When arguing politics or religion, the word “conservative” comes up often, but what does it mean? Someone conservative is someone that has traditional values and ideas. A conservative character is wary of innovation.
For example, a conservative person may not believe in separation, abortion, or other controversial arguments. A conservative person is typically very contrary to change.
People worldwide have contradictory beliefs and values, and many of these people are more mythical. However, it isn’t easy to measure exactly how many conservatives exist around the world. Studies, reports, and research stated which countries are the most conservative. Pakistan has been deemed the most conservative nation on the planet. This data reveals that this country has the widest gender gap and worked poorly in corruption and education access to an individual. Another one of the world’s most conservative countries is Ethiopia. Ethiopia scored low in advanced schooling and gender parity. It was affirmed to be one of the least sophisticated and growing countries in the world. Ranked third, Iran is added to one of the world’s most conservative countries. It ranked poorly in personal rights and gender parity.
What is Conservatism?
Conservatism is a social and political philosophy promoting traditional and social institutions. The central principles of conservatism may vary concerning the traditional values or practices of the culture and civilization in which it appears.
Which countries are socially most conservative?
Yemen is the most socially conservative country in the world. Child marriage is very common in Yemen.
So this list is of the ten most conservative nations based on the data compiled:
10. Swaziland
Population: | 1,172,362 |
Official Languages: | Swazi, English |
Ethnic Groups: | 84% Swazi, 10% Zulu, 3% European |
GDP (PPP): | $10.463 billion |
Sex Ratio(At Birth): | 1.02% male(s)/female |
Birth Rate: | 25.8 births/1,000 population |
Literacy Rate: | (2020) 88.29% |
Area: | Total 17,364 squares km |
Swaziland is a small, inland country in southern Africa. It is home to 1.1 million people. Due to poor personal rights, shelter, water sanitation, and personal safety, the tiny African nation’s record on the Social Progress Index was low compared to nations with a similar GDP per capita like Morocco and the Philippines. The majority of people live on government-owned Swazi National Lands, often smaller than one hectare in size. On the other hand, individuals receive vital investment and produce significant Swazi exports like sugar and wood. As per the Centers for Disease Control, Swaziland has one of the grossest rates of HIV/AIDS in the world. This leaves nearly 45% of children orphaned and helpless. HIV affects 26% of those between the ages of 15 and 49, greatly reducing the country’s human resources and life expectancy, approximately 49 years.
9. Lebanon
Population: | 6,769,146 |
Official Languages: | Arabic |
Ethnic Groups: | 95% Arab, 4% Armenian, 1% Other |
GDP (PPP): | $91 billion |
Sex Ratio(At Birth): | 1.05% male(s)/female |
Birth Rate: | 2.09 births/1,000 population |
Literacy Rate: | 93.9% |
Area: | 10,452 squares km |
Lebanon, officially recognized as the Lebanese Republic, is a country in the Middle East’s transcontinental region and the Levant region of Western Asia. It has one of the poorest records for gender similarity globally, coming 135th in the WEF Gender Gap report. It also endured low scores for religious, racial, and LGBT tolerance in the Social Progress Index.
In the last three decades, lengthy and devastating armed conflicts have ravaged the country. The bulk of Lebanese have been seized by armed conflict; those with direct personal expertise include 75% of the people, and most others report flagging a range of hardships. In total, nearly the entire population (96%) has been influenced in some way – either personally or because of the wider outcomes of armed conflict.
8. Chad
Population: | 16,914,985 |
Official Languages: | Arabic, French |
Ethnic Groups: | 26.6% Sara, 12.9% Arab, 8.5% Kanembu, 7.2% Masalit, 6.9% Toubou, rest others. |
GDP (PPP): | $30 billion |
Sex Ratio(At Birth): | 0.08% male(s)/female |
Birth Rate: | 42.17 births/1,000 population |
Literacy Rate: | 22.31% |
Area: | (Total) 1,284,000 squares km |
Chad is an internal nation in north-central Africa. It was one of the worst-performing countries in terms of access to advanced education. Also, it scored badly on personal rights, water sanitation, safety, and LGBT tolerance in the Social Progress Index. The nation even passed a law making homosexuality a criminal offense in December 2016. Chad has over 200 distinct ethnic groups, which create diverse social structures. In southern Chad, bitter land disputes are becoming more and more common. They frequently turn violent. Long-standing association culture is being eroded, and so is the subsistence of many farmers. The Chadian government has actively promoted Chadian culture and national traditions by opening the Chad National Museum and the Chad Cultural Centre.
