This map shows Freedom in the World in 2015.
- Free: 89 countries
- Partly Free: 54 countries
- Not Free: 42 countries
- Worst of the Worst: 9 countries
Key Findings :
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Of the 195 countries assessed, 89 (46 percent) were rated Free, 55 (28 percent) Partly Free, and 51 (26 percent) Not Free. All but one region had more countries with declines than with gains. Asia-Pacific had an even split.
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In a new and disquieting development, a number of countries lost ground due to state surveillance, restrictions on internet communications, and curbs on personal autonomy.
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Ratings for the Middle East and North Africa region were the worst in the world, followed by Eurasia. Syria, a dictatorship mired in civil war and ethnic division and facing uncontrolled terrorism, received the lowest Freedom in the World score of any country in over a decade.
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The Worst of the Worst countries are the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
What is Freedom in the World?
Freedom in the World is the standard-setting comparative assessment of global political rights and civil liberties around the world. It is a yearly report by US-based non-governmental organization Freedom House since 1972.
Freedom in the World provides numerical ratings and narrative reports for 194 countries and 15 related and disputed territories. Countries are given a total score from 1 (most free) to 7 (least free). Depending on the ratings, the nations are then classified as "Free", "Partly Free", or "Not Free". It is widely used by policymakers, the media, international corporations, civic activists, and human rights defenders to monitor trends in democracy and track improvements and setbacks in freedom worldwide.
How is the Freedom of the World calculated?
The survey measures freedom according to two broad categories that are derived from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
- Political rights.
- Civil liberties.
Each country and territory covered in the survey is assigned two numerical ratings, one for political rights and one for civil liberties. On a scale of 1 to 7; a rating of 1 indicates the highest degree of freedom and 7 the least amount of freedom. While these scales are logically distinct, in practice they are closely related: when one rating is low, the other tends to be as well, and vice versa.
These political rights and civil liberties ratings are combined and averaged to determine an overall "freedom status" for each country and territory. Countries and territories with a combined average rating of
- 1.0 to 2.5 are considered "Free": A Free country is one where there is open political competition, a climate of respect for civil liberties, significant independent civic life, and independent media.
- 3.0 to 5.0, "Partly Free": A Partly Free country is one in which there is limited respect for political rights and civil liberties. Partly Free states frequently suffer from an environment of corruption, weak rule of law, ethnic and religious strife, and a political landscape in which a single party enjoys dominance despite a certain degree of pluralism.
- 5.5 to 7.0 "Not Free": A Not Free country is one where basic political rights are absent, and basic civil liberties are widely and systematically denied.
For more information, please follow the reference link below.
9 years ago
