Finland is the most literate country in the world according to a recent report from Central Connecticut State University.

The study, conducted by John W. Miller, president of the university, analyzed reading habits through test scores, library usage and size, and accessibility to books through libraries. Out of sixty-one countries that made the cut due to relevant statistics, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, and Sweden filled out the top five; the United States ranked seventh.

“The Pacific Rim countries, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, and China, would top the list if test performance were the only measure,” the report reads. “Finland would be the only non-Pacific Rim country to rank high. When factors such as library size and accessibility are added in, the Pacific Rim nations drop dramatically.”

In this report, Colombia, Morocco, Thailand, Indonesia, and Botswana were the lowest ranking countries for literacy.

Miller also produced a twelve-year survey, “America’s Most Literate Cities” (2003–2014) in collaboration with CCSU’s Center for Public Policy and Social Research. That study found Minneapolis ranked first in the top ten cities according to six key indicators of literacy (number of bookstores, educational attainment, Internet resources, library resources, periodical publishing resources, and newspaper circulation).

Routledge published a companion book to the 2016 report called World Literacy: How Countries Rank and Why It Matters.

Image Credit: Routledge.