7. Mali
Population: | 20,855,735 |
Official Languages: | French |
Ethnic Groups: | 50% Mande, 13% Voltaic (Senufo / Bwa), 16% Fula, 10% Tuareg / Moor |
GDP (PPP): | $17.407 billion |
Sex Ratio(At Birth): | 1.003% male(s)/female |
Birth Rate: | 41.54 births/1,000 population |
Literacy Rate: | 35.47% |
Area: | (Total) 1,240,192 squares km |
Mali is a country in West Africa. It is the eighth-largest nation in Africa and received one of the deepest scores to advanced education in the Social development Index, and placed just ahead of Iran in the Gender Gap record at 136th. On top of this, it attained 174th out of 180 nations in the environmental Performance Index, making it the second least growing, tolerant and eco-friendly country in the world. Due to a backlash toward the northern population after independence, Mali is now in a situation where it’s all ethnic groups complain about discrimination against the other group. This disagreement also plays a role in the progressive Northern Mali battle. There is tension between Tuaregs and the Malian government and the Tuaregs and radical Islamists who are trying to establish sharia law.
6. Yemen
Population: | 30,490,640 |
Official Languages: | Arabic |
Ethnic Groups: | 92.8% Arab, 3.7% Somalis, 1.1% Afro-Arab, 0.5% Indian |
GDP (PPP): | $73.348 billion |
Sex Ratio(At Birth): | 1.02% male(s)/female |
Birth Rate: | 29.3 births/1,000 population |
Literacy Rate: | 92.8% |
Area: | (Total) 555,000 squares km |
Yemen is a nation at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia and the second-largest Arab monarch state in the peninsula. It came in the last place in the WEF Gender Gap record, executed badly on personal rights, corruption and came 150th in the Environmental Performance Index. Health care services are especially scarce in rural areas. Only 25 percent of rural districts are covered by health services than 80 percent of urban areas. Saudi Arabia had been driving a Western-backed military alliance, including the United Arab Emirates as a key member, mediated in Yemen in 2015 to restore the government’s ousted power by the Houthi movement. The United Nations described Yemen’s situation, where the war killed tens of thousands of characters and left millions on the verge of starvation, as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
5. Saudi Arabia
Population: | 35,340,683 |
Official Languages: | Arabic |
Ethnic Groups: | 90% Arab, 10% Afro-Asian |
GDP (PPP): | $779.289 billion |
Sex Ratio(At Birth): | 1.03% male(s)/female |
Birth Rate: | 17.8 births/1,000 population |
Literacy Rate: | 95.33% |
Area: | (Total) 2,149,690 squares km |
Saudi Arabia is a nation in Western Asia establishing the vast majority of the Arabian Peninsula. With its strict gender-based laws encompassing everything from dress codes to leaving the nation, Saudi Arabia is the fourth wickedest nation in the world for equality, per the Gender Gap Report. Personal liberties are also low in the Social Progress Index, with Saudi Arabia scoring just 9.1 out of 100 in the category. The state has drawn criticism for a variety of reasons, including its role in the Yemeni Civil War, failure to adopt adequate measures against human trafficking, sponsorship of Islamic terrorism, and its poor human rights record, which has been identified by the lack of women’s rights, excessive and often extrajudicial use of first punishment, state-sponsored discrimination toward religious minorities and atheists, state-sanctioned prejudice and antisemitism, and its strict version of Shari’a law.
