Since 1978, Freedom House has published Freedom in the World, an annual comparative assessment of the state of political rights and civil liberties around the world. Widely used by policy makers, journalists, and scholars, the 600-page survey is considered the definitive report on freedom around the globe. The ratings reflect global events from Dec. 1, 2005, through Dec. 31, 2006.

According to the survey, 90 countries are free. Their 3.0 billion inhabitants (47% of the world's population) enjoy a broad range of rights. Fifty-eight countries representing 1.1 billion people (30%) are considered partly free. Political rights and civil liberties are more limited in these countries, in which corruption, dominant ruling parties, or, in some cases, ethnic or religious strife is often the norm. The survey finds that 45 countries are not free. The 2.4 billion inhabitants (23%) of these countries, nearly one-half of whom live in China, are denied most basic political rights and civil liberties. In 2006, Guyana moved from Partly Free to Free, and Haiti and Nepal moved from Not Free to Partly Free. Thailand and the Republic of Congo moved from Partly Free to Not Free.

The list below features only independent countries. Freedom House's separate listing of territories reveals that four territories received the lowest possible political rights rating: Chechnya (Russia), Kashmir (Pakistan), Tibet (China), and Western Sahara (Morocco); of those, Chechnya and Tibet also received the lowest possible civil liberties ratings.