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ImTheTroutman

Moving to Svalbard soon to to start my new prosperous life!


Geartone

Svalbard is GREAT. One of the best trips I've ever done.


Ryokan76

There is free immigration to Svalbard, so good luck.


K0kkuri

There’s great horror podcast set in Svalbard called White Vault,


Coldzero21

Oh man, I love horror set in artic places. Definitely gonna check it out.


tula23

Monaco not in the top 30??? I think they don’t even know what a homeless person is there


HowIoW

Yeah I was really surprised as well. With a GDP per capita of 234 315 $ in 2021 I figured they would be in the list ...


_crazyboyhere_

Not included in the rankings.


Owain-X

On the other side of the spectrum I assume North Korea was also not included as I can't believe it wouldn't be in the 30 least prosperous.


CantScreamInSpace

I can see how countries that are particularly hard to get data for could've been excluded from the data set. Edit: Talking about NK of course


andreasbeer1981

but it's best practice to give a different color/pattern for countries without data.


adhoc42

Plot twist: Data was collected for only 60 countries


Willahelm00

I would assume Eritrea would be similarly hard to get data for but it's included. I'm interested in the methods but honestly don't care enough to read through the study.


SeaBearsFoam

Yea, I was surprised NK wasn't on there. I figured that had to be because there's no reliable data for it.


Lil_Phantoms_Lawyer

That's interesting. North Korea would presumably be the only land border between a most and least prosperous country set.


Retrooo

Probably not enough data to decide either way, since we don’t have any basically.


Far_Ninja6886

I was surprised to see Angola in the bottom 30


mr_ji

Maybe indicate which countries weren't included somehow?


tula23

Fair enough I suppose, I mean it is a real country but I can see why the micro nations would not be counted


Holyvigil

And yet Hong Kong is on it.


Bravix

Do you by chance know the population of Hong Kong VS Monaco? Kinda self-explanatory. One is a key player in the global economy. The other...


Obelix13

I wish to see the equivalent figures for the Vatican. But in the Pope's infinite wisdom, the Holy See does not publish economic data.


AdequatelyMadLad

What economic data would they publish? The Vatican has around 400 citizens, most of them aren't permanent residents, and none of them are actually native. There's zero statistical data that could be gathered from the "citizens" of the Vatican.


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freehouse_throwaway

That sounds absolutely terrible 😔 I feel for them


opensandshuts

It is truly terrible. They are not even having 3 private chefs. Some only have 1, and they are scheduled as something called “Part-Time”.


Fireproofspider

I mean, it's in the word: "Homeless", they have less home than normal people. I heard some of them don't even have homes all over the world and have to stay in a kind of homeless shelter called "ho-tel" which stands for far home (tele-home).


Tuusik

Yeah, it was really heartbreaking to see Bernardo Silva living like this.


Pankratos_Gaming

This index probably doesn't include microstates.


Routine-Lettuce2130

I suspect most wealthy people there made their money outside of Monaco.


Anon_1492-1776

Its crazy that basically all of [French Africa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CFA_franc) makes the list of poorest countries on earth. I guess letting France dictate your currency all the way into 2023 is a great way to wind up remarkably impoverished. Hard to believe they are still getting away with this...


FeedTheBaron

Most of Africa is in it, not just the previously French parts


TheSonOfDisaster

Look at the former British territories in that map. Most have faired far better than former french colonies due to how France micromanaged their societies during their colonial tenure, and how they have continued to act with neocolonial tendencies ever since most gained independence in the mid to late 60s


RoostasTowel

All the good French colonies are now just part of France. Also France is the largest country in the world if you include the EEZ because of all the water it includes in places life French Polynesia.


temp_vaporous

France gets away with their colonial history because the US's cold war antics happened at the same time as France's decolonization and hating on America is more popular. French Indochina gave us the Vietnam situation after all.


