Existing indexes used compare countries

This post is WIP!

I was reading today, which led me to a thought; "How do you compare different countries? What are the factors that could be used for this comparison? Is there a formula that can be applied to compare countries OVERALL? Some thinking led me to the conclusion, there has to be an index or more developed for this purpose. I will use a set of 6 countries of my interest to demonstrate my finidings on the internet! The 6 chosen countries are;

1. Canada; my home country
2. Pakistan; the country of my origin
3. United Arab Emirates; the country where I was brought up
4. United States of America; the super power / economy of the world
5. China; the emerging super power
6. India; another emerging super power (maybe) and the neighbor of Pakistan (my country of origin).


Freedom House is a United States-based international non-governmental organization that

conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom and human rights.[2] It is best

known for its annual assessment of the degree of democratic freedoms in each country, which is

widely used in political science research.[3]

The organization was founded by Wendell Willkie and Eleanor Roosevelt in 1941, and describes

itself as "a clear voice for democracy and freedom around the world." It receives about 80% of

its budget from the U.S. government,[4] but also receives funding from various other sources,

for example the Bradley Foundation, the Smith Richardson Foundation, the Dutch government, and

a list of others.[4] The organization has been criticized for receiving funding from and

allegedly furthering the interests of the U.S. government,[5] while others have offered praise

to the group.[6]

Freedom House
PR=Political Rights
CL=Civil Liberties

CANADA PR:1 CL:1 : : PR:1 FREE
PAKISTAN PR:6 CL:5 : 0 NOT FREE
UAE PR:6 CL:6 : : NOT FREE


http://www.freedomhouse.org/uploads/pdf/Charts2006.pdf

United Nations Human Development Index
Created by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahbub_ul_Haq