Freedom of Movement

Now that you know the minimum drinking ages around the world, how easy would it be to hop on a plane and head to another country to grab a pint?

International Visa Restrictions by Country is more interesting than it sounds. Take a look at the list and try to figure out what it says about the countries that appear in the top, middle and bottom tiers.

From what I can tell, the countries at the top (150+) are either "polite" (Denmark, Portugal) or powerful (US, UK). The counties at the bottom are either war-ravaged (Bosnia and Herzegowina, Iraq, Afghanistan) or non-democratic (China, North Korea).

One shouldn't read too much into these rankings, but it provides a somewhat useful view of each country's relative clout in the world. Also, protectionism usually rises during tough economic times, so I wouldn't be surprised to see a very different list in 2009 and 2010. I expect the number of visa-less destinations per country to decrease by 10% over the next 3 years.

[via Marginal Revolution]