DUSHANBE, December 28, Asia-Plus — Tajikistan was ranked 166th of 195 countries in Freedom House’s 2007 Freedom in the World Survey, which has been published annually since 1972.
The survey includes both analytical reports and numerical ratings for 193 countries and 15 select territories. Each country and territory report includes an overview section, which provides historical background and a brief description of the year’s major developments, as well as a section summarizing the current state of political rights and civil liberties. In addition, each country and territory is assigned a numerical rating—on a scale of 1 to7—for political rights and an analogous rating for civil liberties; a rating of 1 indicates the highest degree of freedom and 7 the least amount of freedom. These ratings, calculated based on the methodological process described below, determine whether a country is classified as Free, Partly Free, or Not Free by the survey.
We will recall that last year, Tajikistan was ranked 165th.
According to the survey, the number of countries judged by Freedom in the World as Free in 2006 stood at 90, representing 47 percent of the global population. Fifty-eight countries qualified as Partly Free, with 30 percent of the world”s population. The survey finds that 45 countries are Not Free, representing 23 percent of the world”s inhabitants.
Of the 28 countries in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, 13 are Free (46 percent), 8 are Partly Free (29 percent), and 7 are Not Free (25 percent).
