Canada and Kuwait

At first glance, Canada and Kuwait seem like two very different countries, and they are. However, it is also true that these two countries share a few common characteristics.

The differences between Kuwait and Canada are obvious. The first difference that comes to mind is the size of the countries. While it takes less than two hours to drive from the northern tip of Kuwait to its southern border, it takes at least five days to cross Canada by car. Another difference between Canada and Kuwait is the climate. Canada has long, cold winters and short, warm summers. Kuwait, on the other hand, has long, extremely hot summers and short, relatively cool winters. In addition, Canada has four distinct seasons, whereas Kuwait has only two. The types of physical features found in the two countries also differ. Kuwait is built on a flat, sandy desert. In contrast, Canada is full of lakes, rivers, mountains and forests.

What about the similarities between the two countries? First of all, both countries are multicultural. By this I mean both countries have a lot of foreigners living within their borders. One difference, however, is that, in Kuwait, the foreigners live only temporarily, whereas in Canada, the foreigners are immigrants who intend to live their lives there. Canada is also similar to Kuwait with respect to American influence. For example, both Canada and Kuwait consume a lot of American products including fast food, music, clothing and movies. A final similarity between Canada and Kuwait is geographic position. Although these two countries exist on the other side of world from each other, both have huge countries as neighbors.

       In summary, Canada and Kuwait differ in some obvious ways with respect to size, climate and physical features, but at the same time, they share some interesting similarities. It might be the case that all countries in the world are similar in ways that we so not usually consider. By focusing on similarities among countries rather than differences, the world might become a better place!

Faisal Al-Houti

ENG 100 Section 52

13 November 2008

 

 

 

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