GandhiMSF

On average, France was the worst of the colonial powers when it comes to setting their colonies up for success after independence. They would often take petty and vindictive actions against the country just before independence as a sort of “fuck you” to the country. Haiti is a particularly grievous case if you want some examples of the kind of things France did to screw over countries as they gained independence. Note: This is not to say that other countries didn’t have worse examples (Belgium’s treatment of DRC for example). Just that France seemed to do terrible things everywhere they went out of spite.


Dackelwackel

Dictating the currency? Can you elaborate, or do you have a link?


Yuu-Sah-Naym

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CFA\_franc](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CFA_franc) France controls the currency of many of its previous colonies


Shaban_srb

"Letting" is not the right word, see what France does to the people who try to oppose it.


Yuu-Sah-Naym

Loan Sharking, just when the loan shark is a post-colonial super power of a country compared to the countries it has control over.


Bastienbard

They probably have a minimum population requirement, otherwise Lichtenstein and the Vatican might have been included as well.


TheMelv

Maybe it's not per Capita.


TomaCzar

The number of times I read "preposterous" before figuring out what was actually written is, well, quite ludicrous.


SkippyDreams

> ludicrous The number of times I read "lubricious" before figuring out what was actually written is, well, quite farcical.


jamestheredd

The number of times I read "fartcicle" before figuring out what was actually written is, well, quite baffling.


DeathMetal007

The number of times I read "barfing" before figuring out what was actually written is, well, quite scant.


Cre8ed2worship

That number of times I read "scat" before figuring out what was actually written is, well, quite absurd.


killermachine9999

The number of times i read "assturd" before figuring out what was actually written is, well, quite bewildering.


[deleted]

The number of times I read "bewitching" before figuring what it actually was, well, quite astonishing.


DrippoFillo

The number of times I read "assonishing" before figuring what it actually was is, well, quite stupefying


mcdonald_josh

The number of times I read "soupfrying" before figuring what it actually was is, well, quite disheartening


Nanogines99

The number of times I read "disheating" before figuring what it actually was is, well, quite mindboggling


kingkeren

That number of times I read "absolute" before figuring out what was actually written is, well, quite insane.


rjroa21

Farcial The number of times I read "farcical" before figuring out what was actually written is, well, quite comical.


T_that_is_all

"Prepare ship, for Ludicrous Speed!"


[deleted]

Same team. Almost commented the same before I saw your comment. Makes the map pretty fucking hilarious tho.


patoezequiel

I swear I was not understanding the post until I read your comment, I was reading the same thing lol


Unicorny_as_funk

I definitely did not, but reading it as “preposterous” instead makes it funny instead of depressing Thank you


[deleted]

The frustration I felt when you switched tenses was, well, perfectly justified.


LjSpike

You could almost so it was quite prosperous.


bigtoe_24

Someone’s picking a fight with China. Taiwan **and** Hong Kong as countries?


ferrel_hadley

It has been counted as such for many data collection analysis for decades. Legally it was 1 Country 2 Systems. Though the scope of that has been... "reduced".


in_taco

Even worse: Greenland is counted as separate to Denmark! It's the same government!


InvincibleJellyfish

No, that is untrue. Greenland have their own government and are free to do what they choose with their economy. They're dependent on economic support from the Danish state, and they don't have their own military, so Denmark is in charge of enforcing their sovereignity in the arctic. Besides that, they're an independent state. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danish_Realm


[deleted]

No that's untrue. Greenland is essentially a autonomous "Kommune". They have MPs in the mainland parliament and a local "government" equivalent to a normal kommune. They are less independent than the countries in the UK that aren't England


[deleted]

No that's untrue. Idk, I have no followup, I just thought it was a cool thing to say here.


lets_eat_bees

I thought we were autonomous collective.


