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On January 16, Freedom House released the findings from the latest edition of Freedom in the World, the annual survey of global political rights and civil liberties. According to the survey’s findings, the year 2007 was marked by a notable setback for global freedom. The decline was most pronounced in South Asia, but also reached significant levels in the former Soviet Union, the Middle East and North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa. It affected a substantial number of large and politically important countries—including Russia, Pakistan, Kenya, Egypt, Nigeria, and Venezuela—whose declines have wider regional and global implications. Furthermore, results for 2007 marked the second consecutive year in which the survey registered a decline in freedom, representing the first two-year setback in the past 15 years.
- Press Release – Highlights the principal findings from Freedom in the World 2008.
- Overview Essay – "Freedom in Retreat: Is the Tide Turning?" details the trends identified in Freedom in the World 2008, including global and regional gains and setbacks for freedom.
- Tables and Graphs – Features graphical representations of global and regional breakdowns for freedom, tables of political rights and civil liberties ratings for each country and territory, and a table listing the total number of Free, Partly Free, and Not Free countries for each year since the survey began in 1972.
- Methodology Summary – Provides an abbreviated description of the methodology used to determine each country and territory’s political rights and civil liberties ratings.
- Checklist Questions – Lists the questions used to determine each country’s political rights and civil liberties ratings.
- Map of Freedom 2008 – This map of the world provides a color-coded graphical representation of the Free, Partly Free, and Not Free countries in 2007.
The complete survey, including country narrative reports, will be released in early summer 2008. Narrative country reports of previous years’ reports (2002-2007) are already available online.
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