The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) just published its 20th Human Development Report, which includes its Human Development Index (HDI) rankings. That third link is the one that shows Israel as 15th of 169 countries; there is only one country which isn't English-speaking or European, South Korea, which is higher at 12th place. The Economist has a brief description of what it's all about, here.
Israel is the only one of the top 25, with the exception of the US, which is at war or has been at war in any significant way since 1954. It is the only one with almost 20% of its population being Arabs (the highest Arab country, the United Arab Emirates, is ranked at 32). I'd add that it's also the only one among the top 25 in which something like 20% of the population arrived as impoverished immigrants within the past 20 years, but actually I think it's the only one anywhere, world-wide, with that particular distinction.
I perceive Israel as a country of the Mediterranean and wow does it compare there :-)
ReplyDeleteSilke
"Israel is the only one of the top 25, with the exception of the US, which is at war or has been at war in any significant way since 1954"
ReplyDeleteFrance's war in Algeria was 1954 - 1962. France is #14, and that was certainly a significant war.
Japan is also in the top 15.
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