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People > Literacy > Definition: Countries Compared

DEFINITION: This entry is derived from People > Literacy, which includes a definition of literacy and Census Bureau percentages for the total population, males, and females. There are no universal definitions and standards of literacy. Unless otherwise specified, all rates are based on the most common definition - the ability to read and write at a specified age. Detailing the standards that individual countries use to assess the ability to read and write is beyond the scope of the Factbook. Information on literacy, while not a perfect measure of educational results, is probably the most easily available and valid for international comparisons. Low levels of literacy, and education in general, can impede the economic development of a country in the current rapidly changing, technology-driven world.
COUNTRY DESCRIPTION
Afghanistan age 15 and over can read and write
Albania age 9 and over can read and write
Algeria age 15 and over can read and write
American Samoa age 15 and over can read and write
Andorra age 15 and over can read and write
Angola age 15 and over can read and write
Anguilla age 12 and over can read and write
Antigua and Barbuda age 15 and over has completed five or more years of schooling
Argentina age 10 and over can read and write
Armenia age 15 and over can read and write
Aruba age 15 and over can read and write
Australia age 15 and over can read and write
Austria age 15 and over can read and write
Azerbaijan age 15 and over can read and write
Bahrain age 15 and over can read and write
Bangladesh age 15 and over can read and write
Barbados age 15 and over has ever attended school
Belarus age 15 and over can read and write
Belgium age 15 and over can read and write
Belize age 15 and over can read and write
Benin age 15 and over can read and write
Bermuda age 15 and over can read and write
Bhutan age 15 and over can read and write
Bolivia age 15 and over can read and write
Bosnia and Herzegovina age 15 and over can read and write
Botswana age 15 and over can read and write
Brazil age 15 and over can read and write
British Virgin Islands age 15 and over can read and write
Brunei age 15 and over can read and write
Bulgaria age 15 and over can read and write
Burkina Faso age 15 and over can read and write
Burma age 15 and over can read and write
Burundi age 15 and over can read and write
Cambodia age 15 and over can read and write
Cameroon age 15 and over can read and write
Canada age 15 and over can read and write
Cape Verde age 15 and over can read and write
Cayman Islands age 15 and over has ever attended school
Central African Republic age 15 and over can read and write
Chad age 15 and over can read and write French or Arabic
Chile age 15 and over can read and write
China age 15 and over can read and write
Colombia age 15 and over can read and write
Comoros age 15 and over can read and write
Congo, Republic of the age 15 and over can read and write
Cook Islands age 15 and over can read and write
Costa Rica age 15 and over can read and write
Cote d'Ivoire age 15 and over can read and write
Croatia age 15 and over can read and write
Cuba age 15 and over can read and write
Cyprus age 15 and over can read and write
Democratic Republic of the Congo age 15 and over can read and write French, Lingala, Kingwana, or Tshiluba
Denmark age 15 and over can read and write
Djibouti age 15 and over can read and write
Dominica age 15 and over has ever attended school
Dominican Republic age 15 and over can read and write
East Timor age 15 and over can read and write
Ecuador age 15 and over can read and write
Egypt age 15 and over can read and write
El Salvador age 15 and over can read and write
Equatorial Guinea age 15 and over can read and write
Eritrea age 15 and over can read and write
Estonia age 15 and over can read and write
Ethiopia age 15 and over can read and write
Federated States of Micronesia age 15 and over can read and write
Fiji age 15 and over can read and write
Finland age 15 and over can read and write
France age 15 and over can read and write
French Polynesia age 14 and over can read and write
Gabon age 15 and over can read and write
Gaza Strip age 15 and over can read and write
Georgia age 15 and over can read and write
Germany age 15 and over can read and write
Ghana age 15 and over can read and write
Greece age 15 and over can read and write
Greenland age 15 and over can read and write
Grenada age 15 and over can read and write
Guam age 15 and over can read and write
Guatemala age 15 and over can read and write
Guinea age 15 and over can read and write
Guinea-Bissau age 15 and over can read and write
Guyana age 15 and over has ever attended school
Haiti age 15 and over can read and write
Holy See (Vatican City) age 15 and over can read and write
Honduras age 15 and over can read and write
Hong Kong age 15 and over has ever attended school
Hungary age 15 and over can read and write
Iceland age 15 and over can read and write
India age 15 and over can read and write
Indonesia age 15 and over can read and write
Iran age 15 and over can read and write
Iraq age 15 and over can read and write
Ireland age 15 and over can read and write
Israel age 15 and over can read and write
Italy age 15 and over can read and write
Jamaica age 15 and over has ever attended school
Japan age 15 and over can read and write
Jordan age 15 and over can read and write
Kazakhstan age 15 and over can read and write
