Data for 2021

State Authority over Territory, 2021

Name: State Authority over Territory, 2021
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

2021, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

V-Dem's measure of state authority asks what share of a country's official territory the state effectively controls — where it is the recognised authority and can prevail over insurgents, armed groups or criminal organisations that reject it. It is an expert estimate, given as a percentage.

State Authority over Territory, 2021 covers 174 countries. 13 countries share the highest reading, 100.00; Libya is lowest, at 40.86. The middle country reads 94.76. Against 2020, 113 values changed (51 up, 62 down), the same countries are covered.

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State Authority over Territory · Data for 2021

Highest13 countries share it

100.00

LowestLibya

40.86

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the better end.

174countries
1measure
2021the year it describes
136distinct values3 decimals, as published
Sep 26, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY-SA 4.0licence

01Values only

The table

Every country and every column of State Authority over Territory, 2021, as published. The file carries values only, so no position is shown. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 174 countries · select a heading to sort

State Authority over Territory, 2021: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.

Austria`AUT`Western Europe	100.00
Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	100.00
Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	100.00
Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	100.00
Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	100.00
Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	100.00
Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	100.00
Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	100.00
Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	100.00
Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	100.00
Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	100.00
Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	100.00
Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	100.00
Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	99.93
Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	99.91
Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	99.91
Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	99.86
Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	99.83
New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	99.83
Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	99.80
Uruguay`URY`South America	99.77
Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	99.71
Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	99.70
Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	99.67
Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	99.60
Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	99.57
Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	99.46
Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	99.42
South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	99.38
São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	99.29
Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	99.29
Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	99.14
Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	99.13
Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	99.11
Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	99.00
Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	98.93
Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	98.93
South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	98.88
Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	98.83
Argentina`ARG`South America	98.80
Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	98.80
Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	98.75
Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	98.63
Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	98.63
Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	98.57
Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	98.33
France`FRA`Western Europe	98.33
Guyana`GUY`South America	98.33
Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	98.25
Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	98.14
Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	98.11
Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	97.86
North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	97.78
Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	97.71
Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	97.53
Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	97.50
Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	97.50
Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	97.50
United States`USA`Northern America	97.46
Panama`PAN`Central America	97.33
China`CHN`Eastern Asia	97.17
Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	97.14
Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	96.88
Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	96.86
Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	96.83
Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	96.50
Israel`ISR`Western Asia	96.50
Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	96.43
Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	96.29
Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	96.25
Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	96.00
Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	96.00
Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	96.00
Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	95.86
Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	95.86
Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	95.80
Canada`CAN`Northern America	95.67
United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	95.63
Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	95.56
Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	95.50
Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	95.43
Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	95.33
Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	95.10
Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	95.10
Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	95.00
Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	95.00
Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	94.86
Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	94.67
Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	94.60
United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	94.60
Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	94.57
North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	94.44
Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	94.33
Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	94.33
Ecuador`ECU`South America	94.17
Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	94.17
Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	94.17
Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	94.00
Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	93.86
Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	93.86
Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	93.50
Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	93.43
Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	93.29
Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	93.00
Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	92.90
Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	92.86
Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	92.70
India`IND`Southern Asia	92.64
Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	92.60
Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	92.57
Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	92.14
Brazil`BRA`South America	91.92
Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	91.90
Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	91.88
Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	91.83
Germany`DEU`Western Europe	91.67
Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	91.57
Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	91.50
Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	91.50
Bolivia`BOL`South America	91.43
Togo`TGO`Western Africa	91.29
El Salvador`SLV`Central America	90.83
Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	90.71
Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	90.57
Peru`PER`South America	90.14
Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	89.80
Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	89.63
Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	89.25
Mexico`MEX`Central America	89.14
Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	88.75
Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	88.33
Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	87.50
Benin`BEN`Western Africa	87.33
Oman`OMN`Western Asia	87.33
Colombia`COL`South America	87.00
Venezuela`VEN`South America	86.71
Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	86.67
Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	86.25
Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	86.25
Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	86.00
Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	86.00
Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	85.83
Guatemala`GTM`Central America	85.00
Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	84.67
Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	84.50
Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	84.30
Honduras`HND`Central America	84.17
Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	84.17
Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	83.57
Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	83.25
Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	83.14
Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	83.09
Chile`CHL`South America	82.00
Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	81.60
Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	80.89
Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	80.00
Paraguay`PRY`South America	78.33
Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	76.71
DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	76.50
South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	74.60
Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	73.89
Suriname`SUR`South America	73.33
Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	72.14
Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	71.83
Mali`MLI`Western Africa	70.83
Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	69.63
Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	69.00
Niger`NER`Western Africa	68.88
Syria`SYR`Western Asia	66.89
Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	64.67
Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	62.60
Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	61.20
Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	50.90
Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	40.86

02In 2021

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

Austriashared100.00
Belarusshared100.00
Switzerlandshared100.00
Estoniashared100.00
Finlandshared100.00

Lowest

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 94.76. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032020 → 2021

Since 2020

+0 / −0countries joined / left
113values changed, of 174 in both
51 · 62rose · fell
61unchanged

Rose most

Afghanistan43.09 → 83.25+40.16
Central African Republic51.75 → 62.60+10.85
Lesotho86.60 → 96.00+9.40
Niger59.50 → 68.88+9.38
Somalia56.64 → 64.67+8.02

Fell most

Chile96.43 → 82.00−14.43
Ethiopia73.20 → 61.20−12.00
Myanmar81.22 → 69.63−11.60
Mali80.63 → 70.83−9.79
Oman94.50 → 87.33−7.17

04Caveats

Read before you use

How values are stored

One year of the 2026 release
Every year in this series comes from V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release, recalculated on one method, so a change from one year to the next is not a revision. It can differ from what was first published for 2021.
136 distinct values among 174
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 13 countries share 100.00. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 174 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

Licence in full

.csv
For a spreadsheet or code
174 rows · 4.8 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download state-authority-over-territory-2021-nations-inquiry.csv
↗
The publisher’s original
V-Dem Institute’s own file, on its own site.
V-Dem-CY-FullOthers-v16_csv.zip

What this site changed: Reshaped to one row per country, with its ISO code; no value recalculated, rescaled or rounded. In full

Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg (2021). State Authority over Territory, 2021 [data set], describing 2021. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/state-authority-over-territory/2021

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
State Authority over Territory, 2020
174 countries
The year after ›
State Authority over Territory, 2022
174 countries
All of them
State Authority over Territory: every year
36 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
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