Worst Countries
Worst Countries in the World
Just The Facts
- The world has approximatley 196 countries (192 are members of the UN)
- Increase in disease and territorial disputes continue to destabalize these nations
- The population of over 6 billion has contributed to many of the problems in these third world nations
Intro
The list of worst countries in the world. These countries are the worst of the third world and continue to deteriorate financially and structurally as the years go by. Most of these nations are dictated by a tyrannical ruler or military junta, and some just have no government and the country is run by crime or terror groups.
10. Laos

Besides being completely landlocked and being the 44th poorest nation in the world, Laos continues to become poorer and poorer. The communist regime in the country continues to become more and more oppressive as their legitimacy declines. Every year people starve to death in this nation and many are fed up with the countries declining economy and infrastructure. The unrest in the nation mayl eventually lead to complete collapse thus making the country another Myanmar (or Burma). There may be hope however, but only if this nation adapts more of a capitalistic free trade economic policy as its neighbor Thailand has done. Myanmar or Burma boasts one of the strictest military governments in the world, and denied the results of the country's last election causing more tension and unease.
9. Sierra Leone

Poverty and war plagues this small African nation. The blood diamond crisis is most evident in this country as neither the government or the largest UN mandate ever could prevent the violence associated with blood diamonds. The country continues on a downward spiral and living here is not preferred by anyone. Perhaps the only solution to help this war torn nation is for the African Union to somehow establish controls on diamond exports in the country.
8. Mozambique

Doomed since its existence Mozambique continues to be known for its malaria and aids crises. There is barely any safe drinking water in this nation and despite receiving much aid from the UN the country continues to degrade and slowly crumble as many African nations in this same situation do. The only hope for this nation is a cure for the AIDs virus and a way to make drinking water safe to curb Malaria.
7. The Central African Republic

Bordering the C.A.R are the nations of Congo, Chad and Sudan also among the worst countries to live in. It is most likely the lack of safe drinking water and ongoing civil war which makes this country so difficult to live in. During the genocides in the Congo and in Sudan, many fled to the C.A.R to escape those conflicts but wound up in another conflict within the C.A.R. The country cannot sustain its own people nor the millions of refugees. As true in many African nations starvation and disease plagues this nation and makes it one of the worst countries to live in.
6. Myanmar (or Burma)

After a coup de etat in the country and the renaming of it from Burma to Myanmar the country has in power one of the strictest junta governments and there are virtually no human rights. Isolation from the world has made Myanmar the way it is as the government very rarely meets with UN officials or officials of neighboring countries. This Southeast Asian nation is among the 30 poorest nations in the world and much of that has to do with the government hording all the money and resources in the nation. Even after a devastating typhoon ravaged the nation, the government did little humanitarian wise to help its people.
5. Chad

Currently Chad contains central Africa's main water source in Lake Chad, but recently this source has dried up almost completely leaving the country in a drought and famine. The country borders Sudan and the amount of Darfurian refugees entering the nation are overwhelming the country's capacity to maintain its own already impoverished population. As conditions in Chad continue to get worse it goes virtually unnoticed as there is little that can be done to stabilize this economically devastated nation.
4. Democratic Republic of the Congo

Years and years of war and genocide have torn this country apart and the humanitarian crisis in the nation is catastrophic. The country is currently the second poorest nation in the world in front of only Zimbabwe GDP wise. the 300$ GDP is seen as irreversible and there is no progress that can be made to get this country back to sustainability despite the millions of UN dollars invested in the humanitarian and structural relief of this nation. The country is one of Africa's largest and most mineral rich, but because of eploitation the people of this country rarely see any profits made from the resources this country has.
3. Sudan

Genocide anyone? well despite the government denying the obvious genocide in this counrty, Sudan gives meaning to the phrase "FML" not only do people in the region of Darfur suffer from disease and starvation but they also suffer from the genocide of the southern Christians committed by the northern Islamic government. Rape and murder plagues this nation and just recently has the international community done anything to stop the genocide. The ICC has decided that the Sudanese president Umar Hassan Ahmad al-BASHIR has in fact violated human rights (obviously) and they now recognize him as an international criminal.
2. Zimbabwe