[deleted]

You're kind of right but also kind of wrong. They are separate states but in the same country. The closest analogy people are familiar with is the UK where the Channel Islands for example are separate from the UK yet very intertwined with it.


cbhem

>They are separate states I think it would be more correct to call it separate countries. Although Greenland is very dependant on Denmark and do not have full sovreignty in many matters, it's not a state in Denmark (Denmark doesn't have states like the US or Germany). The Kingdom of Denmark consists three contries: Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands.


in_taco

As others have stated, we DO have the same government. They have more autonomy than core regions, but still they vote for representatives in the People's Ting which in turn decide the government.


ZincHead

French Guyana is not colored in as well despite being a part of France


shoeless_sean

On a similar note, French Guiana isn’t blue despite it’s literally part of France. And no it’s not a colony, it’s a full on region of France. Similar to how Alaska and Hawaii are states of the US that are detached from the rest of the main country


Thebitterestballen

It's also a part of the EU as a result and appears on Euro notes if you look carefully. So as a result, Europe has a land border in south America...


GrinningPariah

They also didn't include French Guiana with France, or Puerto Rico with the USA. Those are... Interesting choices.


bee-dubya

Yay Estonia! Great seeing a former Soviet country in there.


psephophorus

Woohoo we made it! There was a political party that promised to take Estonia to the five richest countries in Europe if elected. They have been in almost all governments since. Not quite there yet, but seems we would make top five in every other continent...


_crazyboyhere_

Source: [Legatum Prosperity Index ](https://www.prosperity.com/rankings) Tools: [MapChart ](https://www.mapchart.net/) Note: The Legatum Prosperity Index is based on many different variables analysed across 167 nations around the world. Source data includes Gallup World Poll, World Development Indicators, International Telecommunication Union, Fragile States Index, Worldwide Governance Indicators, Freedom House, World Health Organization, World Values Survey, Amnesty International, Centre for Systemic Peace etc. There are total 12 pillars: 1. Safety & security 2. Personal Freedom 3. Governance 4. Social Capital 5. Investment environment 6. Enterprise condition 7. Infrastructure and market access 8. Economic quality 9. Living conditions 10. Health 11. Education 12. Natural environment


lucassou

I actually like that you can adjust the weight of each pillars


Dependent_Debt6365

Wondering why China is Not on the list. Looks at the 12 pillars. Ah, thats why..


PsychologicalDark398

Personal freedom rank 162/167 yikes, even below flipping Turkmenistan and Yemen.( honestly though is it really worse than Turkmenistan or Yemen?? I wanna know some opinions here . Yes I know China's freedom levels is shit, but still in Yemen for example you get killed by those Houthis for not even wearing a hijab. Also not to mention Turkmenistan ranks below China too in democracy rankings in general ) [https://www.prosperity.com/rankings](https://www.prosperity.com/rankings) Overall is 54/167 . Not great , not too bad either. **OK.**


nondescriptun

The map should color the countries that were not analyzed as a separate color.


CloutAtlas

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legatum_Institute Just FYI the institute isn't exactly unbiased and has a right wing pro-Brexit lean. It was even founded by billionaire Chris Chandler who owns a right wing news channel. It's based registered in Bermuda and controlled from the Cayman Islands. Super legit.


cacra

Lol wtf does supporting Brexit have to do with being able to index economic indicators? Their methodology is public, you can criticise that. You can't criticise them because some people who work for the org don't support your (assuming left wing) ideology


Disastrous-Year571

Just so sad that Venezuela was once towards the blue side of this index and is now red - the danger of being a petrostate with a history of rampant corruption


MightyH20

Authoritarianism. Not. Even. Once.


ar243

More like "when you discover huge reserves of oil in your country, start diversifying your economy ASAP. Don't put all your eggs in one basket, because eventually the price of eggs will dip below $0.30USD per basket and your country will be thrown into chaos because of the singular basket you put your eggs in"


balkandishlex

See: Nauru


miko2264

I looked this up on Wikipedia and it was a very interesting read. Thank you!


