The 25 most conservative, intolerant, and polluted countries in the world (2024)

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Edith Hanco*ck

2017-01-12T16:08:00Z

Expat website Movehub recently ranked the most— and least —socially liberal countries around the world.

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In order to come up with their ranking, theycompared three different studies from 2016 — the Social Progress Index, the Environmental Performance Index and the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Gender Gap report.

The Social Progress Index examines categories like religious and LGBT tolerance, access to clean water, press freedom and access to education, the WEF's Gender Gap report looks into gender parity in jobs and education, and the EPI focuses on things like carbon emissions and recycling.

The 25 most conservative, intolerant, and polluted countries in the world (1)

Movehub combined the results for each country to create a comprehensive list revealing the least liberal countries in the world.

While many of the countries in this list are Middle Eastern nations struggling to cope with the impact of the Syrian refugee crisis, others are spread out all over the world, from Cambodia in Asia to the west African nation of Angola.

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See the 25 most conservative, intolerant, and polluted countries in the world below:

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25. Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka came 108th in the Environmental Performance Index out of 180 countries surveyed, and performed badly on personal rights, tolerance, and access to information in the Social Progress Index.

The 25 most conservative, intolerant, and polluted countries in the world (2)

24. Algeria — Algeria was one of the worst performing countries in the WEF's Gender Gap Report, coming in 120th. It also has one of the worst scores for personal rights in the Social Progress Index, scoring just under 14 out of 100 in the report.

The 25 most conservative, intolerant, and polluted countries in the world (3)

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23. Benin — Corruption is rife in Benin, which ranks among the world's poorest countries. Adult literacy rates are poor compared to countries with a similar GDP per capita like Afghanistan, Ethiopa and Uganda, but it also performed relatively well on political freedoms, meaning it misses out on a place in the top 20.

The 25 most conservative, intolerant, and polluted countries in the world (4)

22. Nigeria — Nigeria's poor scores on water sanitation, religious tolerance, crime levels and adult literacy in the Social Progress Index put it in 22nd place.

The 25 most conservative, intolerant, and polluted countries in the world (5)

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21. India — India received a low score for religious and racial tolerance, freedom of speech and gender inequality in education in the Social Progress Index, and was one of the worst-performing countries in the Environmental Performance Index, coming in 141st.

The 25 most conservative, intolerant, and polluted countries in the world (6)

20. Morocco — Morocco did relatively well in the Environmental Performance index, coming in 64th ahead of the Philippines — which is one of the most liberal countries in Movehub's ranking. However, its poor access to advanced education, personal rights, gender parity and press freedom makes it one of the most nonprogressive countries in the world.

The 25 most conservative, intolerant, and polluted countries in the world (7)

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19. Turkey — Unsurprisingly, Turkey is one of the least safe countries in the world right now, and received low scores for personal safety, political freedom and tolerance of immigrants in the Social Progress Index.

The 25 most conservative, intolerant, and polluted countries in the world (8)

18. Burkina Faso — Burkina Faso came 18th in Movehub's ranking for its poor access to electricity, adult literacy rates, low life expectancy and position as the 165th worst country in the Environmental Performance Index.

The 25 most conservative, intolerant, and polluted countries in the world (9)

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17. Cambodia — Cambodia's low scores on environmental quality and political rights in the Social Performance Index put it in 17th place.

The 25 most conservative, intolerant, and polluted countries in the world (10)

16. Jordan — Jordan was the 11th worst-performing country in the WEF Gender Gap report, and also suffered low scores on personal rights and environmental quality in the Social Progress index.

The 25 most conservative, intolerant, and polluted countries in the world (11)

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15. Liberia — Liberia came 167th out of 180 nations in the Environmental Performance Index. This, combined with a low ranking in the Gender Gap report (114th), puts it in the top 15 of Movehub's list.

The 25 most conservative, intolerant, and polluted countries in the world (12)

14. Kuwait — Kuwait City may be known for its gleaming skyscrapers, but the oil-rich nation received very low scores for personal and political rights, access to education, and personal safety in the Social Performance Index compared to countries with a similar wealth, like the United States.

