Most of the rich countries around the world have high amounts of civil rights and
political freedoms. Many of the poor countries do not. However, there are some
exceptions to both rules. The United Arab Emirates and Brunei are rich "non-free"
examples, while examples of poor but free nations are given below.
Ratings of "free", "partly free" and "not free" are given to each country (and
some possessions and territories) by Freedom House. The ten countries with the
lowest "gross national income" (GNI) per person where Freedom House has given a "free"
rating are listed below. (Note that using "gross domestic product" (GDP) per
capita would yield a slight different result since GDP is a figure of the total
amount of goods produced in a country--even if the profits go elsewhere--while
GNI is based on incomes actually earned by that country's residents--even if some
of that income comes from profits or earnings from other countries.)
COUNTRY
1. Mali
2. Ghana
3. Sao Tome & Principe
4. Benin
5. India
5. Senegal
7. Lesotho
8. Kiribati
9. Guyana
10. Philippines
