Free countries

[Pua'i Mana'o]

I have been trying to look up the different countries around the world that are free countries. My understanding of the term is:
-belief in democracy
-have systems of checks and balances between its different govt branches
-has regular elections
-allows for political and religious opposition, organized or not.

What's missing here, in terms of this definition?

What countries across the planet are free?

aloha, Pua'i

[Vanguard]

Re: Free countries



Freedonia?

[Pua'i Mana'o]

Re: Free countries

Van, wikipedia is calling you.

[Vanguard]

Re: Free countries

Van, wikipedia is calling you.

Aye, I spend way too much time on that site. About, 1500 or so edits worth :P

[Pua'i Mana'o]

Re: Free countries

so, I googled it and came up with this website:

Freedom in the World, 2005
Since 1978, Freedom House has published Freedom in the World, an annual comparative assessment of the state 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 2005 ratings reflect global events from Dec. 1, 2003, through Nov. 30, 2004.

According to the survey, 89 countries are free. Their 2.8 billion inhabitants (44% of the world's population) enjoy a broad range of rights. Fifty-four countries representing 1.2 billion people (19%) 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 49 countries are not free. The 2.4 billion inhabitants (37%) of these countries, nearly three-fifths of whom live in China, are denied most basic political rights and civil liberties. In 2004, Russia was the only country to register a negative category change, moving 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.

The list:

[Miulang]

Re: Free countries

What immediately struck me about the countries on this list is the number of island nations that are considered to be free (about 25%). Most of these island nations have no large military forces, are not particularly rich in resources, and yet they appear, at least according to the criteria of Freedom House, to offer the most freedom to their citizens.

Miulang

[Pua'i Mana'o]

Re: Free countries

That is an excellent point, Miulang. Some of those countries (on all three lists) makes me wonder who/where on earth they lie.

These are the 10 least corrupt countries.

and a great list of the world's most and least livable countries.

[waioli kai]

not so Free countries

That is an excellent point, Miulang. Some of those countries (on all three lists) makes me wonder who/where on earth they lie.
These are the 10 least corrupt countries. and a great list of the world's most and least livable countries.

Wonder what it means that “Least Livable” Countries, 2005 does not include Sudan, Iraq, North Korea, Afghanistan, Somalia ?

Least Livable” Countries, 2005
1. Niger 11. Congo, Dem. Rep. of
2. Sierra Leone 12. Zambia
3. Burkina Faso 13. Malawi
4. Mali 14. Tanzania
5. Chad 15. Côte d’Ivoire
6. Guinea-Bissau 16. Benin
7. Central African Republic 17. Eritrea
8. Ethiopia 18. Angola
9. Burundi 19. Rwanda
10. Mozambique 20. Nigeria

Is the world really such a wreck? If it is, how long has it been that way? And how is it ever going to get any better?

It's a good thing our kids don't know much about what is going on,,, or perhaps more importantly, about what is not going on. They might just say as do their parents , "Why bother?"; not a good attitude to have early in one's life.

[waioli kai]

not so Free countries

wk= '--Wonder what it means that “Least Livable” Countries, 2005 does not include Sudan, Iraq, North Korea, Afghanistan, Somalia ?

Least Livable” Countries, 2005 www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0778562.htm

1. Niger 2. Sierra Leone 3. Burkina Faso 4. Mali 5. Chad 6. Guinea-Bissau 7. Central African Republic 8. Ethiopia 9.Burundi 10. Mozambique 11. Congo, Dem. Rep. of 12. Zambia 13. Malawi 14. Tanzania 15. Côte d’Ivoire 16. Benin 17. Eritrea 18. Angola 19. Rwanda 20. Nigeria

Is the world really such a wreck? If it is, how long has it been that way? And how is it ever going to get any better? --'

Then there are Palestinians in Israeli-occupied territories. Where to rank their 'quality of life' ? Has there ever been a year in the last 60 years that occupied Palestine would not have made the "Least Livable" list?

