Corruption is inversely proportional to distance from equator

Corruption is inversely proportional to distance from equator & indirectly is culturally motivated, as cultures are fostered and deeply impacted by climates.

Through a session of Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen that I attended in New Delhi in which he spoke of his latest book and informed all of us about some very surprising facts. One of such facts was his information that India has more than 300 historic calendar types.

In the interaction there was a discussion by Dr. Sen on the issue of corruption that is plaguing our nation. Almost instinctively I thought of why northern Europe is so transparent and corruption-free. This brought me to a question, which I shot on to him without much though process and largely by instinct – is there a link between cultural types and corruption. Are we from subcontinent somehow more inclined to be corrupt by culture.

He answered immediately saying that it is not true. He quoted that having being an Advisor to the Government of Italy, he was exposed to a European nation plagued by high corruption, and that he does not believe that we in India or for that reason any other culture has higher or lower inclination towards corruption.

I respectably thanked him for his view. But in my mind, I was not satisfied by the answer. This conversation happened in early 2017. I did keep on thinking about it and realized that culture largely is effected by the climate in which people live. This is a known fact. The next idea that crept in my mind was following – why not to research and try proving my point of view using an easy tool. This is what I did.

I accessed the corruption score level as accessed by Transparency International. I then accessed the latitudinal locations of nations. Clubbing them together in a band of 15 degrees. That is – from 0°, 15°N, 30°N, 45°N, 60°N. Similarly, 15°S, 30°S, 45°S, 60°S.

The nations considered are those which are of some sensible size in terms of population in each band.

I then took averages of the national corruption scores of the nations falling in each band. Following is the astonishing results that I fathomed, which lead to my discovery – “Distance from the equator is inversely proportional to levels of corruption”.

Below mentioned is the attestation to my assertion:

Latitudnal Belt	Bands	Average Corruption Scores for nations falling in the corresponding band
60° N	1	76.71
45° N	2	46.50
30° N	3	34.38
15° N	4	28.13
0°	5	31.10
15° S	6	31.00
30° S	7	50.83
45° S	8	64.00

Below mentioned are the details of Corruption Levels of various nations as assessed by Transparency Level and Nations whose corruption levels have been considered to reach an average for every latitudinal band.

SN	Nation	2016		SN	Nation	2016		SN	Nation	2016
1	Denmark	90
2	New Zealand	90		60	Cuba	47		120	Dominican Republic	31
3	Finland	89		60	Italy	47		120	Ecuador	31
4	Sweden	88		62	Sao Tome and Principe	46		120	Malawi	31
5	Switzerland	86		62	Saudi Arabia	46		123	Azerbaijan	30
6	Norway	85		64	Montenegro	45		123	Djibouti	30
7	Singapore	84		64	Oman	45		123	Honduras	30
8	Netherlands	83		64	Senegal	45		123	Laos	30
9	Canada	82		64	South Africa	45		123	Mexico	30
10	Germany	81		64	Suriname	45		123	Moldova	30
10	Luxembourg	81		69	Greece	44		123	Paraguay	30
10	United Kingdom	81		70	Bahrain	43		123	Sierra Leone	30
13	Australia	79		70	Ghana	43		131	Iran	29
14	Iceland	78		72	Burkina Faso	42		131	Kazakhstan	29
15	Belgium	77		72	Serbia	42		131	Nepal	29
15	Hong Kong	77		72	Solomon Islands	42		131	Russia	29
17	Austria	75		75	Bulgaria	41		131	Ukraine	29
18	United States	74		75	Kuwait	41		136	Guatemala	28
19	Ireland	73		75	Tunisia	41		136	Kyrgyzstan	28
20	Japan	72		75	Turkey	41		136	Lebanon	28
21	Uruguay	71		79	Belarus	40		136	Myanmar	28
22	Estonia	70		79	Brazil	40		136	Nigeria	28
23	France	69		79	China	40		136	Papua New Guinea	28
24	Bahamas	66		79	India	40		142	Guinea	27
24	Chile	66		83	Albania	39		142	Mauritania	27
24	United Arab Emirates	66		83	Bosnia and Herzegovina	39		142	Mozambique	27
27	Bhutan	65		83	Jamaica	39		145	Bangladesh	26
28	Israel	64		83	Lesotho	39		145	Cameroon	26
29	Poland	62		87	Mongolia	38		145	Gambia	26
29	Portugal	62		87	Panama	38		145	Kenya	26
31	Barbados	61		87	Zambia	38		145	Madagascar	26
31	Qatar	61		90	Colombia	37		145	Nicaragua	26
31	Slovenia	61		90	Indonesia	37		151	Tajikistan	25
31	Taiwan	61		90	Liberia	37		151	Uganda	25
35	Botswana	60		90	Morocco	37		153	Comoros	24
35	Saint Lucia	60		90	The FYR of Macedonia	37		154	Turkmenistan	22
35	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	60		95	Argentina	36		154	Zimbabwe	22
38	Cape Verde	59		95	Benin	36		156	Cambodia	21
38	Dominica	59		95	El Salvador	36		156	Democratic Republic of Congo	21
38	Lithuania	59		95	Kosovo	36		156	Uzbekistan	21
41	Brunei	58		95	Maldives	36		159	Burundi	20
41	Costa Rica	58		95	Sri Lanka	36		159	Central African Republic	20
41	Spain	58		101	Gabon	35		159	Chad	20
44	Georgia	57		101	Niger	35		159	Haiti	20
44	Latvia	57		101	Peru	35		159	Republic of Congo	20
46	Grenada	56		101	Philippines	35		164	Angola	18
47	Cyprus	55		101	Thailand	35		164	Eritrea	18
47	Czech Republic	55		101	Timor-Leste	35		166	Iraq	17
47	Malta	55		101	Trinidad and Tobago	35		166	Venezuela	17
50	Mauritius	54		108	Algeria	34		168	Guinea-Bissau	16
50	Rwanda	54		108	Côte d´Ivoire	34		169	Afghanistan	15
52	Korea (South)	53		108	Egypt	34		170	Libya	14
53	Namibia	52		108	Ethiopia	34		170	Sudan	14
54	Slovakia	51		108	Guyana	34		170	Yemen	14
55	Croatia	49		113	Armenia	33		173	Syria	13
55	Malaysia	49		113	Bolivia	33		174	Korea (North)	12
57	Hungary	48		113	Vietnam	33		175	South Sudan	11
57	Jordan	48		116	Mali	32		176	Somalia	10
57	Romania	48		116	Pakistan	32
				116	Tanzania	32
				116	Togo	32