The word "Failure" derives from the situation in Zimbabwe. The country currently faces complete economic failure. The country recently printed out the 1 trillion dollar bill and the currency exchange rate is something like 1 USD = 47,000,000 ZWD (I think that's about it) The country's dictator Robert Mugabe is among the top 10 most hated people on earth and continues to make irrational decisions that are inadvertently destroying the country's and economy and over all well being. Sadly, Zimbabwe used to be a very wealthy nation but today it is amongst the poorest. Zimbabwe's $200 GDP makes it the poorest in the world with little hope of economic revival unless there is major political change inside this nation.
1a. North Korea

Possibly the most isolated country in the world continues to surprise the world with its brinkmanship attitude and its apparently evil agenda. Close to 1 million people a year starve to death in this nation and its only getting worse as the government has decided to put all of its money into building 100 story hotel buildings as well as building up its nuclear arsenal. The capital city of Pyongyang seems like a modern capital city, but most of the infrastructure is palaces and monuments built in honor of their leaders Kim il sung and Kim Jong il. If there is any hope for the nation it is the recent news Kim Jong il is dying of cancer. Although another tyrannical autocrat would take his place and continue this bizarre leadership practice of not paying attention to your people and building up a massive military infrastructure that has bankrupted the country. Some hope comes in the form of reunification however, the south seems willing to re-unite, but not in the near future as the two countries are as different as any in almost every aspect.
1b. Somalia (its a tie)

Perhaps Somalia isn't even a country, more of a lawless land with no hope of a better future. Somalia is run by pirates and warlords and has virtually no economy other than a black market and drug based economy. Recently the country has become noticed for it constant pirate attacks on passing international vessels. This is one way the Somalis exploit the absence of government in their nation. Several African neighbors and the U.S. have attempted to establish a government but the government has dissipated almost completely leaving the nation to once again be economically unstable and war torn. Perhaps the avg. life expectancy of the nation says it all, 49 years. The country, like most African nations, also has AIDs and Malaria which have killed hundreds of thousands in recent years.
End
So the next time you think FML just remember you don't live in one of these nations. If your wondering what the best nations are well that's a different story but here's my top ten, of course in my opinion, not at all factual (Mainly based on GDP's GNP's and standard of living).
10. Switzerland
9. Singapore
8. Japan
7. The United kingdom
6. Australia
5. Luxemborg
4. The United States
3. The United Arab Emirates
2. Liechtenstein
1. Qatar
I'm sure this is up for debate......






