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A Passport, One of The Most Important Travel Identification Documents

Best & Most Powerful Passports to Travel The World in 2020

According to Henley and Partners passport index, Japan tops the list in 2020 for the most powerful passports and the best to travel the world.

If you are lucky enough to be born as Japanese or have some ancestry to gain the passport, then congratulations! Now you can enter 191 countries around the world. Correspondingly, a great news for any travel enthusiast. 

Singapore, an Asian Tiger, holds the second place on the list. Therefore, Singapore passport holders enjoy travel freedom to 190 countries.

Best Passports in the World in 2020

A Passport and A Travel Bag, One of the Finest Joys in Life
A Passport and A Travel Bag, One of the Finest Joys in Life

These are the best passport rankings  and the number of countries each allows its holder to enter:

  1. Japan: 191
  2. Singapore: 190
  3. South Korea and Germany: 189
  4. Italy and Finland: 188
  5. Spain, Luxembourg and Denmark: 187
  6. Sweden and France: 186
  7. Switzerland, Portugal, Netherlands, Ireland and Austria: 185
  8. United States, United Kingdom, Norway, Greece and Belgium: 184

The remaining ranks contain a slew of other countries mainly in the European Union along with Canada, Australia and New Zealand. For example, the ninth place, which allows travel to 183 countries, is a tie between New Zealand, Malta, Czech Republic, Canada and Australia.

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Additionally, one notable observation through the years is for the commonwealth countries. As most of these have good rankings, this might be due to historical connections with the United Kingdom. Moreover, some of them are also part of the EU and the Schengen area, like Malta. Therefore, it comes as no surprise to see this relatively small nation appearing in position 9 with visa free to 183 countries.

Worst Passports in the World in 2020

A Visa, The Conditional Entry Permit at The Airport
A Visa, The Conditional Entry Permit at The Airport

On the other end of the spectrum, comes a host of worst passports to hold. These mainly belong to countries involved in war zones. Examples include certain areas in the Middle East or impoverished societies that have a long way to go. This year, Afghanistan is rated as the worst passport according to Henley and Partners rankings.

Consequently, with very limited access to travel, these are the worst passports rankings and their respective visa free countries:

100. Sudan and North Korea: 39

101. Palestinian Territories and Nepal: 38

102. Libya: 37

103. Yemen: 33

104. Pakistan and Somalia: 32

105. Syria: 29

106. Iraq: 28

107. Afghanistan: 26

No matter, which passport you may currently hold, it’s needless to say that nothing can stop you from traveling the world. The visa process might get cumbersome and complicated sometimes, but it’s not impossible.

Also, another alternative is to become naturalized in a new country with better passport rankings. Alternatively, you might consider buying a passport from many Caribbean islands or European ones. Each has a different price tag, but sometimes it is very well worth it.

Cyprus in the European Union, is a very good example. It is ranked as sixteenth with visa free to 174 countries. Therefore, if you would like to learn more about this country, check the article below that is fully dedicated to Cyprus. 

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