Kenya age 15 and over can read and write
Kosovo age 15 and over can read and write
Kuwait age 15 and over can read and write
Kyrgyzstan age 15 and over can read and write
Laos age 15 and over can read and write
Latvia age 15 and over can read and write
Lebanon age 15 and over can read and write
Lesotho age 15 and over can read and write
Liberia age 15 and over can read and write
Libya age 15 and over can read and write
Liechtenstein age 10 and over can read and write
Lithuania age 15 and over can read and write
Luxembourg age 15 and over can read and write
Macau age 15 and over can read and write
Madagascar age 15 and over can read and write
Malawi age 15 and over can read and write
Malaysia age 15 and over can read and write
Maldives age 15 and over can read and write
Mali age 15 and over can read and write
Malta age 15 and over can read and write
Marshall Islands age 15 and over can read and write
Mauritania age 15 and over can read and write
Mauritius age 15 and over can read and write
Mexico age 15 and over can read and write
Moldova age 15 and over can read and write
Monaco age 15 and over can read and write
Mongolia age 15 and over can read and write
Montenegro age 15 and over can read and write
Montserrat age 15 and over has ever attended school
Morocco age 15 and over can read and write
Mozambique age 15 and over can read and write
Namibia age 15 and over can read and write
Nepal age 15 and over can read and write
Netherlands age 15 and over can read and write
New Caledonia age 15 and over can read and write
New Zealand age 15 and over can read and write
Nicaragua age 15 and over can read and write
Niger age 15 and over can read and write
Nigeria age 15 and over can read and write
North Korea age 15 and over can read and write
Northern Mariana Islands age 15 and over can read and write
Norway age 15 and over can read and write
Oman age 15 and over can read and write
Pakistan age 15 and over can read and write
Palau age 15 and over can read and write
Panama age 15 and over can read and write
Papua New Guinea age 15 and over can read and write
Paraguay age 15 and over can read and write
Peru age 15 and over can read and write
Philippines age 15 and over can read and write
Poland age 15 and over can read and write
Portugal age 15 and over can read and write
Puerto Rico age 15 and over can read and write
Qatar age 15 and over can read and write
Republic of Macedonia age 15 and over can read and write
Romania age 15 and over can read and write
Russia age 15 and over can read and write
Rwanda age 15 and over can read and write
Saint Helena age 20 and over can read and write
Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha age 20 and over can read and write
Saint Kitts and Nevis age 15 and over has ever attended school
Saint Lucia age 15 and over has ever attended school
Saint Pierre and Miquelon age 15 and over can read and write
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines age 15 and over has ever attended school
Samoa age 15 and over can read and write
San Marino age 10 and over can read and write
Sao Tome and Principe age 15 and over can read and write
Saudi Arabia age 15 and over can read and write
Senegal age 15 and over can read and write
Serbia age 15 and over can read and write
Seychelles age 15 and over can read and write
Sierra Leone age 15 and over can read and write English, Mende, Temne, or Arabic
Singapore age 15 and over can read and write
Slovakia age 15 and over can read and write
Solomon Islands age 15 and over can read and write
Somalia age 15 and over can read and write
South Africa age 15 and over can read and write
South Korea age 15 and over can read and write
South Sudan age 15 and over can read and write
Spain age 15 and over can read and write
Sri Lanka age 15 and over can read and write
Sudan age 15 and over can read and write
Suriname age 15 and over can read and write
Swaziland age 15 and over can read and write
Sweden age 15 and over can read and write
Switzerland age 15 and over can read and write
Syria age 15 and over can read and write
Taiwan age 15 and over can read and write
Tajikistan age 15 and over can read and write
Tanzania age 15 and over can read and write Kiswahili (Swahili), English, or Arabic
Thailand age 15 and over can read and write
The Bahamas age 15 and over can read and write
The Gambia age 15 and over can read and write
Togo age 15 and over can read and write
Tonga can read and write Tongan and/or English
Trinidad and Tobago age 15 and over can read and write
Tunisia age 15 and over can read and write
Turkey age 15 and over can read and write
Turkmenistan age 15 and over can read and write
Turks and Caicos Islands age 15 and over has ever attended school
Uganda age 15 and over can read and write
Ukraine age 15 and over can read and write
United Arab Emirates age 15 and over can read and write
United Kingdom age 15 and over has completed five or more years of schooling
United States age 15 and over can read and write
Uruguay age 15 and over can read and write
Uzbekistan age 15 and over can read and write
Vanuatu age 15 and over can read and write
Venezuela age 15 and over can read and write
Vietnam age 15 and over can read and write
Virgin Islands age 15 and over can read and write
Wallis and Futuna age 15 and over can read and write
West Bank age 15 and over can read and write
Yemen age 15 and over can read and write
Zambia age 15 and over can read and write English
Zimbabwe age 15 and over can read and write English

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