Who looks more alike: Belgians and Dutch or Swiss and Austrians?

[Oliver109]

Thanks for bumping Tooting Carmen, i would say that the Swiss and Austrian probably look more alike, the Frisians especially are very different in appearance from the Walloons and the rates of blonde hair in the Netherlands are much higher than in Belgium. Southern Netherlands is from what i have found surprisingly similar to Belgium and unlike the north of the same country, with Switzerland and Austria it would surprise me if there were large differences in hair colour though i have always thought the Swiss to be blonder somewhat.

[Immanenz]

Thanks for bumping Tooting Carmen, i would say that the Swiss and Austrian probably look more alike, the Frisians especially are very different in appearance from the Walloons and the rates of blonde hair in the Netherlands are much higher than in Belgium. Southern Netherlands is from what i have found surprisingly similar to Belgium and unlike the north of the same country, with Switzerland and Austria it would surprise me if there were large differences in hair colour though i have always thought the Swiss to be blonder somewhat.

Maybe if you compare only Swiss Germans with Austrians, but overall about equal levels. They have also most likely more people with darker brown hair too, not sure.

Btw Lucien Favre is one of those rare Swiss, that cant pass here- he looks extremly Italian (just shows the range of pheno in Swiss)
https://img.nzz.ch/2017/5/16/6bb3e87...y=75&auto=webp
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucien..._1980s_(1).jpg

[Septentrion]

Thanks for bumping Tooting Carmen, i would say that the Swiss and Austrian probably look more alike, the Frisians especially are very different in appearance from the Walloons and the rates of blonde hair in the Netherlands are much higher than in Belgium. Southern Netherlands is from what i have found surprisingly similar to Belgium and unlike the north of the same country, with Switzerland and Austria it would surprise me if there were large differences in hair colour though i have always thought the Swiss to be blonder somewhat.

What you are missing is that the South Dutch and the Flemish are the same people, they both speak Dutch. This is not the same with Austrians and especially the Swiss who are even more diverse than Belgians. When you are saying that the Swiss are blonder, are you only referring to the German-speaking Swiss? or also the French - speaking, Italian - speaking and the Romansh - speakers. I don't think that the Swiss would be blonder at all, if they are, the differences would be negligible.

[Oliver109]

What you are missing is that the South Dutch and the Flemish are the same people, they both speak Dutch. This is not the same with Austrians and especially the Swiss who are even more diverse than Belgians. When you are saying that the Swiss are blonder, are you only referring to the German-speaking Swiss? or also the French - speaking, Italian - speaking and the Romansh - speakers. I don't think that the Swiss would be blonder at all, if they are, the differences would be negligible.

most Swiss though tend to mainly be central Euro in phenotype and quite similar to the southern Germans generally though the Italian and French areas obviously have people with more Med traits, especially the Italian part. Speaking as someone from England and living in an area which is popular with tourists i could often easily tell apart a Dutch crowd from a Belgian crowd that is if the Dutch are not from the south of the country, on the other hand i really would struggle to tell apart a Swiss crowd from an Austrian one.

[Septentrion]

Since both pairings involve one country which is only Germanic-speaking and one country which is a Germanic-Romance mix, I thought it would be interesting to ask.

What does a Romansh - speaking Swiss have in common with a German - speaking Austrian?

[Immanenz]

What does a Romansh - speaking Swiss have in common with a German - speaking Austrian?

lookwise they pass very well- only the Italian shifted look sometimes off- like the older man who has also an Italian surnamev (but still can pass thoguh as more Southern looking type), while the younger guy passes easily everywhere in continental Germanic speaking areas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7fJBUH1JCE

[Oliver109]

lookwise they pass very well- only the Italian shifted look sometimes off- like the older man who has also an Italian surnamev (but still can pass thoguh as more Southern looking type), while the younger guy passes easily everywhere in continental Germanic speaking areas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7fJBUH1JCE

I watched that video before, fascinating langauge that sounds a lot like Portuguese, interestingly the young man could easily pass as a light Iberian as well. The old man looks like a typical Alpine Italian.

[Dandelion]

The Flemish and southern Dutch are the same people. They were part of the historical Flanders region. Belgium is as a whole more Germanic by Y-DNA than Switzerland or Austria. The Walloons are Romance speakers, but have a strong Germanic component from Frankish invaders.

That I also notice whenever I visit North Brabant. Southern Dutch share so many parallels to us it never ceases to amaze me. They even have the gossiping mentality of us, versus the straight-forward yet blunt Hollandic mentality.

Perhaps we compare better with Austrians and Bavarians.

[Immanenz]

I watched that video before, fascinating langauge that sounds a lot like Portuguese, interestingly the young man could easily pass as a light Iberian as well. The old man looks like a typical Alpine Italian.

agreed with all. I noticed also that it sounds like Portugese.

[Oliver109]

That I also notice whenever I visit North Brabant. Southern Dutch share so many parallels to us it never ceases to amaze me. They even have the gossiping mentality of us, versus the straight-forward yet blunt Hollandic mentality.

Perhaps we compare better with Austrians and Bavarians.

It sounds like the North/South divide in Britain with the Yorkshire people as well as the Scots being well known for their straight forward blunt character as well, it is more a divide i think between the Latin influenced cultures of southern and central Europe and the more Nordic cultures of northernmost continental Europe and Scandinavia.