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We may live in a world defined by invisible meta-data and the Cloud, but the roughly 3×5 inch paper booklet known as the passport still carries a lot of weight. More than a simple grant of access into a country, passports and the visas they contain are a reflection of geopolitics, the relationship between two nations, and a country’s stature relative to the rest of the world. They’re also of immense value. Just ask any one of the developing world’s citizens if they’d rather win the lottery or a U.S. passport, chances are they’d say the latter (though they’d be wrong in thinking the American passport is the most powerful of them all).
Here’s a look at the strength of the world’s passports—ranked by the travel freedom a passport holder enjoys
A Special Kind of Privilege
The Schengen Area is a collection of nations in Europe where there is no systematic border controls between participating countries. Individuals who are citizens of one of the 22 EU member countries can mcve freely without a passport in this zone. Belonging to the EU does not necessarily imply membership in the Schengen Area: the UK and Ireland have chosen to abstain.
