So what are the most multicultural countries in the world? If we check the most multicultural countries, we find the result that those countries are the most multicultural ones that have the highest percentage of foreign-born population. Because of the Syrian Civil War more than 4.8 million people have fled from their country which caused a refugee crisis all over the world. These refugees have overwhelmed Turkey and Europe, causing a huge humanitarian crisis in the last few decades. Insider Monkey recently published an interesting article about it.
Not only Syrians, but Afghanis and Iraqis have also moved, trying to secure asylums in EU countries. The public reaction was mainly negative as people were afraid of terrorism, or terrorists’ infiltrating countries. According to the numbers in 2015 there were more than 1.3 million asylum claims in EU countries; most of them were from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
According to the OECD data, many of the most multicultural countries in the world are also among the richest countries in the world by GDP per capita. Migrants and refugees included are responsible for a significant part of that success.
We have picked three countries from their list: Belgium, Sweden, and Slovenia. In Belgium the percentage of foreign-born residents is 15.5. In 2007, the percentage of foreign-born residents in the country was 12.9%, with some 1.38 million people living in Belgium, but being born in a different country. The split between EU and non-EU countries was fairly even, with 685,000 and 695,000 in favor of European Union member states. Just six years later, that percentage rose to 15.5%, with a .43% annual growth. In Sweden the percentage of foreign-born residents is 16.0. Sweden has often been featured in news in the last few years regarding their relations towards migrants. In many cases, the stories that came from the North featured clashes between the native population and their new neighbors, many of whom found it hard to accustom to the Swedish tolerant ways. Unlike many other countries on this list, Sweden had a noble idea to take in those who are in need and not those who could potentially benefit their society the most. The majority of refugees from Syrian Civil War and an earlier crisis in Somalia and elsewhere had minimal or no education at all. While the principle is to be applauded, it is highly questionable whether it is sustainable in the long run. In Slovenia the percentage of foreign-born residents: 16.1. Slovenia has been a popular target for refugees during the Yugoslavian Civil War in the 1990s, which is a contributing factor to its position on this list. Another one is the fact that many of its foreign-born residents have become ones overnight, following the breakup of Yugoslavia, as many Slovenians have been born in other Yugoslav republics, like Croatia and Serbia. This doesn’t make them migrants, but for the purpose of the OECD study, they are born in foreign countries.
If you would like to read about the most multicultural countries in the world, we highly recommend Insider Monkey’s article.
