most diverse democracy

Sounds like the U.S.A. in my An Alternate History of the Netherlands. The early U.S. would be because the Iriquois Confederacy joined the Union as the State of Iriquois. But it's not really as diverse as you had in mind; just anglophones and indians, and yes, the Indians have the vote.
 
I'm sorry....what???????

the government is full of Christians and Jews, as are the upper ranks of the military, and -

shit, then there are NO diverse democracies, because one group will always have even a slight numerical advantage over another group.
He said 1918 Ottoman Empire. Unless I'm mistaken, 1918 Ottoman Empire was whittled down to modern Turkey and some parts of the Caucasus. I don't think the demographics has changed that much since 1918, so that would mean over 95% of 1918 Ottman Empire would be Muslim. Hardly what I call "diverse." I'm assuming the OP called for the country itself to be "diverse," not the government.
 
Canada I think might fit, but the US, not so much.

In terms of ethnic groups whites make up 68% and Hispanics and blacks, while being the two largest minorities both make up less than 20%.
As for religion, well even less, 78.4% of America is Christian and all other religions make up less than 2%, though non-religious people do make up the second largest group at 16%.
In regards to Politics, well America only has two parties, that are both on the Right, and overall the very large majority of Americans fit into one of four categories, Left Liberal, Center Left, Right of Center and Far Right.

I'd say culture would likely be the only thing America is actually diverse in, since apart form the national cultures immigrants tend to keep you also have several culture regions with the states making those up all having their own peculiar cultural habits.

You're saying Canada is more diverse than the USA when it comes to race and religion? Sorry, but I'm not buying that.

How are you defining diverse? A close to equal proportion of people in every likely group under the different categories (race, religion, politics, culture, etc.)?
 
India is as racially and culturally diverse as Europe is. As for politically, Indian politics are among the most multifarious and varied in the world

maybe, but it's 80% Hindu, I mean if I were to pick in OTL, India would be on the top of the list, with South Africa and Lebanon
 
maybe, but it's 80% Hindu, I mean if I were to pick in OTL, India would be on the top of the list, with South Africa and Lebanon

But the diversity of ideologies, denominations, sects and castes within Hinduism should surely be considered. There are practically hundreds of thousands to millions devoted to just a handful of gods (ie the Tridevi and Trimurti) or even just one god of the Hindu pantheon (Vaishnavism, Shaivism) each. And to my knowledge there are at least a few hundred or thousand deities within that pantheon.

Then the sheer size of India's population means that even minority religions have a sizable amount of adherents. You almost have about as many muslims in India as you do in Pakistan or Bangladesh respectively. Then you have millions of Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains and Christians. There are even a few hundred thousand Jews and Zoroastrians (Parsi) not to mention the many other cults and tribal religions.

Along with the points that others have mentioned with India having a wide range of ethnicities, political movements and languages (across major language families), it is the prime candidate for the most diverse democracy.

OTL India has a Muslim/Hindu ratio of around 5:1, if the partition did not occur, the ratio would be drastically lowered to about 2:1 (mind-boggling!). Not only would this increase communal tensions, it would be impossible for the government to avoid a surge tide of Muslim representation. Nastaliq (Urdu's arabic script which has slowly been overshadowed by Hindi in India), Bengali and Shahmukhi might be on par usage with Devanagari and other Brahmi influenced texts . That's what immediately comes to mind. I'm sure someone more informed like Flocc could probably give more thought on what might happen with a much much larger Muslim minority.

I'm sure, bar a unified world government (which might actually make things even less diverse); all governments democratic or regardless will deal with a predominant language, ethnic group, religion and social class, that's just the way it is.

Where do you set your bar at for cultural, political, linguistic, religious and any other sort of diversity, BA?
 
You're saying Canada is more diverse than the USA when it comes to race and religion? Sorry, but I'm not buying that.

How are you defining diverse? A close to equal proportion of people in every likely group under the different categories (race, religion, politics, culture, etc.)?

Canada has no Majority Ethnic origin group, they have two major languages and several recognized ones, their are fewer Christians (about 2% difference) and more people from other religions


While both Canada and the United States are in many ways Homogeneous, if compared, Canada is the more diverse of the two.
 
Hmm. Perhaps South Africa is a candidate. Before somebody flips, let me explain.......

In the aftermath of the Boer War, Britain decides to bring a bunch of new whites to the nation to dilute the Afrikaner numbers. (They were the majority of whites in 1902 at the end of the War.) At the same time, More Indians are brought to Natal as laborers, because India is already overpopulated (as to what its land mass can support, that is) by that point and the whites didn't trust the Zulu, Xhosa, Swazi and Sotho tribes of the area.

Britain decides that the nation is not well enough developed to be granted independence in 1910, and doesn't allow them independence. Immigration continues. South African forces distinguish themselves in WWI, and a second Afrikaner revolt is put down in 1914. The country gains independence in 1920. By this point, the population is roughly 1.8 million whites (50% increase over OTL), 1.2 million coloreds, 1 million Indians and 6 million blacks.

The 1920s see South Africa continue to grow, with the white population growing faster proportionally than the blacks are. Southern Rhodesia joins in 1923. Bechuanaland and South West Africa are formally integrated in 1927. By this time, the vote has grown not just to whites, but to better educated Coloreds, Indians and even some blacks in the Cape Province.

