What about the other 159 countries? I understand it is hard to survey any single country in the world. But then again, what's the use of these statistics if it only covers 1 in 6 countries...

Having lived in South America for quite a while, Venezuela doesn't surprise me too much. Identification with the Bolivarian Revolution is probably what does it. Chile especially doesn't surprise me -- that's where I lived -- but I think their nationalism is a bit more healthy. They don't even consider themselves latino!

I'm a little surprised by the low showing if the French because their behavior is quite otherwise and also because of their history as perhaps THE leader of Western thought up until quite recently.

The Brits? Well they lost their empire and their position of imperial pre-eminence. Even so I would have thought there is a lot to be proud of in their record. The Germans are a special case because they are still working off the psychological legacy of the Holocaust, but why should the French and especially the British should feel similarly.

I think one thing that could impact the feeling that American's have about their own country is the fact that we often have not traveled outsdide of our own country very much. For young people in Europe, they can get to another country fairly easily. So, they have a perspective on whether or not their country really is the best. Getting a world-view changes how you look at America drastically.
And, I'm not surprised about Venezuela, after spending my summer with four people from Venezuela-even though it was wrought with problems, they LOVED their homeland.

Isn't Venezuela the country with the highest rate of plastic surgery on the planet? Correlation or coincidence?

Don asks why Brits are so down on themselves given a record of (all in all) great achievements. This, as someone who has studied and lived in the country, has many friends from there, and is in general a fairly pronounced Anglophile, is a mystery worthy of Holmes himself.

As for the rest of Europe, ironically the people with the greatest (without being obnoxious) national pride are the Nordics--especially Icelanders and Danes. By contrast I've rarely met a German who didn't openly wish s/he had been born elsewhere. That CAN'T be good.

I'll bet Germany in around 1939, or 1940 would have been right up there too.

Don Stadler: //I'm a little surprised by the low showing if the French because their behavior is quite otherwise//

Like? Anything to back that up?

//but why should the French and especially the British should feel similarly.//

It's your stereotypes that make you think we're a "proud" (that's the nice word, typically, for the French you would say "arrogant", "smugly", whatever) country. The French in general have no overhyped sense of themselves.

New national motto?
Venezuela: Home of the Undeserved Sense of Accomplishment

Are the low scores in Taiwan an indication that a lot of the population wants to be absorbed into the PRC? Or is there some other explanation?

Hmmm. I would rather be a citizen of my own country, NZ, than any other country in the world, because as a NZ citizen it is very easy to get visas to visit other countries. Also people in other countries are very seldom angry at you, because the only thing they know about NZ is Lord of the Rings, and diehard LotR fans are very seldom violent.

This is not necessarily the same as being proud of your country.

These results are very understandable. There are two reasons why people can be proud of their nation. One is the bad one of nationalism. (See George Orwell's essay "Notes on Nationailsm.")

Americans are non-nationalistic. Venezuelans are nationalistic. In other words, their high score is not a good thing. On the other hand, the low score of Eastern European countries is not a bad thing, because they scored low on the non-nationalistic part of the survey -- presumably because they see little their countries have achieved to be proud of (yet).

The only people other than Americans I've ever heard say that they live in the greatest country in the world are Australians and New Zealanders. Good for them. That's great! But what's the matter with the rest of Western civilization? All they can do is trash-talk, and to avoid trashing their home (like a dog that won't soil its bed) they prefer to slough that off on America.

In my opinion you can't be proud of living in a country, or born in a country.
You can be proud to realize something (climb on Everest for exemple).
It's seems that Proudness is something very American (USA).
I think that in USA even dwarf are proud, obese too are proud.

This thread went weird (or maybe it always was).

Kathy - Americans aren't nationalistic? While I agree with you that nationalism can be quite pernicious, uhm...on a scale out of 25, the high score was 18.4 and we were a whopping 0.7 points behind them. We came in second in generic nationalistic pride.

JLS - I agree that for me, the word "pride" is a weird word to use. But it's what people use. Eventually I decided that my "I love America" (which I do) is close enough, most times, to other peoples' "proud [of / to be] America[n]". But...I presume you mean even dwarfs and the obese are proud *of their dwarfness and obesity* (as opposed to being flabbergasted that fat people love their country too)...leaving the latter aside because the health issues get complicated, do you think Little People should be ashamed of their height / who they are? I think American identity politics are weird, but...dude.

"In my opinion you can't be proud of living in a country, or born in a country.
You can be proud to realize something (climb on Everest for exemple).
It's seems that Proudness is something very American (USA).
I think that in USA even dwarf are proud, obese too are proud."

Yet drive-by nehilism is all too European. Cant even be bothered to stop the Muslim immigrants from burning down their own cities. Whats the point? C'est la vie. How jingoistic to assume turning Paris into Beirut is a change for the worse. How bourgeois.

Superfrenchie, my evidence is anecdotal. Ask a member of any of the nations bordering France and they will tell you French behavior doesn't indicate any great modesty. I'll admit that is a bit rich coming from the Brits and the Germans, but.....

About French pride you mistake me. I think the French are justifiably proud, sometimes justifiably arrogant. There is a lot there and it's not only the great cultural and intellectual history of France. Napoleon, Verdun, Saint Louis, Charlemagne, Charles Martel and the Battle of Tours which stopped the Muslim invasion of Europe in it's tracks. Not to mention the victorious absorbtion of all the little states now part of modern France.

Given all this I continue low French score astonishing....

Don Stadler: //Superfrenchie, my evidence is anecdotal. Ask a member of any of the nations bordering France and they will tell you French behavior doesn't indicate any great modesty. I'll admit that is a bit rich coming from the Brits and the Germans, but.....//

But my point is that whether it comes from you or from the Germans or from the Brits, the "arrogant" image of the French is simply a stereotype based on no actual fact. The survey, which is actual fact, proves it.

Kathy wrote, "Americans are non-nationalistic. Venezuelans are nationalistic. In other words, their high score is not a good thing."

Ignoring the idea that idea that Americans are "not nationlistic," with which I disagree, let's look what American's base their pride on (military strength, global influence, economic dominance) vs. Venezuelans (fair treatment of minorities, arts, sports, etc.)

The U.S. pride stems from power, while Venezuelan pride stems from social accomplishments. It's hard to construe that as "bad" nationalism.

The Irish are the proudest nation on earth, they had to fight against the famine and the british for years but still kept their chins up.