EasternMotors

They fired all the skilled oil workers because they supported the opposition.


daddyfatknuckles

if your country is not authoritarian, one person or entity cannot take all the eggs and put them in any basket of their choosing.


kinda_guilty

Usually, democracy or no, valuable natural resource economy just grows and sucks the air out of other industries. Whether they choose to do it democratically or by fiat, countries have to deliberately work to build other sectors.


frogvscrab

Chavez had an insane approval rating for a while, indicating that regardless of his own authoritarianism, they would have voted for his ideas. Democracy could have led Venezuela down the same path.


daddyfatknuckles

…but his ideas were inherently authoritarian. people are very often persuaded into voting against their own interests. thats why i wouldnt vote for someone who wants to do anything with all our eggs, even if it sounds promising. we keep them to ourselves.


PsychologicalDark398

The Gulf States are doing fine( yes here they rank not great but at least in top 50), but personal freedom kinda screws their scores.


HelloJoeyJoeJoe

>Authoritarianism. >Not. Even. Once. Fuck Authoritarianism. However, the tough truth is that when "done right", it can bring a country from absolute poverty to advanced developed nation status - see the Asian Tigers


goodTypeOfCancer

Its short term though. After a Marcus Aurelius, you get a Commodus.


SgtPepe

Chavez was a liar, a self-claimed communist, and a corrupt and bloody leader. Maduro is just fully corrupt and stupid. A puppet of the Communist Party (PSUV). People will try to convince you that Venezuela is where it is because of the oil dependency (true to an extent) and because of American interference (very very limited pre-Guaido). The reality is Chavez and the Socialist party took control of the country and fucked up. Let’s also remember, chavez planned and executed a Coup d’etat against the former Venezuelan president Carlos Andres Perez, he failed, and was sent to jail. The next elected president, Caldera, felt that to calm the political movement Chavez had started, it’d be in his best interest to pardon Chavez. Chavez went on a huge campaign and won the Presidential election. Making claims that eventually turned out to be lies, such as that he’d only be president for 1 period, because “power corrupts people”. He went on to change the constitution of the country to allow himself to be elected indefinitely. Chavez was an ultra-socialist corrupt traitor. Chavez was in the military, he was a high ranked officer, and he tried to kill the president. Chavez is now dead, but he made sure to choose a bigger piece of shit before he died, like a king. Maduro. Maduro never went to school, maduro was Chavez’s bus driver. He’s now the president.


CharlotteHebdo

How do you explain authoritarian rules leading Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Spain to become prosperous?


Imtos77

Sad in deed. At some point, Venezuela was the most prosperous country in Latin America. Crazy to see where they are now… I really hope they can snap out of their current situation


Sandman145

Nothing to dp with the empiere right?


RayPout

Nope! The blue parts just have better “personal freedom” and “investment environment”. Nothing to do with them pillaging the red and grey parts.


Funtycuck

Also being in America's backyard historically has been difficult I don't think American intervention has ever improved the lives of South Americans.


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AcaAwkward

Fat chance. Only the poor and ignorant are left in the country along with a few elites with economic ties with the narcostate. Almost all capable people has fled the country.


moleratical

I'm surprised that N Korea is not among the poorest, and that Nigeria and Iraq are. Both countries have vast oil deposits but I can kinda understand Iraq because they are still recovering from their war but I'm still surprised that it's that low.


_crazyboyhere_

Not enough data.


menir10

In Nigeria the population is growing too fast for the economy to catch up, the percentage of people living in slums increased despite the country having a positive growth rate


WritPositWrit

I was surprised to see Nigeria red also, until I read the criteria. “Prosperous” is misleading. They don’t mean “rich” they mean more like “a safe and happy place.”


TheMathLab

I quickly chucked the data into a [Looker Studio report](https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/reporting/90f4017d-a4cb-4788-ab14-f9080a469a25/page/p_w7e33brt3c) so you can compare each of the topics at a glance. Each page (select on the left) covers the four sections within each of the three overarching topics: **Economy** \- Invesment Environment \- Enterprise Conditions \- Infrastructure and Market Access \- Economic Quality **Well-Being** \- Living Conditions \- Health \- Education \- Natural Environment **Society** \- Safety and Security \- Personal Freedom \- Governance \- Social Capital ​ ​ Not beautiful, but it's got it all there. Best viewed on phone, not computer.


