And among many tribal people in Asia too (especially the Dayak in Borneo)...
Alcohol consumption is world wide, it is not limited to any one culture. It seems to be one of the first things people discover. Then again to live in a temperate to tropical climate it is nearly impossible to stop the natural production of alcohol. In the tropics you are going to have wine if you leave any fruit out for over a day or two. Fruit juices will naturally turn into wine if you try to store them without pasteurizing them.
Nearly every tribe in Africa will have their own alcoholic concoction that they drink heavily. Same with the American Indian tribes in South America. I found that in desert areas where fruit is scarce people will make wines out of milk, honey, vegetables, cactus, etc. In my younger non-Islamic past I discovered that you could always find home made date wine in Iran, Iraq and Saudi. I found that many villagers did not believe date wine contained alcohol, because it was not made from grapes.
Now if we are speaking of commercially produced alcohol products I believe the Western World has the largest variety. But, I doubt if there are any nations in which people do not consume alcohol. In the countries where it is restricted or forbidden, is where you find the most home recipes for making it.
The per capita consumption of bought alcoholic drinks can be measured and it is quite high:
The per capita annual consumption by the 30 largest consumers of bought Alcohol is:
#1 Luxembourg: 15.5 litres per capita
#2 France: 14.8 litres per capita
#3 Ireland: 13.5 litres per capita
#4 Hungary: 13.4 litres per capita
#5 Czech Republic: 12.1 litres per capita
#6 Spain: 11.7 litres per capita
#7 Denmark: 11.5 litres per capita
#8 Portugal: 11.4 litres per capita
#9 United Kingdom: 11.2 litres per capita
#10 Austria: 11.1 litres per capita
#11 Switzerland: 10.8 litres per capita
#12 Belgium: 10.7 litres per capita
#13 Germany: 10.2 litres per capita
#14 Australia: 9.8 litres per capita
#15 Netherlands: 9.7 litres per capita
#16 Korea, South: 9.3 litres per capita
#17 Finland: 9.3 litres per capita
#18 Greece: 9.2 litres per capita
#19 New Zealand: 8.9 litres per capita
#20 United States: 8.3 litres per capita
#21 Poland: 8.1 litres per capita
#22 Italy: 8 litres per capita
#23 Canada: 7.8 litres per capita
#24 Slovakia: 7.6 litres per capita
#25 Japan: 7.6 litres per capita
#26 Sweden: 7 litres per capita
#27 Iceland: 6.5 litres per capita
#28 Norway: 6 litres per capita
#29 Mexico: 4.6 litres per capita
#30 Turkey: 1.5 litres per capita
Source:
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/foo_alc_con-food-alcohol-consumption-current
Now if we look at the mid eastern countries, for the LEGAL consumption of alcohol:
Afghanistan AFG 0.0
Algeria DZA 0.1
Bahrain BHR 7.0
Cyprus CYP 11.5
Egypt EGY 0.2
Iran, Islamic Rep
IRN 0.0
Iraq IRQ 0.2
Israel ISR 2.5
Jordan JOR 0.3
Kuwait KWT 0.0
Lebanon LBN 3.2
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya LBY 0.0
Morocco MAR 0.4
Oman OMN 0.3
Qatar QAT 4.4
Saudi Arabia SAU 0.0
Syrian Arab Rep SYR 0.5
Tunisia TUN 1.2
Turkey TUR 1.4
United Arab Emirates ARE 0.0
Yemen YEM 0.0
source:
http://earthtrends.wri.org/searchable_db/index.php?step=countries&ccID%5B%5D=3&allcountries=checkbox&theme=4&variable_ID=1186&action=select_years
The only countries that have no legal consumption are the countries in which it is illegal, so any consumption is illegal and not noted.
The point being is the United States is not the highest per capita user of alcohol and that the use of alcohol is a world wide issue, not limited to any nation or region.
