Which are the Best Countries in the Middle East?

Dominated by Muslim countries, the Middle East has severe problems with human rights, gender equality, cultural misogyny, religious tolerance₆₀ and its treatment of LGBT folk.₆₁. The non-Islamic country of Cyprus treats its people the best; but others such as Israel are caught up in long-term conflicts and misbehaviours.

There are 17 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:

• Population: 434.4m
• Land Area: 7 242 420km²
• Independent States: 16
• Other Territories: 1
• Compare to other regions of the world

1. Summary Data
2. Social and Moral Development
3. Demographics and Migration
4. Responsibility Towards The Environment
5. National Culture
6. Peace Versus Instability
7. Economic Inequality and Poverty
8. Modernity and Learning
9. Health
10. Human Rights, Equality & Tolerance
11. Religion and Beliefs
12. Links

1. Summary Data

#economics #human_development #population #wealth

Not showing due to lack of data: Palestine.

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:

• Compare to other regions of the world
• What is the Best Country in the World? An Index of Morality, Conscience and Good Life
• The Population of the Earth
• Homosexuality in Animals and Humans

2. Social and Moral Development

#climate_change #education #equality #freedom #gender_equality #health #human_development #human_rights #modernity #morals #politics #prejudice #technology #the_environment #the_internet #tolerance

Here are each country's overall scores across the categories that make up the Social and Moral Development Index. This is followed by lists of how each country scores in each individual data set.

The Social and Moral Development Index concentrates on moral issues and human rights, violence, public health, equality, tolerance, freedom and effectiveness in climate change mitigation and environmentalism, and on some technological issues. 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: Which are the Best Countries in the World? The Social and Moral Development Index.

For more, see:

• "What is the Best Country in the World? An Index of Morality, Conscience and Good Life" by Vexen Crabtree (2020).

3. Demographics and Migration

#birth_control #demographics #emigration #health #immigration #life_expectancy #longevity #migration #overpopulation #population #the_middle_east

Population:

Migration:

The countries in The Middle East with the highest percent of immigrants in their populations are UAE (88.4%), Kuwait (75.5%) and Qatar (65.2%), although the average for The Middle East is 29%. The highest rates of emigration are seen in Palestine (68.4%), Cyprus (17.0%) and Lebanon (15.6%), whilst the regional average of emigrants for a country is 10%.

For full commentary and data, see:

• Which Country in the Middle East Has the Most Immigrants Or Emigrants?

4. Responsibility Towards The Environment

#biodiversity #climate_change #deforestation #energy #food #meat #over-exploitation #sustainability #the_environment #veganism #vegetarianism

5. National Culture

#charity #corruption #happiness #morals #politics

The Middle East does poorly on fighting corruption compared to the other regions of the world. Syria and Yemen are two of the five most corrupt countries in the world according to Transparency International's 2022 data₆₂. The countries in the region doing the best are the United Arab Emirates, Israel and Qatar.

6. Peace Versus Instability

#extremism #human_development #peace #politics #religious_violence #terrorism

Although it improved, Middle East and North Africa remains the least peaceful region in the world for the sixth consecutive year₆₃ according to the Global Peace Index's compendium of statistics.

7. Economic Inequality and Poverty

#capitalism #economics #health #inequality #life_expectancy #poverty #social_development

8. Modernity and Learning

#education #english #intelligence #it_security #maths #modernity #politics #religion #religiosity #research #science #secularisation #technology #the_internet

Modernity and Education:

Technology and Information:

9. Health

#alcohol #birth_control #demographics #health #life_expectancy #longevity #mental_health #obesity #overpopulation #parenting #population #smoking #suicide #vaccines

The countries with the best overall approach to public health, in terms of both public policy and individual lifestyle choices, are Monaco, Liechtenstein and The Isle of Man₅₃. These countries are worth emulating. And, although often through no fault of the average citizen, the worst countries are S. Sudan, Angola and Nigeria₅₃.

21 datasets are used to calculate points for each country, including multiple decades of data on its average life expectancy, its alcohol consumption rate, its fertility rate, its smoking rate, its suicide rate, its food aid and health contributions and WHO compliance, the prevalence of overweight adults, its adolescent birth rate and its immunizations take-up. The regions with the best average results per country are Scandinavia, Europe and The Balkans₅₃, whereas the worst are Africa, Micronesia and Melanesia₅₃.

For more, see:

• "Countries With the Healthiest Cultures and Health Policies" by Vexen Crabtree (2020).

Health:

Children's Health:

10. Human Rights, Equality & Tolerance

#equality #freedom #gender_equality #human_rights #morals #politics #prejudice #The_Middle_East #tolerance

The best countries in The Middle East at protecting human rights, engendering tolerance and supporting equality, are Cyprus, Israel and Turkey but the bloc as a whole does poorly compared to the global average. The worst countries are Palestine, Saudi Arabia and Iraq. In short, The Middle East has severe problems with human rights, gender equality, misogyny, religious tolerance₆₀ and LGBT equality. Acceptance of human-rights principles is largely impossible given the prominence of Islamic theocracy which is sternly opposed to human rights. This is the worst region in the world for religion-based persecution₆₀.

“The Arab World [is] a region where the mean and median levels of performance [at ensuring human rights and freedom] are probably most charitably labeled poor.”

"Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice"
Jack Donnelly (2013)₆₁

For full commentary and data, see:

• Human Rights, Equality and Tolerance in the Middle East: A Very Unhappy Picture

11. Religion and Beliefs

#belief #buddhism #christianity #folk_religion #god #hinduism #human_development #islam #judaism #no_religion #religion #religiosity #secularisation

Links:

• Compare to other regions of the world
• A List of All Religions and Belief Systems
• Institutionalized Religions Have Their Numbers Inflated by National Polls
• Secularisation Theory: Will Modern Society Reject Religion? What is Secularism?
• Human Religions