Rensselaer Republican, Volume 21, Number 51, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 August 1889 — Illiterates of Various Countries. [ARTICLE]

Illiterates of Various Countries.

A census of the illiterates in the various countries of the world, recently published places the three Selavic states of Roumania, Kervia, and Russia at the head of the list, with about 80 per cent of the population unable to read and write. Of the Latinspeaking races, Spain heads the list with 63 per cent, followed by Italy with 48 per cent, France and Belgium having about 15 per cent. The illiterates in Hungary number 43 per cent, in Austria 39, and in Ireland 21. In England we find 13 per cent, Holland 10 per cent, United States (white population) 8 per cent, and Scotland 7 per cent, unable to read and write. When we come to the purely Teutonic states, we find a marked reduction in the percentage of illitemtes. The highest is in Switzerland 2,5, in the whole German Empire it is 1 per cent; in Sweden, Denmark, Bavaria, Baden, and Wurtemburg there is practically no one who cannot read and write.