The Canberra Reporter Issue #4 | Page 6

NEWS FEATURES
AUSTRALIA’ S RANKS SIXTH, PHILIPPINES’ 60th
6 THE CANBERRA REPORTER | February 2017

NEWS FEATURES

PinOz multiplied

By GLORIA ROSS
FILIPINO-BORN Australian citizens, permanent Filipino- Australian residents, temporary residents, temporary workers, students and those of long-term Filipino heritage account for close to half a million people in this cosmopolitan mix.
They comprise one of the largest ethnic communities in Australia of Asian origin along with China and India.
Australia today is an example of a country where people from all over the world live in peace and harmony.
The importance of a national day( Australia Day) of celebration is to identify, focus, on and further enhance the values that unite all citizens.
The picture above shows a snapshot of the cosmopolitan diversity of Australia today, an example of one of the most successful multicultural nations in the world. •

PASSPORTS THAT GIVE YOU FREE ENTRY TO COUNTRIES

AUSTRALIA’ S RANKS SIXTH, PHILIPPINES’ 60th

THERE may be different measures to decide which are the world’ s most powerful passports, but the most commonly accepted measure is to examine the power of every nation’ s“ key to the world” based on how many countries that can be visited without applying for a visa.
A total of 193 countries and territories were included in the“ key to the world” index, separated into 95 passport power ranks.
A country’ s ability to obtain visa waivers reflects its diplomatic relations with other countries.
In addition to this, visa requirements are shaped by security risks, reciprocal visa arrangements, and the risks of visa and immigration rules violations.
Germany ranks on top with 158. Next six are in a tie on 153.
By GLORIA ROSS
Singapore is the standout from Asia with 157.
The USA and Britain are in equal third spot with a numbeer of nations
from Western Europe. Japan is in fourth with 155, Malaysia fifth with 154.
Australia is in sixth with 153.
Western European countries dominate the rankings as there are so many of them with large populations in land areas smaller than Australia’ s.
Germany is unsurprisingly the winner because it shares borders with so many different countries from regions such as Scandinavia, the North Sea near the English Channel, Eastern Europe and almost to Italy in the Mediterranean, separated only by Switzerland and Austria.
Germany is also the economic powerhouse of Europe and
considered the glue holding together the current European Union.
Barbados brags it has the most powerful passport in the Caribbean region, which is ranked 50th worldwide.
Filipinos can visit 60 countries without the need for a visa, putting them on 64th spot.
China is ranked slightly behind the Philippines on 66th spot, while Indonesia, is ranked 67th, India on 78th spot.
Afghanistan has held last spot since 2010. Only 25 countries in the world allow passport holders visafree entry. •

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