Category Archives: Brazil

Basic Salary of Lawmakers by Country

How much lawmakers are paid is a sensitive issue especially in times of economic austerity, or in countries where the majority of the population lives in extreme poverty conditions.

In this chart prepared by The Economist, we can see how much lawmakers are being paid in different countries across the globe in U.S. dollars (left), and as a ratio of the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita (right).

In Nigeria, for example, lawmakers receive a basic salary of $189,000, 116 times the country’s GDP per capita. In Kenya a lawmaker makes a basic salary of $74,500, 76 times the country’s GDP per capita. Other countries were lawmakers receive the heftiest salaries include Ghana, Indonesia, South Africa, Brazil, Thailand, and India. It is worth pointing out that most of these countries are some of the poorest in the world.

In comparison, in the wealthiest nations a lawmaker’s salary as a ratio of GDP is much smaller. In Britain, that ratio is 2.7 of the GDP per capita.

The Failed States Index 2013

Fund For Peace just released the Failed State Index (FSI) 2013. The FSI measures the level of risk in each country using a series of risk indicators such as mounting demographic pressures, massive movement of refugees, uneven economic development, poverty, legitimacy of the state, progressive deterioration of human services, violation of human rights, violation of the rule of law, security apparatus, intervention of external actors, etc. The FSI is calculated for a total of 178 countries.

Nations ranking at the top for failed states (red) include Somalia, Congo, Sudan, and South Sudan. Unfortunately, most of the world’s nations seem to be under a warning (orange) for failed states, from Africa to Asia to Latin America.

For the complete list of countries, rankings and scores, please visit: Fund For Peace: Failed State Index (FSI) 2013

Violence Against Women by World Region

In this chart published by The Economist we look at two sets of data about violence against women.

The first one shows that more than a third (39%) of homicides of women around the world are committed by a previous or current partner. The numbers are specially shocking for South East Asia (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar [Burma], Thailand, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, East Timor, Indonesia, Philippines, and Singapore). The numbers are also high for Latin American and African countries.

The second set of data shows that 30% of women around the world have experienced physical or sexual violence during their lifetime by a former or current partner. The numbers are the highest for Central African countries (Burundi, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda), followed by countries in West Africa (Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, etc.), South Asia (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka), the Andean region of South America (Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia), the Middle East, and North Africa.

Global Carbon Footprint by Country

This original visualization by Stanford Kay shows total carbon emissions by country. Using different colors to differentiate each region, the size of the circle depicts the carbon footprint of each country.

Countries with the largest carbon footprint include China, United States, Russia, India, Japan, Germany, South Korea, Australia, UK, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Taiwan, Ukraine, France, and Spain.

The World’s Abortion Laws by Country

Latin American countries along with countries in the Middle East and Africa have the most restrictive abortion laws.

According to this map by the Center for Reproductive Rights, in countries like Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Oman, Egypt, Libya, Indonesia, etc. (shown in red) abortions are allowed in some cases only to save a woman’s life, or in most cases they are banned altogether.

In general, most developed nations have less restrictive abortion laws, although some 12 states in the U.S. have passed more restrictive laws banning abortion after 20 weeks of gestation.

Extradition Treaties of the U.S. with Other Countries

An estimated 100 countries have signed bilateral extradition treaties with the United States, including all Latin American countries, Western European countries, Egypt, India, Australia, and New Zealand to name a few. Some 60 nations including China, Russia, several Middle Eastern and African countries have not. However, even if some countries signed extradition treaties they can still refuse to hand an individual over to the U.S. if that person is seeking asylum or if he/she would face the death penalty.

Source: The Economist: Daily Chart: Where can he go?

Global Acceptance of Homosexuality

In light of the recent Supreme Court’s Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) ruling in favor of same-sex marriage, we found this interesting visualization showing the global great divide among nations regarding the acceptance of homosexuality.

Countries where homosexuality is accepted include Spain (88%), Germany (87%), Czech Republic (80%) Canada (80%), Australia (79%), Philippines (73%), Argentina (74%), Italy (74%), Chile (68%), among others.

On the other side of the spectrum, there are countries where homosexuality is less acceptable, or not acceptable at all. Those countries include Nigeria (1%), Pakistan (2%), Tunisia (2%), Ghana (3%), Egypt (3%), Jordan (3%), Indonesia (3%), and Senegal (3%) to name a few.

Source: Pew Research Center: Global Acceptance of Homosexuality

Dependency on U.S. Funds to Fight AIDS by Country

The United States provides 60% of the funding to fight the AIDS epidemic worldwide. The highest recipients of this funding are African nations. Other countries include Bolivia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

Latin America depends on these funds to fight AIDS too. Latin American nations are recipients of up to 24% of funding from the US along with Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Bulgaria, Thailand, and Indonesia.

Source: The Nation: Who Depends Most on US Funds to Fight AIDS Epidemic

Gay Marriage by Country

To date, 15 countries allow gay marriage: Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Portugal, South Africa, and New Zealand.

Same-sex marriage is legal in some jurisdictions of Mexico and the United States. Currently, 12 states in the U.S. permit same-sex marriage, while 30 states have amended their constitutions to ban it.

Resource: Pew Research Center: A global snapshot of same-sex marriage

Child Labor Index 2012

Child labor is a serious problem that affects children all around the world. The International Labor Organization (ILO) defines child labor as “work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development.” According to ILO, an approximate 215 million children around the world are working. Out of this number, 115 million are thought to be doing dangerous work in hazardous conditions. An estimated 150 million children between ages 5 and 14 are subjected to child labor globally.

According to the Child Labor Index for 2012 published by risk analysis company Maplecroft, countries with the highest risk of child labor violations include Myanmar, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia, India, and China among a group of 76 countries.

Read full report at: Maplecroft: Conflict and economic downturn cause global increase in reported child labour violations – 40% of countries now rated ‘extreme risk’

IndexMundi Blog

Country profiles in depth