Major Nations in specific latitudinal belt and their corruption level score as assessed by Transparency International.

75° N	Russia	29
75° N	Canada	82
75° N	Denmark	90
75° N	AVERAGE	67
60° N	Norway	85
60° N	Russia	29
60° N	Finland	89
60° N	Sweden	88
60° N	Canada	82
60° N	Denmark	90
60° N	United States	74
60° N	AVERAGE	76.71429
45° N	France	69
45° N	Italy	47
45° N	Croatia	49
45° N	Romania	48
45° N	Serbia	42
45° N	Ukraine	29
45° N	Kazakhstan	29
45° N	Uzbekistan	21
45° N	China	40
45° N	Mongolia	38
45° N	Japan	72
45° N	United States	74
45° N	AVERAGE	46.5
30° N	Morocco	37
30° N	Algeria	34
30° N	Libya	14
30° N	Egypt	34
30° N	Israel	64
30° N	Jordan	48
30° N	Saudi Arabia	46
30° N	Iraq	17
30° N	Kuwait	41
30° N	Iran	29
30° N	Afghanistan	15
30° N	Pakistan	32
30° N	India	40
30° N	Nepal	29
30° N	China	40
30° N	Mexico	30
30° N	AVERAGE	34.375
15° N	Senegal	45
15° N	Mauritania	27
15° N	Mali	32
15° N	Niger	35
15° N	Chad	20
15° N	Sudan	14
15° N	Eritrea	18
15° N	Yemen	14
15° N	Myanmar	28
15° N	Thailand	35
15° N	Laos	30
15° N	Vietnam	33
15° N	Philippines	35
15° N	Guatemala	28
15° N	Honduras	30
15° N	Nicaragua	26
15° N	AVERAGE	28.125
0°	Gabon	35
0°	Democratic Republic of Congo	21
0°	Uganda	25
0°	Kenya	26
0°	Somalia	10
0°	Malaysia	49
0°	Indonesia	37
0°	Ecuador	31
0°	Colombia	37
0°	Brazil	40
0°	AVERAGE	31.1
15° S	Angola	18
15° S	Zambia	38
15° S	Mozambique	27
15° S	Malawi	31
15° S	Madagascar	26
15° S	Peru	35
15° S	Bolivia	33
15° S	Brazil	40
15° S	AVERAGE	31
30° S	South Africa	45
30° S	Lesotho	39
30° S	Australia	79
30° S	Chile	66
30° S	Argentina	36
30° S	Brazil	40
30° S	AVERAGE	50.83333
45° S	New Zealand	90
45° S	Chile	66
45° S	Argentina	36
45° S	AVERAGE	64