Freedom in the World, 2008

Since 1978, Freedom House has published Freedom in the World, an annual comparative assessment of political rights and civil liberties around the world. Widely used by policy makers, journalists, and scholars, the 600-page survey is considered the definitive report on freedom around the globe. The ratings reflect global events from Dec. 1, 2005, through Dec. 31, 2006.

According to the survey, 90 countries are free. Their 3.0 billion inhabitants (47% of the world's population) enjoy a broad range of rights. Fifty-eight countries representing 1.1 billion people (30%) are considered partly free. Political rights and civil liberties are more limited in these countries, in which corruption, dominant ruling parties, or, in some cases, ethnic or religious strife is often the norm. The survey finds that 45 countries are not free. The 2.4 billion inhabitants (23%) of these countries, nearly one-half of whom live in China, are denied most basic political rights and civil liberties. In 2006, Guyana moved from Partly Free to Free, and Haiti and Nepal moved from Not Free to Partly Free. Thailand and the Republic of Congo moved from Partly Free to Not Free.

The list below features only independent countries. Freedom House's separate listing of territories reveals that four territories received the lowest possible political rights rating: Chechnya (Russia), Kashmir (Pakistan), Tibet (China), and Western Sahara (Morocco); of those, Chechnya and Tibet also received the lowest possible civil liberties ratings.

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* Countries are ranked according to political rights and civil liberties on a scale from 1.0 (most free) to 7.0 (least free).
Source: Freedom in the World, 2008, published by Freedom House. http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=410&year=2008.

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FREE

1		1.5	2	2.5
Andorra Australia Austria Bahamas Barbados Belgium Canada Cape Verde Chile Costa Rica Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Dominica Estonia Finland France Germany Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Kiribati Liechtenstein	Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Marshall Islands Micronesia Nauru Netherlands New Zealand Norway Palau Poland Portugal St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia San Marino Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Tuvalu United Kingdom United States Uruguay	Belize Bulgaria Ghana Greece Grenada Israel Japan Latvia Monaco Panama St. Vincent and the Grenadines South Korea Taiwan	Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Benin Botswana Brazil Croatia Dominican Republic Mauritius Mongolia Namibia Romania Samoa São Tomé and Príncipe South Africa Suriname Trinidad and Tobago Vanuatu	El Salvador Guyana India Indonesia Jamaica Lesotho Mali Mexico Peru Senegal Serbia Ukraine

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PARTLY FREE

3	3.5	4	4.5	5
Albania Bolivia Colombia Ecuador Honduras Macedonia Montenegro Mozambique Nicaragua Papua New Guinea Paraguay Seychelles Sierra Leone Turkey	Bosnia and Herzegovina East Timor Guatemala Kenya Liberia Madagascar Moldova Niger Philippines Solomon Islands Tanzania Zambia	Burkina Faso Comoros Georgia Guinea-Bissau Kuwait Malawi Malaysia Mauritania Nigeria Sri Lanka Tonga Venezuela	Armenia Bangladesh Burundi Gambia Haiti Jordan Kyrgyzstan Lebanon Morocco Nepal Singapore Uganda	Afghanistan Bahrain Central African Republic Djibouti Ethiopia Fiji Gabon Thailand Togo Yemen

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NOT FREE

5.5	6	6.5	7
Algeria Angola Azerbaijan Bhutan Brunei Cambodia Congo, Dem. Rep. of Congo, Rep. of Egypt Guinea Kazakhstan Maldives Oman Pakistan Qatar Russia Rwanda Tajikistan United Arab Emirates	Cameroon Côte d'Ivoire Iran Iraq Swaziland Tunisia Vietnam	Belarus Chad China Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Laos Saudi Arabia Syria Zimbabwe	Cuba Libya Myanmar (Burma) North Korea Somalia Sudan Turkmenistan Uzbekistan

Source: Foreign Policy: The Failed States Index. Web: www.foreignpolicy.com, 2008.