| Rank | Country | female | Literacy |
142 | Sao Tome and Principe | 77.90 | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 84.9% male: 92.2% female: 77.9% (2001 census) |
143 | El Salvador | 77.70 | definition: age 10 and over can read and write total population: 80.2% male: 82.8% female: 77.7% (2003 est.) |
144 | Belize | 77.10 | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 76.9% male: 76.7% female: 77.1% (2000 census) |
| World | 77.00 | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 82% male: 87% female: 77% note: over two-thirds of the world's 785 million illiterate adults are found in only eight countries (Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Pakistan); of all the illiterate adults in the world, two-thirds are women; extremely low literacy rates are concentrated in three regions, the Arab states, South and West Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa, where around one-third of the men and half of all women are illiterate (2005 est.) |
145 | Zambia | 74.80 | definition: age 15 and over can read and write English total population: 80.6% male: 86.8% female: 74.8% (2003 est.) |
146 | Syria | 73.60 | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 79.6% male: 86% female: 73.6% (2004 census) |
147 | Oman | 73.50 | definition: NA total population: 81.4% male: 86.8% female: 73.5% (2003 census) |
148 | Libya | 72.00 | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 82.6% male: 92.4% female: 72% (2003 est.) |
149 | Saudi Arabia | 70.80 | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 78.8% male: 84.7% female: 70.8% (2003 est.) |
150 | Iran | 70.40 | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 77% male: 83.5% female: 70.4% (2002 est.) |
151 | Cape Verde | 69.20 | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 76.6% male: 85.8% female: 69.2% (2003 est.) |
152 | Nicaragua | 67.80 | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 67.5% male: 67.2% female: 67.8% (2003 est.) |