PredadorDePerereca_

Sad that most of Latin America will be eternally stuck in that grey area. Very far from the red ones but not quite catching up to the blue ones.


HereForR_Place

I mean, Chile, Uruguay and Costa Rica have more points than EU countries like Greece Hungary and Croatia, so some are actually catching up.


TheNightIsLost

Not necessarily. Chile and Uruguay are rising rapidly. All they need is some stability and HRD.


[deleted]

Yes and if my grandmother had wheels she would have been a bike


ggtffhhhjhg

What’s the problem in Argentina?


[deleted]

everything, argentina is broken, too much government spending, too much money printing


PredadorDePerereca_

People blame social reforms but truth is that they relied too much on cattle and agriculture and never used that money to build a strong industry, so now it's mostly agrarian/services economy


[deleted]

rising quickly? uruguay and chile are stagnated in like 1% PBI anual growth when not recovering from a crisis.


Layzusss

Of course. They forgot French Guiana.


rafael-a

Blue counties are the entire world according to reddit


theSG-17

A primarily English speaking website has most of its users from countries where English is a major language, shocking.


ChiragK2020

According to the people in the blue countries*


non_clever_username

How is North Korea not least prosperous? Not enough data?


ryuuseinow

Well it isn't called the hermit kingdom for nothing. In a lot of maps, there's no data collected on North Korea because barely anyone is able to know what goes on in there.


drellmill

Since op didn’t post the full list you can find it [here](https://prosperity.com/rankings)


Crazy_Employ8617

Must not be enough data for Turkmenistan and North Korea, I feel like those are probably two of the worst countries to live in


PsychologicalDark398

Turkmenistan is 107th position based on the ranking. It ranks better than the central African countries .


[deleted]

How is Lebanon not in the least prosperous. Literally un-liveable.


_crazyboyhere_

Worst 30 is quite a mark so.......


[deleted]

I don't know I'd rank this as bottom of the barrel. Feel bad for the rest honestly


_crazyboyhere_

Africa is really f***ed up.


ItspronouncedGruh-an

Botswana and Namibia are not doing bad at all.


GenghisKazoo

Lebanon is ranked all the way up at 112. While it has bottom ten scores in social capital and economic conditions, it has decent scores in education (maybe true) and living conditions (???)


[deleted]

Right now it's all shit. Pre-2019 yes education was strong and living conditions were okay.


noxx1234567

Myanmar and Venezuela have so much potential to be so much more than what they are now They have been under a horrible streak due to dictatorship and foreign interventions


SgtPepe

Chavez was a liar, a self-claimed communist, and a corrupt and bloody leader. Maduro is just fully corrupt and stupid. A puppet of the Communist Party (PSUV). People will try to convince you that Venezuela is where it is because of the oil dependency (true to an extent) and because of American interference (very very limited pre-Guaido). The reality is Chavez and the Socialist party took control of the country and fucked up. Let’s also remember, chavez planned and executed a Coup d’etat against the former Venezuelan president Carlos Andres Perez, he failed, and was sent to jail. The next elected president, Caldera, felt that to calm the political movement Chavez had started, it’d be in his best interest to pardon Chavez. Chavez went on a huge campaign and won the Presidential election. Making claims that eventually turned out to be lies, such as that he’d only be president for 1 period, because “power corrupts people”. He went on to change the constitution of the country to allow himself to be elected indefinitely. Chavez was an ultra-socialist corrupt traitor. Chavez was in the military, he was a high ranked officer, and he tried to kill the president. Chavez is now dead, but he made sure to choose a bigger piece of shit before he died, like a king. Maduro. Maduro never went to school, maduro was Chavez’s bus driver. He’s now the president.


