World's most corrupt nations? Afghanistan at No. 2
(Read article summary)In Transparency International's latest rankings, Afghanistan is the second most corrupt country, only beat by Somalia. Afghanistan's anticorruption czar says not carrying through with punishment for corrupt officials is the problem.
It turns out Afghanistan is not the most corrupt country on earth. That distinction goes to government-free Somalia, according to a new ranking of 180 nations released Tuesday by Transparency International.
But there's unlikely to be cheers in the palace of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who is under heavy international pressure to clean up his government. Afghanistan came in second worst, slipping down two ranks from last year:
Most corrupt countries:
1. Somalia
2. Afghanistan
3. Burma (Myanmar)
4. Sudan
5. Iraq
Close behind are Chad, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, and Haiti.
The least corrupt are all highly developed nations, and most of the top 10 are liberal democracies, save authoritarian-bent Singapore.
The least corrupt:
1. New Zealand
2. Denmark
3. Singapore and Sweden (tie)
5. Switzerland
