| Rank | Country | male | Literacy |
133 | Mauritius | 88.40 | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 84.4%
male: 88.4%
female: 80.5% (2000 census) |
134 | South Africa | 87.00 | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 86.4%
male: 87%
female: 85.7% (2003 est.) |
| World | 87.00 | 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 (India, China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Egypt); of all the illiterate adults in the world, two-thirds are women; extremely low literacy rates are concentrated in three regions, South and West Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Arab states, where around one-third of the men and half of all women are illiterate (2005 est.) |
135 | Dominican Republic | 86.80 | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 87%
male: 86.8%
female: 87.2% (2002 census) |
136 | Namibia | 86.80 | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 85%
male: 86.8%
female: 83.5% (2001 census) |
137 | Oman | 86.80 | definition: NA
total population: 81.4%
male: 86.8%
female: 73.5% (2003 census) |
138 | Zambia | 86.80 | definition: age 15 and over can read and write English
total population: 80.6%
male: 86.8%
female: 74.8% (2003 est.) |
139 | Syria | 86.00 | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 79.6%
male: 86%
female: 73.6% (2004 census) |
140 | Cape Verde | 85.80 | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 76.6%
male: 85.8%
female: 69.2% (2003 est.) |
141 | Cambodia | 84.70 | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 73.6%
male: 84.7%
female: 64.1% (2004 est.) |
142 | Saudi Arabia | 84.70 | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 78.8%
male: 84.7%
female: 70.8% (2003 est.) |
143 | Iraq | 84.10 | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 74.1%
male: 84.1%
female: 64.2% (2000 est.) |
144 | Jamaica | 84.10 | definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school
total population: 87.9%
male: 84.1%
female: 91.6% (2003 est.) |
145 | Iran | 83.50 | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 77%
male: 83.5%
female: 70.4% (2002 est.) |
146 | Tunisia | 83.40 | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 74.3%
male: 83.4%
female: 65.3% (2004 census) |
147 | Egypt | 83.00 | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 71.4%
male: 83%
female: 59.4% (2005 est.) |
148 | Angola | 82.90 | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 67.4%
male: 82.9%
female: 54.2% (2001 est.) |
149 | El Salvador | 82.80 | definition: age 10 and over can read and write
total population: 80.2%
male: 82.8%
female: 77.7% (2003 est.) |
150 | Swaziland | 82.60 | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 81.6%
male: 82.6%
female: 80.8% (2003 est.) |
151 | Congo, Democratic Republic of the | 80.90 | definition: age 15 and over can read and write French, Lingala, Kingwana, or Tshiluba
total population: 67.2%
male: 80.9%
female: 54.1% (2001 est.) |
152 | Botswana | 80.40 | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 81.2%
male: 80.4%
female: 81.8% (2003 est.) |
Home 
Fields
World Records
World Dictionary
Geographic Names
Fields History
Chiefs of State
Intl. Organizations
Intl. Environmental Agree.
Other References
Notes and Definitions