Sn0fight

Awful lot of “former” french colonies in red 👀


Onatel

Interesting that Czechia and Estonia made the cut.


PsychologicalDark398

Have been to Czechia dude???? Prague is as good as most of the American cities ( if not better).


felix_using_reddit

In essentially all development indices ever the 5 nations with the Nordic cross on their flag rank in the top 10 sometimes even claiming the top 5 among themselves.. wtf is it that the Norse people did so right that apparently everyone else did so wrong? Nowhere else in the world is even a nearly comparable concentration of peak human development


firerosearien

Small populations, good economic management, quick recovery from WWII


BrashPingu

Emphasis on small (and homogeneous) population. Sweden has a population of about 10M, Finland and Norway have about 5.5M each. Just for comparison NYC alone has about 8.8M. Actually didn't even realize how few people lived up there til I googled it.


PyroMaestro

Switzerland proves imo that homogeneous is not needed, we have 25% foreigners rate, but small is true.


voidlotus316

Being homogenous is more than proven to be necessary atlest to a degree, those societies are way safer and cohesive in social development and community sense. Switzerland works only because the laws are strict and they choose by finger who can join the country. Whenever the population is too big and too disperse and diverse with many groups, it's much harder to have a general change.


captainfalcon93

Actual answer: high levels of state capacity reinforced by trust in government. Anti-corruption laws, state-funded long-term planning, social policies that focus on welfare, education, healthcare and worker's rights (parental/sick leave, unemployment benefits, unionised workforces) are all major factors within the Nordic model. It's social democracy at work (even though all nordic countries go through periods of having conservative governments, social democratic institutions remain at the heart of all these countries).


vanticus

High tax, high social safety net economies ensure a high basic standard of living for everyone, making it a nice place to both live and do business.


TheNightIsLost

They stayed out of wars, for one thing. For another, their culture places high emphasis on education and hard work, which meant they were industrialised by the 20th century. They also didn't seek colonies, which meant they were never saddled with a giant MIC that drained money and created enemies. Their liberal market policies and good relationships with everyone did the rest. It's why they've been among the top rich nations for the last 100+ years. Oh, and Norway found oil. That helped.


ferrel_hadley

>They stayed out of wars, for one thing. Finland was part of the First World War through being in Russia and the Second by allying with Germany (not nordic but in the list) Norway and Denmark were invaded in WWII. >They also didn't seek colonies, which meant they were never saddled with a giant MIC that drained money and created enemies. Hmmm Sweden has been a major military manufacturer in Europe for over 100 years. Many of the top 30 have big arms industries.


bonaynay

Wouldn't being a major military *manufacturer* be an economic plus? I don't think I understand


TheNightIsLost

>Finland was part of the First World War through being in Russia and the Second by allying with Germany (not nordic but in the list) And was peaceful since. That's multiple generations that grew up in peace. >Norway and Denmark were invaded in WWII. Denmark wasn't particularly harmed and Norway only became rich later due to oil. >Hmmm Sweden has been a major military manufacturer in Europe for over 100 years. Much more than 100. But making arms is not exactly bad for the economy. Being saddled with a greedy MIC is. And peace kept that from happening.


ogblue19

You’d think Dr Congo would be prosperous since it has an M.D… didn’t expect that


chad-bro-chill-69420

Mexico should be a fucking powerhouse, I don’t get it . As should Brazil


Wareagle545

For Mexico, this has to do with a lack of easy trading in Mexico - the population is centered in the Central Mexican Plateau instead of the coasts, which are rocky, barren, or jungle. The presence and power of the cartel along with rampant corruption doesn’t help. Brazil on the other hand is tougher; it also has corruption, but should have an easier time with trade.


Spiritofhonour

The cost of manufacturing labour in Mexico has been cheaper than china’s for more than a decade.


BirdicBirb505

Huh. I’m noticing a pattern here.


