one of the biggest example of north-south difference, at least in Europe.

The differences of culture, mentality, climate, landscape, economy etc are often stunning, even if probably not more so big as 30 years ago.

Stereotypes, slurs and jockes between northern and southern italian have been always numerous, funny or even bad ... much more than the ossi-wessi in Germany

 

[schmidt]

There's no North and South in Canada...given that 80% of the land is frozen wasteland with only Inuits and mineral workers anyways...

So make an East-West comparison in this case!

 

[Somnifor]

The southeast of the US sometimes seems like another country to me, Canada is less alien than Texas or Louisiana.

North and south in the US teach different versions of the narrative of American history and have different versions of American culture.

 

[YelloPerilo]

Germany:
The north is poor and protestant while the south is rich and catholic.

I beg to differ!

 

[rick1016]

edit

 

[EszettRocks]

East-West comparisons are more popular in Finland, perhaps because the north is so sparsely populated that only the reindeer and the Sami are worth mentioning.

Anyway, the east of Finland is full of poor people with different kinds of cardiological diseases whereas the west is prosperous and succesful with good-looking and healthy people.

 

[Federicoft]

Two different countries.

 

[Tbite]

Nigeria is a very good example. A lot of conflicts have developed as a result of the different ethnicities in the North and the South, but fortunately this has not occurred in recent times.

The North of Nigeria predominantly consists of the Hausas and the Fulani and for most of Nigeria's history the country has been ruled by Northerners, this could perhaps explain why there has been a lot of tension between Southerners and Northerners. The Biafra Civil war which occurred for three years between 1967 - 1970 can perhaps be traced back to this.

The Southern part of the country predominantly consists of the Igbo, the Yoruba and delta ethnicities.

There is also a common view that the Southern part of the country contributes more to the economy of the country and should be managed according to that, but roughly speaking, the Northern part of the country is just as abundant in resources. Agriculture, Minerals such as tin, uranium etc can all be found in the north. The south of course boasts of, Crude Oil, Natural Gas and a lot of Agricultural commodities.

 

[ØlandDK]

Two different countries.

Europe and Africa?:shifty:

In Denmark there really isn't no difference.

 

[Köbtke]

^ Actually the extreme north and the extreme south is really quite the same here. Hicks the lot of them!

But anyway, it's more about East and West here - Jutland and Copenhagen/Zealand

People from Jutland are supposed to be provincial and jealous at Copenhagen, while people from Copenhagen are supposed to be pompous assholes too full of themselves to notice anyone or anywhere else.

In reality though, it's probably best just to differentiate between rural and urban areas.