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Social and Moral Index The Best Countries
	Country	Score
1	Taiwan	75.1
2	Singapore	70.5
3	Malta	69.8
4	Brunei	69.1
5	Maldives	68.5
6	Bahamas	68.3
7	St Vincent & Grenadines	67.7
8	Cyprus	67.5
9	Barbados	66.8
10	Puerto Rico	66.7
World Average		57.5
Small Islands Average		61.3
Data Source

A small island includes any with less than 50km² of land. I have veered towards including collective names for islands (such as 'Channel Islands') and only rarely have I added entries to my database for individual islands if they're part of a grouping. This is because, generally speaking, political and demographic data is only available for the larger groupings of islands. The main emphasis of this website is on nation states that fall entirely within a given category, so, there is no attempt here to try and quantify and name every piece of habitable land!

There are 81 locations that fall within this category. By adding up all the known populations that fall within these locations, and summing their physical land areas, we can calculate population densities. Some islands and territories can end up being counted twice depending on how they are classified and divided up politically, but, mostly such errors involve only small populations. So, some data on this collection of countries in total:

Compare to other regions of the world

Total Population: 41.02 million
Total Land Area: 248 457 km²
Independent States: 35
Other Territories: 46

1. Social and Moral Development Index and Basic Demographics

The Social and Moral Development Index is a formulaic aggregation of many factors. It concentrates on moral issues and human rights, violence, equality, tolerance, freedom and effectiveness in climate change mitigation and environmentalism. A country scores higher for achieving well in those areas, and for sustaining that achievement in the long term. Those countries towards the top of this index can truly said to be setting good examples and leading humankind onwards into a bright, humane, and free future. See: "What is the Best Country in the World? An Index of Morality, Conscience and Good Life" by Vexen Crabtree (2017).


	Country	Social & Moral Development Index₁Higher is better	Life Expectancy (2015) Higher is better₂	Gross National Income Per-Capita (2011) Higher is better₂	UN HDI (2016) Lower is better₃	Population	Land Areakm²	People Per km²Higher is worse
1	Taiwan	75.1
2	Singapore	70.5	83.21	$78 162	5	5 256 278	700	7509
3	Malta	69.8	80.73	$29 500	33	419 212	320	1310
4	Brunei	69.1	79.02	$72 843	30	412 892	5 270	78
5	Maldives	68.5	76.96	$10 383	105	324 313	300	1081
6	Bahamas	68.3	75.56	$21 565	58	351 275	10 010	35
7	St Vincent & Grenadines	67.7	73.04	$10 372	99	109 367	390	280
8	Cyprus	67.5	80.33	$29 459	33	1 129 166	9 240	122
9	Barbados	66.8	75.77	$14 952	54	274 530	430	638
10	Puerto Rico	66.7					8 870
11	Jamaica	66.7	75.82	$8 350	94	2 761 331	10 830	255
12	Seychelles	65.8	73.30	$23 886	63	87 169	460	189
13	Mauritius	65.6	74.60	$17 948	64	1 313 803	2 030	647
14	Antigua & Barbuda	64.7	76.24	$20 907	62	90 510	440	206
15	Fiji	63.5	70.15	$8 245	91	875 822	18 270	48
16	St Lucia	63.0	75.20	$9 791	92	177 794	610	291
17	Trinidad & Tobago	62.9	70.52	$28 049	65	1 350 999	5 130	263
18	Dominica	62.8	77.85	$10 096	96	67 665	750	90
19	Nauru	62.0		$12 058		10 370
20	Dominican Rep.	60.7	73.65	$12 756	99	10 183 339	48 320	211
21	Micronesia	59.8	69.27	$3 291	127	112 098	3 170	35
22	St Kitts & Nevis	59.6	73.98	$22 436	74	53 697	260	207
23	Grenada	59.4	73.56	$11 502	79	105 303	340	310
24	Tonga	57.6	72.99	$5 284	101	104 891	720	146
25	Samoa	57.2	73.67	$5 372	104	184 772	2 830	65
26	Palau	57.1	72.87	$13 771	60	20 758	460	45
27	Tuvalu	57.1		$5 395		9 867	30	329
28	Bahrain	57.1	76.72	$37 236	47	1 359 485	760	1789
29	Cape Verde	57.1	73.54	$6 049	122	505 335	4 030	125
30	Vanuatu	56.4	72.11	$2 805	134	251 674	12 190	21
31	Timor-Leste (E. Timor)	55.8	68.51	$5 371	133	1 187 194	14 870	80
32	Kiribati	53.7	66.23	$2 475	137	102 660	810	127
33	Solomon Islands	53.3	68.11	$1 561	156	566 481	27 990	20
34	Sao Tome & Principe	51.0	66.58	$3 070	142	171 878	960	179
35	Haiti	50.6	63.12	$1 657	163	10 255 644	27 560	372
36	Comoros	49.5	63.57	$1 335	160	773 344	1 861	416
37	Marshall Islands	46.9		$4 412		55 717	180	310
World Average		57.5	71.27	$17 240	94.3	25.74m	536 254	48
Small Islands Average		61.3	73.34	$15 781	90.1	1.172m	6 251	187
Data Source

