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The Functional States Index is a measure of how functional a country is, with functional defined by a combination of factors, including standard of living, life expectancy, education, how democratic, peaceful and egalitarian the country is, per capita ecological footprint, life satisfaction, and government debt/foreign assets. It was conceived as a compromise among other indices of the functionality of nations, such as the Human Development Index and the Happy Planet Index, which take more limited selections of factors into account.

The Functional States Index was created in May 2009 by Eldon Katz. It is not claimed to be a perfect measure, but Katz says he hopes it will inspire a "legitimate" organization to create such an index that incorporates a broad range of relevant factors.

Methodology[edit]

The Functional States Index is a conglomeration of the following: The Human Development Index^[1], The Happy Planet Index^[2],The Global Peace Index^[3], The Democracy Index^[4], Income Inequality based on the Gini Coefficient^[5], and IMF account balance as a percentage of GDP^[6]. A sub-score for each one of these was found with the following formula, where x is the score for the country from the original source, and max (x) and min (x) are the most positive score any country had from that source:

$sub-score$ = $100\times {\frac {x-\min \left(x\right)}{\max \left(x\right)-\min \left(x\right)}}$

For example, the Human Development Index score for Egypt was 0.734. The high and low scores on the Human Development Index were 0.968 (Iceland) and 0.284 (Somalia), so Egypt's sub-score regarding this source would be $100\times {\frac {0.734-0.284}{0.968-0.284}}$ = $65.7895$ To give one more example, the Global Peace Index score for Israel was 3.052. The high and low scores on the Global Peace Index were 1.176 (Iceland) and 3.514 (Iraq) (note that the high score here is actually the smaller number), so Israel's sub-score regarding this source would be $100\times {\frac {3.052-3.514}{1.176-3.514}}$ = $19.65665$

Each state's Functional States Index score is the average of all six subscores, with the Happy Planet Index receiving double the weight of the other sub-scores, as a country's ecological footprint is likely to have a greater effect on it's long term sustainability than other factors.

Ratings[edit]

Every United Nations member state with a population of 300,000 or more was rated, plus Hong Kong and Taiwan. Each one is given a grade from A to F, based on their score. An "A" grade means mostly functional, a "B" grade means satisfactorily functional, a "C" grade means unsatisfactory/somewhat non-functional, a "D" grade means highly non-functional, and an "F" grade means completely un-functional.

By Region[edit]

Western Europe/North America[edit]

Grade	Rank	Country	Score
A+	1	Switzerland	79.30
A+	2	Norway	78.67
A+	3	Luxembourg	77.80
A	4	Austria	76.48
A	5	Iceland	75.92
A	6	Netherlands	75.49
A	7	Denmark	75.12
A	8	Sweden	74.91
A	9	Germany	74.08
A	12	Malta	72.60
A-	13	Finland	72.04

Grade	Rank	Country	Score
A-	14	Belgium	71.39
A-	15	Canada	70.63
A-	17	Italy	70.23
B+	20	Ireland	68.58
B	31	Spain	66.79
B	37	France	64.83
B	38	United Kingdom	64.39
B-	60	Portugal	61.48
B-	66	Greece	60.65
C	98	United States of America	54.53

South America[edit]

Grade	Rank	Country	Score
B+	23	Uruguay	68.36
B+	25	Trinidad and Tobago	68.18
B	30	Chile	66.83
B	35	Suriname	64.92
B	50	Argentina	63.26
B-	55	Guyana	62.07
B-	56	Colombia	62.00

Grade	Rank	Country	Score
B-	57	Venezuela	61.81
B-	58	Peru	61.76
C+	79	Brazil	58.64
C	85	Paraguay	57.35
C	86	Ecuador	57.07
C	103	Bolivia	53.57

Central America/Caribbean[edit]

Grade	Rank	Country	Score
A	11	Costa Rica	73.70
B+	19	Cuba	68.93
B+	24	Panama	68.29
B	45	Mexico	63.77
B	47	Nicaragua	63.70
B	51	El Salvador	63.22
B-	61	Dominican Republic	61.46

Grade	Rank	Country	Score
B-	67	Honduras	60.46
B-	70	Bahamas	60.17
C+	71	Guatemala	59.79
C+	72	Jamaica	59.65
C+	84	Belize	58.35
D-	137	Haiti	42.14

East Asia/Oceania[edit]

Grade	Rank	Country	Score
A	10	Japan	73.72
B+	18	New Zealand	69.13
B+	21	Taiwan	68.49
B+	26	Indonesia	67.62
B+	27	Timor-Leste	67.58
B+	28	South Korea	67.58
B	34	Malaysia	65.26
B	39	Hong Kong	64.14
B	42	Vietnam	64.01
B	44	Australia	63.86
B	48	Thailand	63.61

Grade	Rank	Country	Score
B	52	Philippines	63.13
B-	62	Singapore	61.46
B-	65	Brunei	60.67
C+	74	China	59.61
C+	80	Fiji	58.64
C-	116	Solomon Islands	50.80
C-	119	Papua New Guinea	50.18
D+	121	Cambodia	49.89
D+	125	Laos	47.98
D	129	North Korea	46.74

