Tag Archives: Africa

How African Countries Compare to One Another

scoring africa

The African continent is home to 54 countries ranging from prosperous ones to countries that are plagued by violence and extreme poverty.

The chart above shows how African countries compare with one another, taking into account different indicators such as human rights, education, the state of the economy, political stability, the diversity and size of its population, and access to healthcare.

Countries with the highest score (best) include Mauritius, South Africa, and Seychelles. Countries with the lowest score (worst) include Somalia and Chad. In between these two extremes there are a wide range of countries performing well in some areas, and not so well in others.

Source: PolicyMic: This Awesome Interactive Map Will Make You Think Twice About Africa

 

Parts of the World With No McDonald’s

countries without a mcdonalds

If you travel outside the United States the likelihood that you will find a McDonald’s is very high. However, there are still many countries that do not have one. Such is the case of most South Saharan African countries, with the exception of South Africa, Botswana, and Kenya; Iran, Syria, Turkmenistan, and Afghanistan in the Middle East; Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Papua New Guinea in Asia; Cuba, Haiti, Bolivia, and Guyana in the America’s. It is interesting to see that Iceland, being a highly developed European nation, does not have one either.

Note: We found this interesting map on the web, but we were unable to find its original source to give it proper credit and link to it as the source for this blog post.

 

The Most and Least Ethnically Diverse Countries

diversity map harvardUsing data from the Harvard Institute for Economic Research, The Washington Post created this map that shows how ethnically diverse is a country.

Dark green countries are the more ethnically diverse. Such is the case of Canada, Mexico, several South American countries, including Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador. The most ethnically diverse countries are located in Africa. In contrast, dark orange countries are more ethnically homogenous. That is the case of most European nations, China, Japan, South and North Korea, and Australia.

 

Total Population Undernourished in 2012

undernourishment hunger map 2012About 870 million people are still undernourished around the world, specially in developing countries. Undernourishment is defined as the lack of sufficient caloric intake.

The situation is specially serious in Africa. In countries like Sudan, South Sudan, Eritrea, etc. more than 35% of the population is undernourished. Other countries where a high percentage of the population is undernourished include North Korea, Laos, Paraguay, Haiti, to name a few.

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: The FAO Hunger Map 2012

 

The Failed States Index 2013

failed state index 2013Fund 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

violence against womenIn 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.

 

The World’s Abortion Laws by Country

world abortion laws 2013Latin 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.

 

Male and Female Literacy Rates by Country

global literacy ratesLiteracy rate is defined as the number of people 15 years or older who can read and write. According to a study published by the Oxford Internet Institute at University of Oxford, global literacy rate is 82%. While the literacy rate for men is 87%, the rate for women is 77%.

Looking at data per continent, we find that countries in the Americas are highly literate, 99% for both men and women in the United States, and 97% for both men and women in Argentina. European countries show high literacy rates as well, above 91% for both men and women.

Many nations in Asia also show high literacy rates, except for countries like India, certain neighboring countries and countries in the Middle East, where the literacy rates are even lower for women.

Most African countries have very low literacy rates, with few exceptions: South Africa, Lesotho, Kenya, and Namibia.

 

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

dependence on us funds for hivThe 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

 

HIV Infection Rates Among Sex Workers by Country

sex workers rates of hivThe United States increased its funding to fight AIDS globally ten years ago. But, to qualify for funding, NGO’s had to enforce an explicit policy against prostitution. Female sex workers are 13.5 times more likely to have contracted the HIV virus, but because of the enforced anti-prostitution policy, female sex workers do not qualify to receive treatment.

This visualization by The Nation shows the rate of HIV infection among sex workers around the world. The highest rates of HIV infection are in Africa, with Swaziland at an staggering 70%.