Historical Rankings
| Country / Region | Rank | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995 | |
| Hong Kong | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| British Hong Kong | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Singapore | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Ireland | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 27 | 20 |
| Australia | 4 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 8 |
| United States | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 4 |
| New Zealand | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | |
| Canada | 7 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 21 | 20 | 25 | 27 | 26 | 20 | 18 |
| Chile | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 11 | 12 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 9 | 7 | 13 | 14 |
| Switzerland | 9 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | |
| United Kingdom | 10 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 3 |
| Denmark | 11 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 17 | 20 | 23 | 33 | 33 | 32 | 34 | 30 | 31 | |
| Estonia | 12 | 11 | 15 | 14 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 24 | 13 | 15 | 24 | 38 | 26 |
| Netherlands | 13 | 15 | 16 | 18 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 21 | 57 | 24 | 20 | 23 | |
| Iceland | 14 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 19 | 16 | 19 | 15 | 15 | 19 | 18 | 19 | ||
| Luxembourg | 15 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 15 | 13 | 12 | 15 | |
| Finland | 16 | 16 | 17 | 21 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 27 | 50 | 54 | 55 | 39 | 47 | |
| Japan | 17 | 18 | 18 | 36 | 50 | 34 | 39 | 23 | 19 | 27 | 21 | 21 | 14 | 6 |
| Mauritius | 18 | 32 | 35 | 35 | 51 | 52 | 33 | 45 | 36 | 20 | ||||
| Bahrain | 19 | 24 | 23 | 22 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 |
| Belgium | 20 | 17 | 24 | 30 | 30 | 33 | 34 | 57 | 55 | 60 | 48 | 44 | 36 | |
| Barbados | 21 | 27 | 20 | 24 | 28 | 23 | 17 | 20 | 27 | 37 | 33 | 46 | 53 | |
| Cyprus | 22 | 20 | 21 | 20 | 15 | 19 | 20 | 22 | 35 | 33 | 29 | 27 | 30 | |
| Germany | 23 | 22 | 25 | 28 | 27 | 26 | 25 | 29 | 43 | 40 | 52 | 29 | 25 | 17 |
| The Bahamas | 24 | 19 | 19 | 15 | 20 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 16 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 |
| Taiwan | 25 | 25 | 29 | 19 | 26 | 21 | 22 | 18 | 17 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 9 | 7 |
| Lithuania | 26 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 18 | 27 | 43 | 53 | 67 | 67 | 74 | 78 | 104 | |
| Sweden | 27 | 33 | 27 | 27 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 43 | 47 | 51 | 53 | 53 | 55 | 41 |
| Armenia | 28 | 30 | 14 | 25 | 23 | 37 | 32 | 46 | 62 | 96 | 117 | 123 | 125 | |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 29 | 23 | 26 | 17 | 21 | 29 | 26 | 19 | 13 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 24 | |
| Austria | 30 | 26 | 30 | 34 | 32 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 31 | 53 | 43 | 40 | 26 | 16 |
| Spain | 31 | 28 | 32 | 31 | 29 | 28 | 29 | 36 | 41 | 45 | 62 | 68 | 65 | 34 |
| Georgia | 32 | 31 | 54 | 93 | 78 | 84 | 104 | 87 | 107 | 114 | 122 | 125 | 123 | |
| El Salvador | 33 | 29 | 28 | 16 | 22 | 22 | 21 | 17 | 9 | 9 | 22 | 18 | 21 | 19 |
| Norway | 34 | 37 | 34 | 45 | 42 | 39 | 37 | 41 | 22 | 29 | 31 | 41 | 39 | |
| Slovakia | 35 | 36 | 33 | 42 | 48 | 77 | 76 | 85 | 108 | 105 | 85 | 85 | 75 | 46 |
| Botswana | 36 | 35 | 31 | 26 | 25 | 30 | 42 | 42 | 42 | 59 | 60 | 72 | 56 | 57 |
| Czech Republic | 37 | 39 | 40 | 47 | 35 | 36 | 40 | 26 | 30 | 23 | 28 | 54 | 29 | 23 |
| Latvia | 38 | 38 | 37 | 39 | 33 | 44 | 52 | 44 | 57 | 50 | 56 | 57 | 86 | |
| Kuwait | 39 | 41 | 41 | 48 | 55 | 43 | 46 | 35 | 25 | 24 | 38 | 42 | 35 | |
| Uruguay | 40 | 34 | 43 | 33 | 37 | 25 | 30 | 24 | 28 | 30 | 26 | 31 | 46 | 37 |
Read more about this topic: Index Of Economic Freedom
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“Culture is the name for what people are interested in, their thoughts, their models, the books they read and the speeches they hear, their table-talk, gossip, controversies, historical sense and scientific training, the values they appreciate, the quality of life they admire. All communities have a culture. It is the climate of their civilization.”
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