THE WORLD’S REMAINING POLITICAL DICTATORSHIPS

The following lists includes all countries and related territories which have been rated Not Free by the democracy watchdog, Freedom House. This organization uses wide ranging criteria to evaluate (1) political rights and (2) civil liberties. The scale for both is 1 to 7 with the latter being the worst. The first list is of the most repressive nations on earth, those rated 7,7 Not Free, for 2007. The second list is of all other nations and territories rated not free. Regarding these designations, a qualification is in order. Freedom House’s other overall ratings are Partly Free and Free. Some nations which are rated partly free can also be regarded as functioning dictatorships.

List One: the most repressive nations and territories
- Burma
- Chechnya, a disputed territory controlled by Russia
- Cuba
- Libya
- North Korea
- Somalia
- Sudan
- Tibet, a disputed territory controlled by China
- Turkmenistan
- Uzbekistan

List Two: all other nations and territories judged not free
- Algeria
- Angola
- Azerbaijan
- Belarus
- Bhutan
- Brunei
- Cambodia
- Cameroon
- Chad
- China
- Congo (Brazzaville)
- Congo (Kinshasa)
- Cote d'Ivoire
- Egypt
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Guinea
- Iran
- Iraq
- Israeli-occupied disputed territories
- Kashmir, the portion of the disputed territory controlled by Pakistan
- Kazakhstan
- Kosovo, a disputed territory controlled by Serbia
- Laos
- Maldives
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Qatar
- Russia
- Rwanda
- Saudi Arabia
- Swaziland
- Syria
- Tajikistan
- Thailand
- Togo
- Transnistria, a disputed territory controlled by Moldova
- Tunisia
- United Arab Emirates
- Vietnam
- Western Sahara, a disputed territory controlled by Morocco
- Zimbabwe