Not showing due to lack of data: Aland Islands, The American Samoa, Anguilla, Aruba, Ascension Islands, Bermuda, Bonaire, The British Virgin Islands, The Cayman Islands, The Channel Islands, Christmas Island, The Cocos (Keeling) Islands, The Cook Islands, Curaco, The Falkland Islands, The Faroe Islands, French Polynesia, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guernsey, Hawaii, The Isle of Man, Jersey, Martinique, Mayotte, Montserrat, New Caledonia, Niue, Norfolk Island, The Northern Mariana Islands, The Pitcairn Islands, Réunion, Saba, Sint Eustatius, St Barthelemy, St Helena, St Martin, St Pierre & Miquelon, Svalbard, Tokelau, Tristan da Cunha, The Turks & Caicos Islands, The US Virgin Islands and Wallis & Futuna. This page only shows places where the database has enough data to be able to come to reasonable conclusions about each place. The main focus is on nation states, but, some distinct external territories may be listed if the database has enough information about them. Averages are calculated from as many valid data points as possible, meaning, that some territories and locations that are not listed above may still be used to calculate some of the average values. Some calculations only use Independent State data - hover the cursor over values to see hints.

Links:

2. Human Rights and Moral Development


	Country	Social & Moral Development Index₁Higher is better	Gender Inequality (2015) Lower is better₄	Nominal Commitment to HR (2009) Higher is better₅	Press Freedom (2013) Lower is better₆	LGBT Equality (2013) Higher is better₇
1	Taiwan	75.1			2382	15
2	Singapore	70.5	0.07	5	4343	-20
3	Malta	69.8	0.22	18	2330	25
4	Brunei	69.1		6	3545	-120
5	Maldives	68.5	0.31	15	3110	-20
6	Bahamas	68.3	0.36	11		10
7	St Vincent & Grenadines	67.7		15		-100
8	Cyprus	67.5	0.12	20	1383	25
9	Barbados	66.8	0.29	11		-100
10	Puerto Rico	66.7				10
11	Jamaica	66.7	0.42	14	988	-100
12	Seychelles	65.8		16	2919	-130
13	Mauritius	65.6	0.38	14	2647	-40
14	Antigua & Barbuda	64.7		13		-150
15	Fiji	63.5	0.36	10	3269	15
16	St Lucia	63.0	0.35	6		-120
17	Trinidad & Tobago	62.9	0.32	12	2312	-120
18	Dominica	62.8		12		-90
19	Nauru	62.0		5		0
20	Dominican Rep.	60.7	0.47	14	2834	20
21	Micronesia	59.8		5		30
22	St Kitts & Nevis	59.6		9		-100
23	Grenada	59.4		7		-100
24	Tonga	57.6	0.66	6	2670	-100
25	Samoa	57.2	0.44	9	2384	0
26	Palau	57.1		4		0
27	Tuvalu	57.1		5		-130
28	Bahrain	57.1	0.23	12	6275	-20
29	Cape Verde	57.1		15	1433	20
30	Vanuatu	56.4		10		10
31	Timor-Leste (E. Timor)	55.8		17	2872	20
32	Kiribati	53.7		3		-10
33	Solomon Islands	53.3		10		-160
34	Sao Tome & Principe	51.0	0.52	7		10
35	Haiti	50.6	0.59	12	2409	10
36	Comoros	49.5		9	2452	-70
37	Marshall Islands	46.9		4		20
World Average		57.5	0.36	15.1	3249	-07.3
Small Islands Average		61.3	0.36	10.3	2766	-25.3

