[speeder]

Here in Brazil, that is in the south hemisphere, people are nicer as you move north, toward the equator.

Or southmost state instead is famous for having some xenophobic people, separatist movements, and triggering a huge civil war in the past.my guess is that in colder environments people are very distrustful of newcomers because they are a new risk in a already risky environment

[dhughes]

Could it be culture?

I used to know a girl (surname Britz) from Porto Alegre and her family was of German descent and seemed like she had no Brazilian features from what I could see.

When I see pictures and video of people in Rio it's like different country.

[kroger]

Brazil is such a big and diverse country that any state seems like a different country. We have influence from Portugal, Holland [1], France, Germany, Italy, Africa, Japan and many other places. Some would argue that there's no such thing as a "Brazilian feature". That's one of the reasons I always have trouble filling the "race" form when I travel.

[1] The Dutch actually invaded Brazil for a few years: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_Brazil

[yoran]

I think that's a good observation. People from Northern Europe (Sweden, Norway e.a.) are also known to be "colder" and more reserved than people in the Mediterranean region.

[justinhj]

People in the north of England are said to be warmer and friendlier than those in the south. The north was mostly industrial and rural whilst the south has London's financial district and the Home Counties where the "posh" live. I say was because its a lot more homogenized now and there's less industry.

[philwelch]

I think any general north-south variation would have to be over large areas (Brazil, Europe, the US). England is tiny--of course north-south differences are going to be dictated by local factors.

[justinhj]

You'd be surprised. It may be a small country but if us highly populated and also has a rich long history