Middle East & North Africa

Nearly 13 million Syrians are displaced after seven years of conflict in their country. No nation in recent decades has had such a large percentage of its population displaced.

For five countries – Nepal, Kyrgyzstan, Haiti, Tajikistan and Liberia – remittances from citizens abroad are equivalent to at least a quarter of GDP.

The partisan divide in Middle East sympathies, for Israel or the Palestinians, is now wider than at any point since 1978.

Across 37 countries surveyed in the spring of 2017, a median of 48% say they closely follow news about the U.S., compared with 50% who do not. Interest in news about the U.S. is highest in Canada, where 78% say they track it closely. Next highest is the Netherlands (75%), followed by some of America’s closest allies: Japan, Germany and Australia. Across 10 European nations, a median of 51% say they follow news about America closely.

A global median of 75% want their news media to be unbiased when covering political issues, yet many say the news media do a poor job of reporting on political issues fairly.

Explore the data on how publics across 38 countries think their news media are doing on issues like reporting the news accurately.

The public unrest that swept across Iran starting in late December began as a protest against poor economic conditions, but it quickly turned into a call for an end to the country’s theocratic regime.

Foreign-owned companies employed 6.8 million workers in the United States in 2015, up 22% from 2007. Overall, foreign-owned companies accounted for 5.5% of all U.S. private sector employment in 2015.

A median of 53% in five Middle Eastern and North African countries also see Iran playing a more important role, but fewer say Israel, Saudi Arabia and Egypt have gained influence.

More than two-thirds of special immigrant visas have gone to Afghans (48,601) since fiscal 2007. Iraqis have received 21,961 such visas.