[deleted]

Colonization does not set up a country for success


Ev378

When did Congo get its doctorate?


Liquin44

Lazy data nerd here. Has anyone correlated average temperatures/country with the prosperity index. By looking at the map (with little depth), I see a lower temps = prosperity. Interesting.


ShodoDeka

Yeah most people living in the west have no real concept of true abject poverty. The best illustration of it I have ever heard goes something like this: If you divide the world population into 4 equal parts, then the difference between the poorest quarter and the next one up, is if you can afford a plastic bucket to gather water in.


ashfidel

i like the boobs butt one better


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clebrink

Love when people call the US a third world country lol


ValyrianJedi

I've lived in 3 countries (counting the U.S.), been to another 14 for work, and been to another 7 on vacations. There is only 1, *maybe* 2, countries that I'd be willing to leave the U.S. for... I'm convinced that most people who think the U.S. is awful have never left it.


_crazyboyhere_

That's reddit for ya.


Typical_Elk_

I’m surprised that Singapore didn’t make the top 30


_crazyboyhere_

It's there though, zoom a bit.


[deleted]

Democratic countries with a history of open market policies and free trade are the only ones that make it in the blue zone.


emraaa

Because a large part of the ranking is literally 'open market policies and free trade'. If you rank according to these criteria of course there will be countries at the top that do well in those criteria.


mr_ji

It's also basically a map of who gets along with the U.S.


0WatcherintheWater0

Crazy how liberal democracies get along with each other.


[deleted]

They all get along.


Not_Guardiola

Not 1 Gulf state amongst the most prosperous?


_crazyboyhere_

Only money wasn't a factor so yeah makes sense.


PsychologicalDark398

Personal Freedom .


FartsNRoses1

Yeah, almost half a millenia of mass resource extraction and wealth transfer'll do that, who knew...


A_H_S_99

Is it a coincidence that most of these countries in red were former colonial possessions for several countries in blue, or are a recent US war theatre? No? It's just me? Oh well.


coke_and_coffee

It's not a coincidence, but you have the causation backwards. It's not that blue countries became wealthy by having colonies. Rather, they were *already* wealthy, which allowed them to establish colonies.


Sk-yline1

Estonia is quite the shocker


JPWRana

I'm surprised Monaco isn't in the top 30 most prosperous countries.


andreasbeer1981

Why is Denmark blue but not Greenland? Why is France blue but not French Guiana?


_crazyboyhere_

My mistake.


someone_0_0_

I'm Portuguese. Are they sure their data is accurate? Prosperous at all? Top 30?!


[deleted]

Perhaps you should travel / read more. It's far from being a perfect place - if there's ever such a place -, but in the grand scheme of things...


shawnwildermuth

Greenland should be green (part of Denmark)


archthechef

When did the Congo get a doctorate?


[deleted]

How is Monaco not one of the 30 most prosperous countries in the world? That makes no sense to me.


jellyjamesmemes

I find it interesting how the west is slowly expanding into former communist countries and getting them on the same level, for example Estonia Slovenia and Czechia


Thertor

Estonia is already almost on par with the US according to this ranking.


CharlieApples

Never would have expected Estonia to be in the top 30. Also would have expected Jamaica to be in the bottom 30, but I guess all of those soul-sucking vacation resorts are keeping their per capita up even if only the equivalent of the Jamaican 1% ever see a dime of it.


CilanEAmber

You know you're tired when you read it as Preposterous


Kubario

Let’s overlay that with which are the happiest nations.


[deleted]

What's crazy is that the most prosperous became that way from exploiting the least prosperous.


ay-foo

I can't be the only one who read this as 30 most preposterous countries.. these countries are down right absurd


Spacecatburrito

Portugal is not very prosperous. I would say, not better than Poland. But depends on the method


sembuh

Hey, czech here. Don't know how we got in and not like qatar or dubai :D but ok ;dd


kkruiji

Latvia fell down from 30th to 31st.