Eastern Europe[edit]

Grade	Rank	Country	Score
A-	16	Slovenia	70.3
B	29	Czech Republic	67.25
B	36	Hungary	64.89
B	40	Croatia	64.11
B	43	Slovakia	63.99
B	53	Poland	62.97
B-	64	Romania	60.82
B-	68	Serbia	60.25
C+	73	Bosnia & Herzegovina	59.62
C+	76	Albania	59.35
C+	82	Montenegro	58.48
C+	83	Macedonia	58.38

Grade	Rank	Country	Score
C	88	Bulgaria	56.20
C	93	Lithuania	55.62
C	102	Azerbaijan	53.67
C-	108	Latvia	52.20
C-	109	Estonia	52.07
C-	112	Armenia	51.78
C-	113	Moldova	51.49
C-	114	Georgia	51.21
C-	117	Ukraine	50.54
D	130	Belarus	46.22
D-	141	Russia	40.82

North Africa/African Island Nations[edit]

Grade	Rank	Country	Score
B	33	Mauritius	66.16
B	54	Tunisia	62.68
B-	59	Cape Verde	61.68
C+	77	Libya	59.25
C+	81	Morocco	58.55
C	87	Algeria	56.30

Grade	Rank	Country	Score
C	105	Comoros	52.86
C-	111	Madagascar	51.85
D+	123	Senegal	48.65
D	126	Gambia	47.46
D-	136	Mali	42.34

Middle East[edit]

Grade	Rank	Country	Score
B+	22	Cyprus	68.38
B-	63	Oman	60.86
B-	69	Kuwait	60.08
C	89	Saudi Arabia	55.97
C	90	United Arab Emirates	55.89
C	91	Qatar	55.85
C	92	Bahrain	55.64
C	95	Israel	55.56

Grade	Rank	Country	Score
C	97	Yemen	54.73
C	100	Egypt	54.28
C	106	Turkey	52.63
C	107	Jordan	52.56
C-	118	Lebanon	50.26
D+	120	Syria	49.90
D-	144	Iraq	40.61

Central/Southern Asia[edit]

Grade	Rank	Country	Score
B	32	Bhutan	66.79
B	41	Kyrgyzstan	64.05
B	46	Sri Lanka	63.76
B	49	Mongolia	63.33
C+	75	Tajikistan	59.49
C+	78	Bangladesh	58.71
C	94	India	55.56
C	96	Maldives	55.04

Grade	Rank	Country	Score
C	101	Uzbekistan	54.20
C	104	Iran	53.05
C-	110	Kazakhstan	51.98
C-	115	Nepal	51.15
D	128	Pakistan	46.84
D	133	Myanmar	44.54
D-	142	Turkmenistan	40.72
F	168	Afghanistan	25.54

Western Africa[edit]

Grade	Rank	Country	Score
C	99	Ghana	54.28
D+	122	Benin	48.92
D	127	Gabon	47.14
D-	145	Cameroon	40.31
F+	146	Guinea	38.72
F+	149	Burkina Faso	37.47
F+	151	Togo	36.82

Grade	Rank	Country	Score
F+	153	Nigeria	36.18
F	154	Côte d'Ivoire	34.55
F	156	Guinea-Bissau	34.31
F	158	Equatorial Guinea	33.21
F	162	Liberia	29.98
F	163	Niger	29.79
F	166	Sierra Leone	27.48

Southern/Eastern/Central Africa[edit]

Grade	Rank	Country	Score
D+	124	Tanzania	48.11
D	131	Namibia	45.34
D	132	Botswana	45.05
D	134	Mauritania	43.86
D	135	Kenya	43.68
D-	138	South Africa	41.77
D-	139	Ethiopia	41.56
D-	140	Mozambique	41.27
D-	143	Malawi	40.72
F+	147	Republic of the Congo	39.58
F+	148	Uganda	37.75
F+	150	Zambia	37.35
F+	152	Rwanda	36.5

Grade	Rank	Country	Score
F	155	Eritrea	34.40
F	157	Somalia	33.41
F	159	Djibouti	32.70
F	160	Lesotho	32.64
F	161	Angola	32.06
F	164	Burundi	29.67
F	165	Swaziland	28.91
F	167	Sudan	27.4
F	169	Zimbabwe	25.22
F-	170	Chad	22.85
F-	171	Democratic Republic of the Congo	21.89
F-	172	Central African republic	21.12

By Grade[edit]

Grade A states[edit]

Rank	Country	Score
1	Switzerland	79.30
2	Norway	78.67
3	Luxembourg	77.80
4	Austria	76.48
5	Iceland	75.92
6	Netherlands	75.49
7	Denmark	75.12
8	Sweden	74.91
9	Germany	74.08

Rank	Country	Score
10	Japan	73.72
11	Costa Rica	73.70
12	Malta	72.60
13	Finland	72.04
14	Belgium	71.39
15	Canada	70.63
16	Slovenia	70.30
17	Italy	70.23

Grade B states[edit]

