Rwanda has the highest percentage of women elected to a house of parliament. But how does the rest of the world stack up? Use this map to view statistics about the first and last place finishers within each region. The United States of America, with 14% of its legislature made up of women, and a gender balance rank of 58, is highlighted in yellow as a comparison. This map is divided into four regions — the Americas, Africa, Europe, and Asia/Middle East — to highlight comparisons between a broad range of nations.

Data Key:

Constitution adopted refers to the most recent date of ratification or major change to the subject country’s constitution, from the 2004 edition of the C.I.A. World Fact Book.

Percentage of women in legislature was compiled from the Inter-Parliamentary Union on the basis of information provided by 186 countries to the National Parliaments as of April 30, 2004.

Gender balance rank refers to a ranking of 186 countries for lower houses only, compiled by the Inter-Parliamentary Union on the basis of information provided by National Parliaments by April 30, 2004.

** South Africa: the figures on the distribution of seats do not include the 36 special rotating delegates appointed on an ad hoc basis, and the percentages given are therefore calculated on the basis of the 54 permanent seats.