The richness of a country’s culture and heritage is often what makes it unforgettable to visitors and cherished by its people.

From ancient ruins to cuisine, music, and tradition, culture helps define national identity and global influence.

This ranking highlights the 40 countries that people around the world think have the best culture and heritage.

The infographic, via Visual Capitalist's Pallavi Rao, is based on a global survey conducted by U.S. News & World Report that asked 17,000 respondents to evaluate countries based on five key attributes: cultural accessibility, historical significance, food, cultural attractions, and geographic appeal.

ℹ️ Their survey was conducted between March 22nd–May 23rd, 2024.

Thus, these ranks reflect public perceptions and not hard data.

Skip to the last section for a breakdown of the source’s methodology in assigning these ranks.

Greece ranks #1 in culture and heritage thanks to its unparalleled historical legacy.

Culture &
Heritage RankCountry1???????? Greece2???????? Italy3???????? Spain4???????? France5???????? Turkey6???????? Mexico7???????? Egypt8???????? Thailand9???????? Portugal10???????? India11???????? Japan12???????? Brazil13???????? China14???????? Morocco15???????? UK16???????? Ireland17???????? Argentina18???????? Austria19???????? U.S.20???????? Australia21???????? Indonesia22???????? New Zealand23???????? Germany24???????? Vietnam25???????? Peru26???????? South Africa27???????? Netherlands28???????? Malaysia29???????? Switzerland30???????? Canada31???????? Norway32???????? South Korea33???????? Belgium34???????? Singapore35???????? Chile36???????? Philippines37???????? Saudi Arabia38???????? Hungary39???????? Russia40???????? Croatia

As the birthplace of democracy, Western philosophy, and the Olympic Games, the influence of Greece runs deep.

Respondents also appreciated the country’s food, Mediterranean landscapes, and accessibility to historical sites.

In fact, its tourism sector has been a success story in an otherwise stark decade for Greece and it remains perennially short-staffed in the peak summer season.

Europe claims seven of the top 10 spots, with Italy, Spain, and France following Greece.

These countries are rich in UNESCO World Heritage sites, art, and cuisine.

Their long histories of empire, religion, and art have left indelible marks on countries around the world, in turn influencing local cultures.

Thailand, India, and Japan all appear in the top 15, highlighting Asia’s growing cultural impact.

Thailand is recognized for its unique traditions and food, while India’s vast spiritual and architectural heritage boosts its rank.

Japan scores well across the categories, and ranks second on the best countries list as well.

U.S. News designs its “Best Countries” ranking around 73 attributes grouped into 10 thematic subrankings, such as Heritage, Quality of Life, Power, and Entrepreneurship.

For the Heritage subtheme, they used five, equally-weighted attributes mentioned earlier:

A survey is distributed globally to about 17,000 respondents, including business leaders, informed elites, and general citizens.

Each participant is shown a random subset of countries (that must meet GDP, tourism, and FDI thresholds) and asked to rate how strongly they associate those countries with each of the five attributes.

These individual attributes are pre-assigned to categories by researchers, and scores are normalized on a 0–100 scale to determine final ranks.

If you enjoyed today’s post, check out another “best” graphic, like, Ranked: The Best Places to Work in America on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.