3. Religion and Beliefs

#buddhism #christianity #hinduism #islam #judaism

		Disbelief in God (2004)₈	Religiosity (2009)₉	Jews (2010)₁₀	Christians (2010)₁₀	Muslims (2010)₁₀	Hindus (2010)₁₀	Buddhists (2010)₁₀	Folk Religion (2010)₁₀	Unaffiliated (2010)₁₀
	Aland Islands
	American Samoa			0.1%	98.3%	0.1%	0.1%	0.3%	0.4%	0.7%
	Anguilla			0.1%	90.6%	0.3%	0.4%	0.1%	2.9%	4.0%
	Antigua & Barbuda			0.1%	93.0%	0.6%	0.2%	0.1%	3.6%	1.7%
	Aruba			0.4%	91.9%	0.2%	0.1%	0.1%	1.3%	6.0%
	Ascension Islands
	Bahamas			0.1%	96.0%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.3%	3.1%
	Bahrain		94%	0.6%	14.5%	70.3%	9.8%	2.5%	0.1%	1.9%
	Barbados			0.1%	95.2%	1.0%	0.4%	0.1%	0.1%	1.9%
	Bermuda			0.3%	75.0%	1.1%	0.1%	0.5%	3.0%	19.4%
	Bonaire
	British Virgin Islands			0.1%	84.5%	1.2%	1.2%	0.1%	8.4%	3.9%
	Brunei	0%		0.1%	9.4%	75.1%	0.3%	8.6%	6.2%	0.4%
	Cape Verde			0.1%	89.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	1.5%	9.1%
	Cayman Islands			0.8%	83.5%	0.4%	0.9%	0.1%	4.5%	9.4%
	Channel Islands			0.1%	85.2%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	14.2%
	Christmas Island
	Cocos (Keeling) Islands
	Comoros		97%	0.1%	0.5%	98.3%	0.1%	0.1%	1.0%	0.1%
	Cook Islands			0.1%	96.0%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	3.2%
	Curaco
	Cyprus		75%	0.1%	73.2%	25.3%	0.1%	0.2%	0.1%	1.2%
	Dominica			0.1%	94.4%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	3.0%	0.5%
	Dominican Rep.	7%	87%	0.1%	88.0%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.9%	10.9%
	Falkland Islands			0.1%	67.2%	0.3%	0.1%	0.2%	0.1%	31.5%
	Faroe Islands			0.1%	98.0%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	1.7%
	Fiji			0.1%	64.4%	6.3%	27.9%	0.1%	0.1%	0.8%
	French Polynesia			0.1%	94.0%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.5%	4.9%
	Grenada			0.1%	96.6%	0.3%	0.7%	0.1%	1.3%	1.0%
	Guadeloupe			0.1%	95.9%	0.4%	0.5%	0.1%	0.4%	2.5%
	Guam			0.1%	94.2%	0.1%	0.1%	1.1%	1.5%	1.7%
	Guernsey
	Haiti	0%		0.1%	86.9%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	2.2%	10.6%
	Hawaii
	Isle of Man			0.1%	84.1%	0.2%	0.2%	0.1%	0.1%	15.4%
	Jamaica	3%		0.1%	77.2%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	4.5%	17.2%
	Jersey
	Kiribati			0.1%	97.0%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.8%
	Maldives			0.1%	0.4%	98.4%	0.3%	0.6%	0.1%	0.1%
	Malta		86%	0.1%	97.0%	0.2%	0.2%	0.1%	0.1%	2.5%
	Marshall Islands			0.1%	97.5%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.3%	1.5%
	Martinique			0.1%	96.5%	0.2%	0.2%	0.1%	0.2%	2.3%
	Mauritius			0.1%	25.3%	16.7%	56.4%	0.1%	0.7%	0.6%
	Mayotte			0.1%	0.7%	98.6%	0.1%	0.1%	0.5%	0.2%
	Micronesia			0.1%	95.3%	0.1%	0.1%	0.4%	2.7%	0.9%
	Montserrat			0.1%	93.5%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.2%	4.8%
	Nauru			0.1%	79.0%	0.1%	0.1%	1.1%	8.1%	4.5%
	New Caledonia			0.1%	85.2%	2.8%	0.1%	0.6%	0.2%	10.4%
	Niue			0.1%	96.4%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	3.3%
	Norfolk Island
	Northern Mariana Islands			0.1%	81.3%	0.7%	0.1%	10.6%	5.3%	1.0%
	Palau			0.1%	86.7%	0.1%	0.1%	0.8%	0.8%	1.2%
	Pitcairn Islands
	Puerto Rico			0.1%	96.7%	0.1%	0.1%	0.3%	0.8%	1.9%
	Réunion			0.1%	87.6%	4.2%	4.5%	0.2%	0.4%	2.0%
	Saba
	Samoa			0.1%	96.8%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	2.5%
	Sao Tome & Principe			0.1%	82.2%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	2.9%	12.6%
	Seychelles			0.1%	94.0%	1.1%	2.1%	0.1%	0.1%	2.1%
	Singapore	13%	70%	0.1%	18.2%	14.3%	5.2%	33.9%	2.3%	16.4%
	Sint Eustatius
	Solomon Islands			0.1%	97.4%	0.1%	0.1%	0.3%	1.3%	0.2%
	St Barthelemy
	St Helena			0.1%	96.5%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	3.3%
	St Kitts & Nevis			0.1%	94.6%	0.3%	1.5%	0.1%	1.3%	1.6%
	St Lucia			0.1%	91.1%	0.1%	0.3%	0.1%	0.5%	6.0%
	St Martin
	St Pierre & Miquelon			0.1%	94.7%	0.2%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	3.8%
	St Vincent & Grenadines			0.1%	88.7%	1.5%	3.4%	0.1%	2.0%	2.5%
	Svalbard
	Taiwan	24%		0.1%	5.5%	0.1%	0.1%	21.3%	44.2%	12.7%
	Timor-Leste (E. Timor)			0.1%	99.0%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%
	Tokelau			0.1%	99.0%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%
	Tonga			0.1%	98.9%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%
	Trinidad & Tobago	9%		0.1%	65.9%	5.9%	22.7%	0.3%	1.9%	1.9%
	Tristan da Cunha
	Turks & Caicos Islands			0.1%	92.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	2.7%	4.6%
	Tuvalu			0.1%	96.7%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	1.3%
	US Virgin Islands			0.3%	94.8%	0.1%	0.4%	0.1%	0.1%	3.7%
	Vanuatu			0.1%	93.3%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	4.1%	1.2%
	Wallis & Futuna			0.1%	97.4%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	1.2%	0.6%
	World Averages	9.9%	75.1%	0.5%	60.6%	22.4%	2.0%	3.5%	2.7%	7.9%
	Small Islands Averages	8.0%	84.8%	0.1%	80.2%	8.3%	2.2%	1.4%	2.1%	4.6%
Data Source

