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World's Largest Jailer By Far, It's Not Even Close

06 Mar
Q: Which repressive country puts the most people in jail for violating government laws? 

A. Iran
B. Saudi Arabia
C. Libya
D. Egypt
E. United States of America

It's not even close..............

World Rank, 2010CountryPrisoners per 100,000 Population
1U.S.A.743
37Tunisia297
52Turkmenistan224
53Iran223
61Libya200
61Mexico200
69Colombia180
70Saudi Arabia178
92Bahrain149
116China120
126Venezuela114
137Iraq101
140Ethiopia98
150Egypt89
156Yemen83
185Syria58
187Afghanistan56
198Sudan45
198Pakistan45

The table above shows how the prison incarceration rate for in the United States (per 100,000 population) in 2010 compares to some of the roughest countries in the world.  The full list of 216 countries is here, the countries above were selected as some of world's the most repressive regimes (Iran, Saudi Arabia and Libya), some of the world's least economically free countries (Venezuela, Turkmenistan, Sudan, Afghanistan, according to the Heritage Foundation) and some countries with the biggest narco-terroism problems (Colombia and Mexico).  But none of them even come close to the incarceration rate of the World's #1 Jailer - the United States, largely because of the "war on drugs" (see chart below).  
 

Update: Note that neighbor Canada ranks #124 (117 per 100,000), and countries with liberalized drug laws like Portugal rank #128 (112 per 100,000) and Netherlands ranks #145 (94 per 100,000). Â