The 25 most conservative, intolerant, and polluted countries in the world (13)

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13. Bangladesh — Religious tolerance, discrimination and corruption are rife in Bangladesh, according to the Social Progress Index. It also has one of the worst environmental records, coming 173rd in the Environmental Performance Index.

The 25 most conservative, intolerant, and polluted countries in the world (14)

12. Angola — Thanks to its oil fields, Angola is one of Africa's most resource-rich countries, but it is still one of the continent's poorest nations. It received low scores for access to education, press freedom, shelter and personal rights on the Social Performance Index, and also came 117th in the Gender Gap report.

The 25 most conservative, intolerant, and polluted countries in the world (15)

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11. Nepal — Religious intolerance, poor electricity and poor freedom of movement mean that Nepal performed badly in the Social Progress Index. It also scored badly in the Environmental Performance Index, finishing 149th out of 180 countries.

The 25 most conservative, intolerant, and polluted countries in the world (16)

10. Ethiopia — Ethiopia has one of the lowest scores in the world for access to advanced education. It was also in the bottom 40 in the WEF Gender Gap Report, putting it in 10th for Movehub's ranking.

The 25 most conservative, intolerant, and polluted countries in the world (17)

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9. Swaziland — Due to poor personal rights, water sanitation, shelter and personal safety, the tiny African nation's score on the Social Progress Index was weak compared to countries with a comparable GDP per capita like Morocco and the Philippenes.

The 25 most conservative, intolerant, and polluted countries in the world (18)

8. Lebanon — Lebabon has one of the poorest records for gender parity in the world, coming 135th in the WEF Gender Gap report. It also received low scores for religious, racial, and LGBT tolerance in the Social Progress Index, leaving it in eighth place in Movehub's analysis.

The 25 most conservative, intolerant, and polluted countries in the world (19)

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7. Saudi Arabia — With its strict gender-based laws surrounding everything from dress codes to leaving the country, Saudi Arabia is the fourth worst country in the world for equality according to the Gender Gap Report. Personal freedoms are also low in the Social Progress Index, with Saudi Arabia scoring just 9.1 out of 100 in the category.

The 25 most conservative, intolerant, and polluted countries in the world (20)

Source: The Week

6. Egypt — Egypt is one of the least free countries in the world, receiving extremely low scores on personal rights, safety, and access to advanced education in the Social Progress Index. It is also in the bottom 15 of the countries in the Gender Gap Report.

The 25 most conservative, intolerant, and polluted countries in the world (21)

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5. Chad — Chad was one of the worst performing countries in terms of access to advanced education, and also scored badly on personal rights, safety, water sanitation and LGBT tolerance in the Social Progress Index. The country even passed a law making hom*osexuality a criminal offence in December 2016.

The 25 most conservative, intolerant, and polluted countries in the world (22)

Source: Pink News

4. Pakistan — Pakistan is the second worst country in the world for gender parity according to the Gender Gap report, with low educational attainment and career progression for women. It also performed badly in the Environmental Performance Index, ranking 144th out of 180 countries surveyed.

The 25 most conservative, intolerant, and polluted countries in the world (23)

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3. Iran — Like Pakistan, Iran has a poor record in the Gender Gap Report, placing in the bottom six behind Chad, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. This, combined with an exceedingly low personal rights score in the Social Progress Index, makes it the third most conservative country in the world.

The 25 most conservative, intolerant, and polluted countries in the world (24)

2. Mali — Mali received one of the lowest scores for access to advanced education in the Social Progress Index, and placed just ahead of Iran in the Gender Gap report at 136th. On top of this, it came 174th out of 180 countries in the environmental Performance Index, making it the second least progressive, tolerant and eco-friendly country in the world.

The 25 most conservative, intolerant, and polluted countries in the world (25)

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1. Yemen — Yemen is the most conservative country on the planet, according to Movehub. It came in last place in the WEF Gender Gap Report, performed badly on personal rights, corruption and access to education in the Social Progress Index, and came 150th in the Environmental Performance Index.