Links:

Current edition: 2013 Nov 06
Last Modified: 2017 Mar 22
http://www.humantruth.info/small_islands.html
Parent page: Compare International Statistics by Region and Continent

Links

All #tags used on this page - click for more:

#buddhism #christianity #hinduism #islam #judaism

Social Media

References: (What's this?)

Crabtree, Vexen
(2017) "What is the Best Country in the World? An Index of Morality, Conscience and Good Life" (2017). Accessed 2017 May 24.

Gallup
(2009) Religiosity. gallup.com/poll/142727/.... The survey question was "Is religion an important part of your daily life?" and results are charted for those who said "yes". 1000 adults were polled in each of 114 countries.

Lynn, Harvey & Nyborg
(2009) Average intelligence predicts atheism rates across 137 nations. Richard Lynn, John Harvey and Helmuth Nyborg article "Average intelligence predicts atheism rates across 137 nations" in Intelligence (2009 Jan/Feb) vol. 37 issue 1 pages 11-15. Online at www.sciencedirect.com, accessed 2009 Sep 15.

Pew Forum. Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.
(2012) The Global Religious Landscape: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Major Religious Groups as of 2010. Published 2012 Dec 18, accessed online 2013 May 01.

United Nations
(2013) Human Development Report. This edition had the theme of The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World. Published on the United Nation's HDR website at hdr.undp.org/.../hdr2013/ (accessed throughout 2013). UN Development Program: About the Human Development Index.
(2017) Human Development Report. Published by the UN Development Programme. Data for 2015. Analysis conducted by the UN Development Report Office. Available on hdr.undp.org/..

Footnotes

The Social and Moral Index by Vexen Crabtree (As of 2017 May 24).^^
UN (2017) Table 1. Higher is better.^
UN (2017) Table 1. Lower is better.^
UN (2017) Table 5. Lower is better.^
Max possible=24. Total amount of treaties ratified. Nominal Commitment to Human Rights report published by UCL School of Public Policy, London, UK, at ucl.ac.uk/spp/research/research-projects/nchr accessed 2011 Apr 30.^
Reporters Without Borders Report "2013 World Press Freedom Index: Dashed hopes after spring" at fr.rsf.org/.../classement_2013_gb-bd.pdf accessed 2013 Feb.^
Higher is better. Sources:
- PF 2013: Pew Forum on pewforum.org/Gay-Marriage-and-Homosexuality/...-2013.aspx (page updated April 17, 2013, accessed on same date). (Source of the quotes on religious opposition to LGBT).
- Wikipedia on en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_at_the_United_Nations accessed 2013 Apr 18. (Source of data on who signed the UN 2008 document and its opposing document).
- Wikipedia on en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights accessed 2013 Apr 18 (source of the civil union & legality of homosexuality legality by country).
^
Zuckerman, P. (2007). Atheism: contemporary numbers and patterns. In M.Martin (Ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Atheism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. In "Average intelligence predicts atheism rates across 137 nations" by Lynn et al. (2009).^
Gallup (2009).^
Pew Forum (2011) - data for 2010.^

Which are the Best Small Island Nations?

1. Social and Moral Development Index and Basic Demographics

2. Human Rights and Moral Development

3. Religion and Beliefs