4. Iran
Population: | 85,028,759 |
Official Languages: | Persian |
Ethnic Groups: | 61% Persian, 16% Azerbaijani, 10% Kurd, 6% Lur (incl. Bakhtiari), 5% others |
GDP (PPP): | $1.007 trillion |
Sex Ratio(At Birth): | 1.01% male(s)/female |
Birth Rate: | 17.99 births/1,000 population |
Literacy Rate: | 85.54% |
Area: | (Total) 1,648,195 squares km |
Iran is a country in Western Asia. It has a poor record in the Gender Gap Report, placing in the bottom six behind Chad, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. This, combined with an extremely low personal liberties score in the Social Progress Index, gets it the third most traditional country in the world. All broadcasting from Iranian soil is controlled by the state and reflects official ideology. A wider range of opinions may be found online and in the printed press. However, many pro-reform outlets have been closed and their writers and editors imprisoned. Media freedom advocates have described Iran as “among the five biggest prisons globally” for journalists. The politics of Iran take place in a framework that officially combines elements of theocracy and presidential democracy.
3. Egypt
Population: | 104,258,327 |
Official Languages: | Arabic |
Ethnic Groups: | 99.7% Ethnic Egyptians, rest Abazas, Turks, Greeks, Bedouin |
GDP (PPP): | $1.391 trillion |
Sex Ratio(At Birth): | 1.02% male(s)/female |
Birth Rate: | 25.377 births/1,000 population |
Literacy Rate: | 88.2% |
Area: | (Total) 1,010,408 squares km |
Egypt is a transcontinental country crossing the northeast edge of Africa and southwest ridge of Asia by a land bridge created by the Sinai Peninsula. It is one of the least free countries globally, receiving extremely low scores on personal equities, safety, and access to advanced tutoring in the Social Progress Index. It is also in the base 15 of the countries in the Gender Gap Report. Egypt was an early and major center of Christianity but was principally Islamised in the seventh century and remains a predominantly Muslim nation, with a significant Christian minority. In September 2018, Egypt ratified the law granting authorities the right to monitor social media users to tighten internet controls. The military is influential in Egypt’s political and economic life and exempts itself from laws applicable to other sectors.
2. Ethiopia
Population: | 117,876,227 |
Official Languages: | Afar, Amharic, Oromo |
Ethnic Groups: | Oromo 34.9%, Amhara 27.9%, Tigrayans 7.3%, Sidama 4.1% |
GDP (PPP): | $272 billion |
Sex Ratio(At Birth): | 1.03% male(s)/female |
Birth Rate: | 31.64 births/1,000 population |
Literacy Rate: | 51.77% |
Area: | (Total) 1,104,300 squares km |
Ethiopia is an imprisoned nation in the laps of Africa. It has one of the lowest scores in the world for a way to advanced education and was also in the back 40 in the WEF Gender Gap Report, setting it in 10th for Movehub’s ranking. The EPRDF-led administration of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi encouraged ethnic federalism, devolving significant powers to regional, ethnically based authorities.
Citizens have little admittance to media other than the state-owned channels, and most private newspapers strive to remain open and suffer recurrent harassment from the state. EBC, Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation, formerly known as ETV, is the government-owned political channel. The sole internet service provider in the nation is its state telecommunications company, Ethio telecom.
1. Pakistan
Population: | 225,199,937 |
Official Languages: | English, Urdu |
Ethnic Groups: | 96.28% Islam, 1.85% Hinduism, 1.59% Christianity, 0.22% Ahmadiyya |
GDP (PPP): | $1.076 billion |
Sex Ratio(At Birth): | 1.05% male(s)/female |
Birth Rate: | 3.51 births/1,000 population |
Literacy Rate: | 82% in Islamabad to 23% in the Tougher |
Area: | (Total) 881,913 squares km |
Pakistan is a country in South Asia. It is the world’s fifth-most populous country with a population exceeding 212.2 million, has the world’s second-largest Muslim population, and is the second-worst country for gender equality, educational achievement, and career progression for women. Pakistan is the only nation to have been created in the name of Islam. It also ranked badly in the Environmental Performance Index, ranking 144th out of 180 nations surveyed. Civil society in Pakistan is largely hierarchical, emphasizing local cultural etiquette and traditional Islamic values that govern personal and political life. The private print media, Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC), and state-owned Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV), for radio, were the powerful media outlets until the 21st century.
Conclusion!
To create this list of the most conservative countries globally, we compiled this data from three studies. The studies used to select this list are incorporated with the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Report, the Environmental Performance Index, and the Social Progress Index. These studies estimate categories including religious tolerance, freedom of the press, and gender parity. Well, in its converse, the most liberal countries are Finland, Iceland, and Sweden.