The Depression sees food riots and the like in many parts of the world, and Britain sees its best way forward being to 'encourage' more people to go to the Colonies, particularly its African ones. In a twist, this ends up virtually saving the Afrikaners, who are helped by British aid to ensure the ugly droughts of the 1930s don't extinguish their people. This also reduces their animosity towards the British. Indian immigration also keeps coming, and they now form a majority in some smaller parts of Natal and Eastern Cape.

South Africans again fight with distinction in the Second World War, including a number of them being part of the D-Day landings. South African minerals fuel a resurgent economy after WWII, and yet more Brits emigrate, seeking a better life in the warm climate of South Africa. This allows for full discoveries in Bechuanaland and South West Africa, revealing the vast diamond deposits of both nations, and many other resources.

The 1950 population of South Africa stands at 4.4 million whites, 2.3 million Indians, 2.6 million Coloreds and 12 million black Africans. Apartheid never comes to pass, and the vote grows as more sections of the population gain better education and wealth. The Black Africans are encompassed by no less than 14 different tribes, all with their own language.

India's poor after independence keep on coming, as the South African Indian population offers a better life than what India itself can offer. South Africa's immense mineral wealth has built a nation where the whites live first-world standard lives, and the better educated of the others also live such lives. The first communists arrive during this period, though they are despised by the whites in particular and little loved by everyone else. Also arriving for the first time are Arabs and Chinese. The Chinese are specifically brought over in smaller numbers as technical people, most of them being those who escaped Mao's China. The Arabs are traders, repeating the process of trading that brought them to Great Zimbabwe (which is only 150 miles from OTL South Africa, FYI) in ancient times. They are in 1950 small populations, roughly 14,000 Arabs and 5,000 Chinese, though their numbers grow in the following years.

By 1960, South Africa's economic boom is running full-blast. By now, heavy industry is common in South Africa, making everything from ships and steel to automobiles, aluminum and household goods, as well as many types of machinery and farm equipment. Unemployment, across all races, has dropped below 10%, and a baby boom is well underway across all races. Roughly 15% of the black population is now eligible to vote, along with 80% of the Coloreds and 65% of the Indians, as well as virtually all of the Arabs and Chinese. They together outnumber the whites, but by now the Whites, who do hold much of the reigns of power in South Africa, are accepting that they do not rule it all, and the others, particularly the blacks, have come to accept that they belong here as much as the tribes do. Growing education levels among bthe blacks are pushing for the adoption of majority rule, though this is a small cry as of yet.

1960 sees the first black deputy ministers, and the first black minister is appointed in 1966. That same year, the Afrikaner-dominated National Party collapses, though a multi-racial New National Party soon rises in its place. The once overwhelmingly-dominate United Party now faces strong opposition. The African Natiuonal Congress is powerful amongst the blacks a gaining a place with the Coloreds, though they still mostly support the UP. The South African Indian Congress is the dominant political party amongst the Indian population. Dozens of other parties, ranging from communists to tribal monarchists, range across South Africa.

Universal suffrage is granted to the colored population in 1966, with the Indian population (as well as Arabs and Asians) following in 1970. The country's black majority hits 50% eligibility in 1980. The ANC finally defeats the UP in 1986, ending a 76-year-reign of power for the United Party, though they have not held an absolute majority since 1962. The ANC quickly moves to enact universal suffrage and end race-based classification systems, which creates huge debates in South African society. The voting issue is minor compared to the others, despite the fact that legal segregation is by this time long gone. The ANC gets its wish, and the first universal suffrage South African elections are in May 1992.

The 1992 population tells why its a small issue - 8.4 million whites, 5.6 million Coloreds, 6.1 million Indians, 825,000 Asians (including Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, Thais, Vietnamese and Malaysians) and 410,000 Arabs share the land with 21 million black Africans. The whites are divided amongst the Afrikaners (who number 3.2 million), the English-descended whites and a Portuguese-South African population which numbers 420,000 and a German-descended population which numbers 115,000. The Indians include some 1.3 million Muslims, plus the 410,000 Arabs (who are split about 65/35 between Muslims and Christians) makes for a large and influential Muslim population. The largest Asian community is 375,000 Chinese, mostly from Taiwan and those unhappy with communist China, and their descendants.

The 21 million Africans are all over the place, spread across a whopping 23 tribes. The largest by population is the Ndebele, who primarily live in a stretch across the Transvaal, Ndebeleland and Midlands provinces. The Shona, Zulu and Xhose tribes all also are large. Tribal politics exists in South Africa, but largely at the provincial level. English is most common in business and national politics, but Afrikaans and Hindi are also frequently herd. The nation boasts no less than 17 official languages.
OOC: How's that for ya? :D
 
India, defs. With a 1900 PoD, before the electoral law, we can probably be a bit optimistic and call an unpartitioned India possible. Hell, we could even chuck Burma on it. Even without either of these things, India is the most linguistically, politically, etcetera diverse country in the modern world, outstriiping competition by miles.

A surviving 1900 (why the obsession with an arbitrary military frontline?)Ottoman Empire, while nothing like India, would be more diverse than everyone seems to be assuming. It still contains a large chunk of the Balkans, all mixed up with Turks, Albanians Bulgarians, Greeks, Serbs, Aromanians, "Spanish" Jews (Salonika was pre-Holocaust basically a Jewish city), which would up the non-Muslim numbers a bit, and add more stuff to the mix, and then there's nowhere quite like the fertile crescent for funny little languages and sects...
 
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