World's 25 friendliest countries

Saudi Arabia and friendly!

And Germany at number 10! It should be number 10 from bottom.

France - friendly?!? :P Kidding!

Ok, maybe this is also regional, as with many countries -whereby the locals are not actually unfriendly but reticent in trying to communicate esp if they are not fluent in English and the visitor cannot communicate in French.

I heard a similar scenario about Switzerland (from a Swiss pal). If I get to visit one day, will ensure that my travel pal can speak German on the German-speaking side...

Frenchie,

I think Canada is a friendly and welcoming country because of its' diversity. We do not have the "melting pot" theme that the US does. New Canadians keep their identity in terms of religion, language, etc., I have not spent much time in Montreal myself and I am sorry to hear you had a bad experience there. I personally find Montreal hard to get around as my French is limited but the folks I encountered while there were helpful. I will agree PEI and Vancouver are quite welcoming and Vanocuver is my favorite city. There are still a lot of other provinces and territories for you to explore if you have not already done so (I am assuming you are not Canadian) and I am sure you will find them welcoming.

What do you think makes Canada so friendly? I agree that parts are very welcoming, such as Prince Edward Island and Vancouver. I found Montreal to be a whole other kettle of fish.

Canada Rocks. Although I am biased, in my humble opinion, Canada is the friendliest and most welcoming country in the world and most Canadians don't need a survey completed to know this!

It's just an article from an Arab newspaper, chief. I thought it was interesting. But thanks for your witty comment.

frenchieman, When the grocery shop near your place is going to conduct a poll regarding friendly customers? :D

and don't forget to post the result here too :D

Go Canada! makes me so proud =0)

So Russia and Saudi were #1 and #2 in 2010. Yep, the study is definitely flawed. I'm sure there are plenty of friendly people on both places, but as a whole I would not describe them as leading the world in friendliness to foreigners.

When was the last time anyone saw Putin smile?

I hope this brings home the reality of not believing what you read, but doing a bit more resrach :o)

Besides the friendliness of the local people, another criterion for judging a country's friendliness is how simple it is for foreigners to live and integrate themselves in the local environment.

Respondents were asked questions such as where it is simplest to find local friends, how easy is it to learn the language of a country or adapt to and integrate in its culture.

South Africa, ranked 3rd, according to the poll, is "very open" to foreigners who want to live there. yet, look at the crime rate :o)

By the way .. check this out ..

http://www.expatexplorer.hsbc.com/#

a survey by a bank, by its customers, where only 30 respondents were needed to include a country.

yeah great survey.

Fair enough. I don't plan to go to Mexico City, but the recent violence near some of the resorts makes me a bit nervous. When I was younger I remember a Mexican holiday being a real adventure into small towns and mingling with friendly locals. No way I would do that now, but it would not surprise me if the Florida tourist board is planting stories in the press that exaggerate how dangerous Mexico is for tourists!

yes for sure however they aren't targetting visitors its local business people and I know loads of people this has happened to.

Most visitors don't stay long in Mexico City.

So your average visitor to Mexico, if they don't get involved in drugs and are in the regular tourist places will find it very friendly.

Isn't Mexico City one of the worst places for kidnap-for-ransom gangs?

Don't get me wrong, I've been to Mexico a few times, and I liked it, but kidnapping doesn't strike me as being particularly friendly.

Why isn't chinchpokli on the list?

Frenchie - ever been to Mexico?

The violence is very regional and amongst drug gangs.

Drug traficking is a violent business. If you aren't involved and don't live in those areas then you are fine.

so it isn't the world as left than half the world was surveyed

Apparently this is how they measured friendlieness

To rank countries, HSBC surveyed 4,127 expatriates in more than 100 countries between April and June 2010. Countries needed to have at least 30 respondents to be included in the rankings, so only 25 countries are ranked.

People rated their host countries on everything from economics to raising children and overall experience.

Then, to determine which places were the friendliest, Forbes looked at the results in four categories: ability to befriend locals, success in learning the local language, capacity for integrating into the community, and ease of fitting into the new culture.

Not sure I buy the methodology if they are just asking expats. I think Qatar is WAY friendlier than KSA for women.

Lolllzzzz...

The highest in the rank of world's non-friendliest attitued... HSBC itself.

I don't see mars on the list.Who threw mars of the list?Hello.

South Africa at 3 is another surprise to me. notably india lists higher than Qatar, Saudi & UAE...

Wow! I wouldn't have put Mexico or KSA so high but maybe they are looking at how business friendly it is.