Rank	Country	Score
18	New Zealand	69.13
19	Cuba	68.96
20	Ireland	68.58
21	Taiwan	68.49
22	Cyprus	68.38
23	Uruguay	68.36
24	Panama	68.29
25	Trinidad and Tobago	68.18
26	Indonesia	67.62
27	Timor-Leste	67.58
28	South Korea	67.58
29	Czech Republic	67.25
30	Chile	66.83
31	Spain	66.79
32	Bhutan	66.79
33	Mauritius	66.16
34	Malaysia	65.26
35	Suriname	64.92
36	Hungary	64.89
37	France	64.83
38	United Kingdom	64.39
39	Hong Kong	64.14
40	Croatia	64.11
41	Kyrgyzstan	64.05
42	Vietnam	64.01
43	Slovakia	63.99
44	Australia	63.86

Rank	Country	Score
45	Mexico	63.77
46	Sri Lanka	63.76
47	Nicaragua	63.70
48	Thailand	63.61
49	Mongolia	63.33
50	Argentina	63.26
51	El Salvador	63.22
52	Philippines	63.13
53	Poland	62.97
54	Tunisia	62.68
55	Guyana	62.07
56	Colombia	62.00
57	Venezuela	61.81
58	Peru	61.76
59	Cape Verde	61.68
60	Portugal	61.48
61	Dominican Republic	61.46
62	Singapore	61.46
63	Oman	60.86
64	Romania	60.82
65	Brunei	60.67
66	Greece	60.65
67	Honduras	60.46
68	Serbia	60.25
69	Bahamas	60.17
70	Kuwait	60.08

Grade C states[edit]

Rank	Country	Score
71	Guatemala	59.79
72	Jamaica	59.65
73	Bosnia & Herzegovina	59.62
74	China	59.61
75	Tajikistan	59.49
76	Albania	59.35
77	Libya	59.25
78	Bangladesh	58.71
79	Brazil	58.64
80	Fiji	58.64
81	Morocco	58.55
82	Montenegro	58.48
83	Macedonia	58.38
84	Belize	58.35
85	Paraguay	57.35
86	Ecuador	57.07
87	Algeria	56.30
88	Bulgaria	56.20
89	Saudi Arabia	55.97
90	United Arab Emirates	55.89
91	Qatar	55.85
92	Bahrain	55.64
93	Lithuania	55.62
94	India	55.56
95	Israel	55.56

Rank	Country	Score
96	Maldives	55.04
97	Yemen	54.73
98	United States of America	54.53
99	Ghana	54.28
100	Egypt	54.28
101	Uzbekistan	54.20
102	Azerbaijan	53.67
103	Bolivia	53.57
104	Iran	53.05
105	Comoros	52.86
106	Turkey	52.63
107	Jordan	52.56
108	Latvia	52.20
109	Estonia	52.07
110	Kazakhstan	51.98
111	Madagascar	51.85
112	Armenia	51.78
113	Moldova	51.49
114	Georgia	51.21
115	Nepal	51.15
116	Solomon Islands	50.80
117	Ukraine	50.54
118	Lebanon	50.26
119	Papua New Guinea	50.18

Grade D states[edit]

Rank	Country	Score
120	Syria	49.90
121	Cambodia	49.89
122	Benin	48.92
123	Senegal	48.65
124	Tanzania	48.11
125	Laos	47.98
126	Gambia	47.46
127	Gabon	47.14
128	Pakistan	46.84
129	North Korea	46.74
130	Belarus	46.22
131	Namibia	45.43
132	Botswana	45.05

Rank	Country	Score
133	Myanmar	44.54
134	Mauritania	43.86
135	Kenya	43.69
136	Mali	42.34
137	Haiti	42.14
138	South Africa	41.77
139	Ethiopia	41.56
140	Mozambique	41.27
141	Russia	40.82
142	Turkmenistan	40.72
143	Malawi	40.72
144	Iraq	40.61
145	Cameroon	40.31

Grade F states[edit]

Rank	Country	Score
146	Republic of the Congo	39.58
147	Guinea	38.72
148	Uganda	37.75
149	Burkina Faso	37.47
150	Zambia	37.35
151	Togo	36.82
152	Rwanda	36.50
153	Nigeria	36.18
154	Côte d'Ivoire	34.55
155	Eritrea	34.40
156	Guinea-Bissau	34.31
157	Somalia	33.41
158	Equatorial Guinea	33.21
159	Djibouti	32.70

Rank	Country	Score
160	Lesotho	32.63
161	Angola	32.06
162	Liberia	29.98
163	Niger	29.79
164	Burundi	29.67
165	Swaziland	28.91
166	Sierra Leone	27.48
167	Sudan	27.40
168	Afghanistan	25.54
169	Zimbabwe	25.22
170	Chad	22.85
171	Democratic Republic of the Congo	21.89
172	Central African Republic	21.12

References[edit]

[1] ttp://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/

[2] ttp://www.happyplanetindex.org/

[3] ttp://www.visionofhumanity.org/gpi/results/rankings.php

[4] ttp://graphics.eiu.com/PDF/Democracy%20Index%202008.pdf

[5] ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_equality

[6] ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_current_account_balance_as_a_percentage_of_GDP

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[6]