And India's size its population is seven times that of its nearest neighbour, Pakistan has encouraged bullying tendencies.

ECONOMIST: India and its near-abroad

On Slugger O'Toole Mick Fealty has been pondering on whether Ireland could have done more to capitalise on its nearest neighbour's preparations for 2012.

BBC: An Olympian spirit of generosity

How this tiny dot in the middle of the South Pacific came to be inhabited is the subject of some debate, but the most widely accepted theory is that Polynesian seafarers arrived from the west around 400 AD, perhaps from their nearest neighbour, the Pitcairn Islands.

BBC: Easter Island��s greatest festival