Turning Knots into Bows...

Spending quite a bit of time in Saudi Arabia where the entire country shuts down for prayer five times a day, I often wondered how religious they are compared to us – the Sri Lankans who take the religion quite liberally. Buddhism is a philosophy which has no strict rules of religious observations, and we also tend to visit each others places of worship without thinking much about betraying our own God.

Which led to some interesting research and I was quite flabbergasted to discover that we Sri Lankans are the World’s Second or the Third Religious nation, depending on the source.

Below are some other factors that make us think of the brighter side and give us some hope in the middle of the chaos we live in...

Religiosity Index measures is the measure of the importance of the religion for respondents and their self-reported attendance of religious services. For religions in which attendance at services is limited, care must be used in interpreting the data.

Optimism Index measures a respondent’s positive attitude for the future. Specifically, respondents are asked whether certain aspects of their life are getting better or getting worse.

Community Basics Index measures satisfaction with aspects of everyday life in a community, including education, environment, healthcare, housing and infrastructure.

National Institutions Index measures confidence in key national institutions prominent in leading a country: the military, the judicial system, the national government and the honesty of elections.

Unemployment (% of total labour force). Shorter bars, the better. For once, we are doing really well, thanks to the global economic crisis!

This entry records the cumulative total of all government borrowings less repayments that are denominated in a country’s home currency. Public debt should not be confused with external debt, which reflects the foreign currency liabilities of both the private and public sector and must be financed out of foreign exchange earnings.

Sources: Gallup WorldView 2009 and CIA Factbook.