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← News Data story · World Values Survey · Inglehart-Welzel

The map of the
world’s values.

Ronald Inglehart and Christian Welzel showed that cultures vary along two big dimensions: traditional ↔ secular-rational values, and survival ↔ self-expression values. Plotting every country from the World Values Survey reveals familiar cultural clusters.

The cultural map

64 countries · horizontal = self-expression, vertical = secular values.

0.2 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 00011 Survival → Self-expression values Traditional → Secular values South KoreaRussiaJapanChinaGermanyBrazilIranNigeriaEgypt
Europe & Central AsiaAmericasEast Asia & PacificSouth AsiaMiddle East & North AfricaSub-Saharan Africa

The four extremes

Most secular-rational

Czech Republic — religion and tradition weigh least on public life.

Most traditional

Egypt — religion, family and authority are central.

Most self-expression

Germany — emphasis on freedom, tolerance and participation.

Most survival-oriented

Egypt — security and economic survival come first.

Source: World Values Survey Wave 7, Welzel’s SACSECVAL & RESEMAVAL indices. Explore all cultural dimensions interactively →