[Pua'i Mana'o]

Re: Free countries

good questions. What the hell is wrong with Africa?

[waioli kai]

what's not wrong with Africa , Re: Free countries

good questions. What the hell is wrong with Africa?

I've only been to South Africa, in April 1991 two months before elections which resulted in Nelson Mandela becoming President of the ANC, African National Congress, not even a year after Mandela had been released from decades of imprisonment.

South Africa then reminded me of pre-civil-rights Florida and Texas, but for the apparent breadths of the economic gaps between "whites" and "blacks". I never went to Soweto outside Johannesburg, but I've never been to such a high-end shopping-mall as one there in Joburg, with it's sniper security along the roofline I noticed from a far distance as I was walking somewhat anxiously toward the mall complex one morning....hoping not to appear being "colored" or "black" helped quell my anxiety somewhat, leaving the mall was easier.

In the mid-seventies I was in the Peace Corps, preparing to spend at least two years in fish culture projects in Cameroon, when shortly before being sent out of the U.S. from a U. of Oklahoma training site, it was revealed that the Central African Republic could be as likely a touchdown point for me as Cameroon. Bokassa was in charge in the CAR, the politics didn't then seem all that healthy there, meanwhile next door Idi Amin's reign of terror was in it's prime....so,,, so much for the Peace Corps, at that time at any rate.

Africa is huge, diverse, mysterious and I know next to nothing about it, though a daughter is still in Capetown and my mother lived in Ghana, Egypt and Malta with some of my siblings for years.

As for what's wrong with Africa, one doesn't need to go back to centuries of the European's and American's slave trade there. Just starting at the 20th Century CE (I think it adds perspective to note "CE", for 'Christian Era', seeing as how that is still the era we're in....[somewhat cynically]-> "wouldn't Christ be proud?"): one could never exhaust reading sources about the brutality and injustice suffered by Africans under the colonialist powers of Europe, which experience was immediately followed by the seemingly unending surrogate warfare of the so-called 'Cold War', which in Africa was hellishly hot; and now? AIDs everywhere, climate change, resource depletion, and unbridaled mayhem and murder to fill in the voids. One could be tempted to ask: "What in the world is not wrong with Africa?", which is the harder question to answer.

[Miulang]

Re: Free countries

When I worked for an international NGO, many of the projects we funded were in Africa. Africa is the part of the world most people would rather forget than help. After years and years of colonialism, the people of those countries still face horrendous odds. And the ones whose countries encompass or border the Sahara desert have it particularly rough because they are susceptible to recurring droughts. For some of the tribes of the Sahel who traditionally were a nomadic culture, the shock is even greater because they are being forced to move into cities where their lack of marketable skills also further handicaps them.

Some African countries, like Rwanda and Congo, are being torn apart by political strife. Others, like Burkina Fasso, Mali, Ivory Coast, Chad in West Africa (once French protectorates) have the climate to contend with.

Ethiopia has been at war with Eritrea for years. There are many Eritrean exiles living in the Pacific Northwest, as well as a small contingent of "lost boys" from Sudan. At one point, Tanzania was looked upon by the world health organizations as being one of the most progressive in the world because their brand of socialized medicine brought quality healthcare to the villages through the training of health workers who travelled the country. That whole system has apparently fallen apart due to political pressures.

Mozambique is one of the only countries outside of Portugal and Brazil who have Portuguese as its national language. The political atmosphere has been tense for years, with skirmishes between the government and the Mozambiquan rebels.

And for most of these countries, even though they were granted independence in the 1970's, there are still very visible vestiges of white colonialism influence in the cities.

Miulang

P.S. There really IS a "Timbuktu"...it's in Mali.

[Pua'i Mana'o]

Re: Free countries

Mahalo Miulang for all this information. Quite a lot to digest, google, etc

What I need to do is dig up stuff on African economics and politics. Off to prowl that stuff up.