I think it's Bulgaria . European Union member , but the standard of life is extremely low , like in the poorest African county for example. I am not kidding.
ReplyI don't know where you're pulling some of this info. I firmly agree with North Korea and Somalia, but the rest can be interchanged with some of the countries in the comments below me.
ReplyOh well I guess, if it's your opinion as you state it is, then people really shouldn't judge too harshly. This is Cracked, not something you need to base your life on.
Eh... Drinking non-potable water has nothing to do with malaria, it's caused by mosquito bites. I think the author may be confusing malaria with cholera. And there's a really easy way to kill bacteria in drinking water - boil it. I grew up in Zambia and we boil all our water there. Sure, not everyone in African countries has electricity, so obviously not everyone can do this, but just thought I'd mention it, because the article makes it sound like you need some hard-core technology to make water safe.
ReplyThis is bullshit. I just wrote a long comment and they made me create an account and now my comment it gone :@
Reply Hide All See All 3 RepliesWell basically I was ranting about the second list not having Canada. We have the 3rd highest standard of living in the world and the 7th happiest people in the world. GDP and GNP mean nothing if most of the wealth is distributed towards the richest 0.1% of the population (eg: U.S.A., Saudi Arabia, U.A.E.). In fact, the U.S. doesn't come anywhere near the top 10 for "Best country in the world".
You need to consider the quality of life for the median population, accessibility to healthcare and education, freedom, crime rates, safety, landscape, etc.
My personal list of top 10 countries goes as:
9-10. Australia / Austria
8. Norway
7. Sweden
6. Iceland
5. Denmark
4. Canada
3. Finland
2. Luxembourg
1. Switzerland
Excuse me, let me put The Netherlands in 7th, Sweden 8th, Norway 9th and Australia 10th.
Not quite sure how you've missed Germany off your list, given your criteria for your choice. That said, you've been somewhat modest as regards Canada: I'd certainly have it higher than you've got it. In fact, I'd have it above all your top three. I just got back from visiting Geneva, and I've not been so shocked by prices since I was asked for £5 for a can of coke in Monaco - that's got to have some impact on quality of life, right?
my list
1. India
2. afghanistan
3. Nigeria
4. Sudan
5. China
What? Laos? Laos in the top ten?
ReplyWorst article ever. A pox on Cracked.
Such an ignorant article. -_-
ReplyThis is just depressing. I'm going to go shoot myself in the face now.
ReplyWhere the hell is Canada on the second list? Canada kicks ass.
ReplyLaos? Are you serious?
ReplyLaos doesn't have an especially repressive government - it's not great by any means, but it doesn't seem too capricious. It may be poor, but cost of living is very low indeed. Of the places I've been, I wouldn't say that Lao people seem any less happy than anywhere else. The "unrest" you mention is basically a couple of buses over the course of a decade being hijacked by hilltribe people with grievances, which compares very favourably with much of Central and South America. One of the worst things about the place, which you don't even mention, is the fact that America dropped more bombs on Laos in the 1970s than were dropped in the entirity of WWII (while not even officially at war with them), and a lot of them didn't explode at the time - which means that wandering around parts of the north can be similar to taking a stroll through the Korean DMZ.
I'd prefer to live in Laos than a whole heap of countries not on your list. The obvious candidates are East Timor, Haiti, Afghanistan and Iraq. The entire Middle East, excepting the westernised zones, is pretty horrible, with honorable mention for Yemen as probably the most unpleasant of all due to ubiquitous poverty. I would rather live in Laos than *anywhere* in Africa except South Africa or possibly Morocco (yes, I'm including Egypt). How in the name of all that's holy is Liberia not on your list? It's practically bottom of the GDP lists both real and per capita, it's on the sanctions list which always has a massive negative effect on quality of life, and if you think that Laos has "unrest", try comparing the respective crime rates. Or even the respective drought, or HIV rates. There are countries like Bangladesh, with rampant overcrowding, grinding poverty and impending natural disasters, but which have better GDP figures (*not* per capita, note) because of the aforementioned overcrowding - who do you think has a better quality of life, people in Vientiane or in Dhaka? Hell, I'd rather live in Laos than India if I weren't white or educated. And seriously, no South American countries at all? Are you aware of how unpleasant it can be to live in Honduras, Nicaragua, even parts of Brazil and Mexico? They might not be quite as poor as in Laos, but better poor than dead. Then there are the 'non-countries', like Kurdistan, Palestine, Kashmir. If you think Laos is bad, try the hellholes that are South Ossetia or Abkhazia.
This article reads as though you deliberately missed out all the glaringly obvious countries where America played a big part in how horrible it is to live there - Iraq, Afghanistan, Nicaragua and Liberia being the most evident examples. On that basis, I can only assume you've included Laos because you don't know about the Secret War.
Learn to proofread
ReplyUK is probably out of the top 20 in my mind. Germany should take the UK's place on the list.
ReplyI live in the UK, and that's pretty fair. Canada is also notably absent from the list.
Basically, the UK is a great place to live if you live in London or the commuter belt, and you can afford to do so (by which I mean earn about £75,000 or more per annum). Otherwise it absolutely sucks. I'd rather live in Somalia than Middlesborough. At least I'd have a chance at legitimate employment.
I'm from the UK, and can't really say I agree, having been to Germany before, I can honestly say I don't think it's better, but that's just my opinion and I'm more commenting to agree, Germany should certainly be on the list. Maybe if they got rid of Qatar (Who in the hell likes Qatar, anyway)? And put it on somewhere, it's definitely in top five. But that's just me.
