The Ten Worst Places To Live In The World

The world's 10 worst places to live

TheStar.com - World - The world's 10 worst places to live


December 31, 2008
Olivia Ward
FOREIGN AFFAIRS REPORTER

Canadians are world-class complainers – about the government, the economy, the weather and a host of shortcomings in their lives.

But in spite of the global economic turbulence, Canada remains one of the best countries in which to live.

Dozens of other nations make the lives of their citizens a misery with dire scenarios ranging from civil war to brutal repression, poverty, famine, disease, criminal violence and environmental catastrophe.

The result is floods of refugees and migrants heading for safer shores, or a decent standard of living: moves that often leave their countries even worse off, with the best and brightest fleeing if they can.

Many of the countries at the bottom of the "worst" lists in one category are also low in others. Those that are consistently low are at risk of becoming failed states.

But the competition for bottom place is heavy, and there's often little between the contestants.

Rating systems are uneven and may depend on statistics that are hard to come by.

At best they are indicators, rather than the full story.

Here are 10 of the worst places to live in 2008, and the factors that made them unliveable.

Pollution: Urumqi, China

Once a Silk Road hub, the western Chinese city of Urumqi has the bad luck to be downstream of sulphurous soil dust from nearby agricultural areas, as well as deadly industrial pollutants. China's environmental scientists say it now outranks Linfen, previously named as the world's most polluted city.

Corruption: Somalia

Declared a failed state, Somalia is so violent that millions have fled their homes. But it is also at the bottom of an annual global corruption index by Transparency International, which points out that in desperately poor countries, bribery and extortion can be life and death issues if people are forced to pay extra for basic necessities.

Dictatorship: North Korea

Kim Jong-il, North Korea's ailing ruler, was named the world's worst dictator of 2008 on Parade magazine's annual list.

It says he runs the most isolated, repressive regime in the world, where three generations of a family can be punished for one member's alleged crime. About 200,000 citizens have been jailed, many tortured.

Personal security: Iraq

In spite of the much-praised "surge" of American troops, and a diminished death rate in the past year, Iraq ranks lowest on the Global Peace Index's scale as a country with easy access to weapons, a high murder rate, poorly functioning government, low respect for human rights and political instability.

Homicide rate: El Salvador

Latin America has the highest murder rate in the world for young adults, 15-24. But El Salvador tops the list of the world's most dangerous countries for the young – and has one of the highest murder rates for people of all ages, according to the Latin American Technological Information Network.

Inflation: Zimbabwe

When inflation in the southern African nation shot above 1 million per cent in the past year, worldwide cries went up for President Robert Mugabe's resignation. Now Zimbabweans carry sacks of newly printed cash to pay for a loaf of bread, and those with jobs choose between lunch and a bus ride to work. Mugabe is still in power.

Gender gap: Yemen

Greater equality between the sexes means better health, living standard and lifespan for women. The reverse is true in Yemen, where, the World Economic Forum says, lack of education, poor health care, lack of job opportunity and inability to press for change through the political process put women at risk.

Life expectancy: Swaziland

Afflicted with dire poverty and the world's highest HIV infection rate, the tiny southern African kingdom of 1 million has a shockingly low life expectancy of 32 – less than half the world's average. The royal family has a monopoly on the economy, and the majority of Swaziland's people live on about $1 a day.

Literacy: Mali

The large, landlocked West African country was, ironically, one of the world's centres of Islamic scholarship, and is believed to have founded the first university. Now, fewer than 23 per cent of men and women can read and write, according to the UN Development Program, which rates it at the bottom of the global literacy scale.

Freedom of speech: Eritrea

Since the government banned all privately owned media in 2001, things have grown steadily worse for journalists, with crackdowns on media, arrests, reports of torture, disappearances and deaths in custody. "President Issaias Afeworki and his small clan of paranoid nationalists continue to run the country like a vast open prison," says Reporters Without Borders.

^^^ True.

Some of the countries listed, are the ones you wouldn't expect to see.

If it were "Eleven worst places to live" i'm pretty sure Nigeria would have been there.

Osisi, whats up!

see how easy you believe all these reports.

it is nothing but another person's opnion.

Where is Gaza   in the this stats???

That's bullshit, I've only been to these three countries in the list, and I can swear i loved every single second of it. And Yemen is by far my favourite country in the middle east.

I bet the reporter doesn't even know the location of the countries he mentioned let alone set foot in them.

hopefully Nigeria will make d list for 2009

what you trying to say?

, there is lots of crime everywhere in the world. Countries like Brazil, Mexico, South Africa have high crime rate but there are pleasant to live than Nigeria in terms quality of life. i.e quality of infrastructure, governance, health care, basic education etc. Are you plain simple ignorant or are you trying to instigate a propaganda against South Africa?

Top ten worst place to live in:

1. Sierra Leone: It's the poorest country in Africa and its the poorest country in the world, it has very poor standards of living and the average life expectancy for males is 35 and for females its 38 it has no infrasctruce a dirt poor and run down useless economy and its a war torn country and is very dangerous and it doesnt have a proper health care system and only the capital city Freetown has hospitals which are very run down.

2. Somalia: It's a dirt poor corrupt violent and chaotic country in anarchy and its extremely poor and extremely dangerous and half the population are starving.

3. Nigeria: It has an extremely high crime rate and an extremely high murder rate and is very poor and very corrupt and has very poor standards of living.

4. Liberia: It's war torn violent and chaotic and crime ridden and is extremely poor and unstable.

5. Swaziland: it has the worst aids epidemic in the world and its population are on the verge of extinction due to the aids epidemic and of course like most African countries its poor and corrupt and unstable.

6. Iraq: What a hell hole its become with the on going war and political and economic instability.

7. Afgahnistan: It's a war ridden extremely impoverished dessert wasteland s h i t hole of a country.

8. Colombia: It's so dangerous there that you cant even walk down the street in broad daylight without having the fear of being robbed or shot or stabbed and its a country which is ruined by poverty crime drugs civil warfare and corruption and it has the worlds highest murder rate and one of the worlds highest kidnapping rates to and living there would be a nightmare.

9. Algeria: Is extremely dangerous and has alot of terrorism and crime and lots of barbarism and horrific killings.

10. Zimbabwe: That poor country has become an absoloute basketcase and its all because of that evil tyrant Mugabe who has completely screwed up the country by causing the economy to collapse and by causing everything else to collapse such as the living conditions health care education system, and his land reform policy where all white farmers have been kicked off their lands and the lands where then given to black squatters which have caused the farm lands to turn into waste has caused an outbreak of famine throughout the entire country and half the population of the country are now starving because of it. Not only that the country is a dictatorship and people are constantly being rounded up arrested beaten tortured and executed for expressing their freedom and for opposing the government.

Infact, at this moment I'm doing research regarding this topic, I find that Nigeria is very close being among the worst countries in the world. 
http://www.il-ireland.com/il/qofl06/index.php

Correction. On the post about Mali, it said something about an Islamic school being the first. Is that first in West Africa, Africa ?? I am pretty sure it is not the first in Africa.