Qatar the best country? You mean the absolute monarchy that basically only exists as a tax-haven for rich foreigners and still outlaws homosexuality and has a reputation for luring desperate expats into forced labor? But yeah, I guess its rich.
Replyoutlaws homosexuality
Don't see the problem
Afganistan has the 2nd highest infant mortality rate and the 2nd lowest life expectancy rate. Angola is #1
Replynot a bad article, but a bad Cracked article. also no mention of Haiti. the only reason that Haiti isn't the shit-hole of despair that large chunks of africa are is because the U.N. managed to take away all the guns. so now they went back to machetes. so now the murder is quiet... Great
ReplyNot that it really matters, but...I spent a couple of weeks in Laos in 2007 and it was awesome. Beautiful jungles, traditional tribal lifestyle, friendly Buddhist monks and loads of delicious coffee and beer. I was really expecting people to want to kill my ass for being an American pig, but instead I got smiles and the occasional, "Well...the American people are ok, but its government is run by idiots." Which I couldn't be bothered to disagree with. As for their government: other than the guy at the border and a traffic cop, I didn't see much evidence of a police state or any kind of state. I did see a lot of wicker based comfy furniture and some elephants, though. Hell, you know...I even accidentally left my wallet in a village which was returned to me with all the cash inside. Sure, they got problems like we all do, but I still rate it as the chillest most awesome place I've been and I'd go back in a heartbeat. As one of the locals pointed out to me, the PDR actually stands for "please don't rush" because...why would you? Super post-industrialized hyper-capitalist America is great too (until all the oil runs out and we're reduced to killing each other over batteries to run our dildos to feed our addiction to electricity), but I guess the lifestyle we have here now just isn't for everyone. Which is why we should force it upon everyone at gun point. Especially, you know...when they aren't white. :P
ReplyThis article was not at all funny. Why is it listed as "funny-1053-worst-countries"? And then the writer shoots himself in the foot by adding some incredibly uninspired list of best countries, pulled from nothing but some export data. As someone already mentioned, there are plenty of countries that beat out Qatar, Japan, and the US. Not EVERYTHING comes back to money, ya know.
ReplyThis article was not at all funny. Why is it listed as "funny-1053-worst-countries"? And then the writer shoots himself in the foot by adding some incredibly uninspired list of best countries, pulled from nothing but some export data. As someone already mentioned, there are plenty of countries that beat out Qatar, Japan, and the US. Not EVERYTHING comes back to money, ya know.
ReplyAnd by the way, nice spelling errors. I certainly trust this article now.
ummm...yeah...lot's of misinformation...ahhh the internet
Replyqatar is nowhere near number 1, here's an intresting fact about it;
"Qatar is a destination country for men and women from South and Southeast Asia who migrate willingly, but are subsequently trafficked into involuntary servitude as domestic workers and laborers, and, to a lesser extent, commercial sexual exploitation; the most common offence was forcing workers to accept worse contract terms than those under which they were recruited; other conditions include bonded labor, withholding of pay, restrictions on movement, arbitrary detention, and physical, mental, and sexual abuse.[9]
According to the Trafficking in Persons Report by the US State Department, men and women who are lured into Qatar by promises of high wages are often forced into underpaid labor. The report states that Qatari laws against forced labour are rarely enforced and that labour laws often result in the detention of victims in deportation centres, pending the completion of legal proceedings. The report places Qatar at tier 3, as one of the countries that neither satisfies the minimum standards nor demonstrates significant efforts to come into compliance"
This wasn't all that funny, really.
Replycracked appears to slowly be transitioning from comedy to serious articles...
Why isn't Canada, Finland, Sweden, South Korea, or Norway included on the Top 10?
Reply Hide All See All 4 RepliesQatar? You're kidding, right? Just because it has a fuckload of oil doesn't mean it's a nice country to live in.
Australia should be just replaced with Canada. Canada doesn't censor the internet. And Japan has the highest suicide rate and highest cost of living.
Why is Laos even on this list? It sucks, but it's not one of the worst. You could have replaced that one with East Timor.
I think Somalia is a great example to show Libertarians and anarchists what would happen if we didn't have a government. It's also a great experiment to see what it would be like in a post-apocalyptic scenario.
Besides having buttloads of Oil we have buttloads of cash, and with this cash we've been able to create something called a wellfare nation. As in we don't get bankrupt by breaking something.
errm...australia doesnt censor the internet dude. i should know, i live here.
How many Canadian cities are listed in the top ten most livable cities based on? One?
And how many Australian cities? 4 is it? With Melbourne being number one? I'm a Melbournian, I should know.
Australia looses points based on the health and social economy of the indigenous population... But that doesn't mean Canada should just replace us.
God, I hate it when people cite Somalia as an example of "what would happen" in a libertarian society. Are you aware of what Somalia was like before its government collapsed? It was worse: Google it if you like. And honestly, I don't think it's too much of a stretch to expect a little bit more from educated affluent people than people whose only option to survive, in any kind of society, is to take from others.