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What countries have access to improved water sources? - Answers


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What countries have access to improved water sources?

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World map showing countries with urban population having access to improved water sources

Today, giving their populations access to improved water sources has become the top most priority for governments around the world. The improved water sources comprise piped water on premises and other sources such as tube wells or boreholes, rainwater collection, public taps, protected springs and protected dug wells.

Many of the nations have been successful in providing their people with improved water sources. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), between the years 1990 and 2015, an estimated 2.6 billion people across the world gained access to safe drinking water. This is a major achievement, but there is still a significant population that does not have access to improved water sources for their drinking and other needs.

The unimproved water sources are surface water from dams, lakes and rivers and also from unprotected springs or dug wells. The disparity does not only exist between countries but also between people living in rural and urban areas. In 2015, according to the WHO data, an estimated 96 percent of the people living in urban areas had access to improved sources of water. In comparison, some 85 percent of those living in the rural areas had access to the same.

The World Health Organization data painted a positive picture with more than 85 percent urban people in a majority of nations having access to improved water sources. Many nations having either achieved the magical figure of 100 percent or provided an upward of 99 percent of the population with access to improved water sources in urban areas.


Armenia,  Australia, Bahrain, Cambodia, Canada, Denmark, Egypt,  Japan, Qatar, and Niger were a few nations that had met the 100 percent mark. Belarus, Mauritius, South Korea, etc. were just 0.1 percent short of the magical figure. Other nations that had scored between 99 and 100 percent included the  United States, Kazakhstan, UAE, South Africa,  Bulgaria, Maldives and many others.

At the bottom of the World Health Organization data were Palestine and  Mauritania  where just 50.7 and 58.4 percent of the urban population, respectively, had access to improved water sources. Nations such as Haiti, Mongolia, and South Sudan fared slightly better with 64.9, 66.4, and 66.7 percent respectively. In all, there were 13 nations where between 71.8 percent and 84.9 percent of the urban population had access to improved water sources.

Refer to the table for information on the percentage of population in urban areas that had access to improved water sources in 2015.

Countries Population With Access to Improved Water Sources (%)
American Samoa 100
Andorra 100
Armenia 100
Australia 100
Austria 100
Bahrain 100
Belgium 100
Cambodia 100
Canada 100
Cyprus 100
Czech Republic 100
Denmark 100
Egypt 100
Finland 100
France 100
French Polynesia 100
Georgia 100
Germany 100
Greece 100
Greenland 100
Hungary 100
Iceland 100
Israel 100
Italy 100
Japan 100
Luxembourg 100
Malaysia 100
Malta 100
Martinique 100
Monaco 100
Montenegro 100
Netherlands 100
New Zealand 100
Niger 100
Norway 100
Paraguay 100
Portugal 100
Qatar 100
Romania 100
Singapore 100
Slovakia 100
Spain 100
Sweden 100
Switzerland 100
Tunisia 100
Turkey 100
United Kingdom 100
Uruguay 100
Bhutan 100
United States Virgin Islands 100
Brazil 100
Estonia 100
Belarus 99.9
Mauritius 99.9
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea 99.9
Cook Islands 99.9
Latvia 99.8
TFYR Macedonia 99.8
Republic of Korea 99.7
Barbados 99.7
Bosnia and Herzegovina 99.7
Tonga 99.7
Lithuania 99.7
Chile 99.7
Slovenia 99.7
Croatia 99.6
Bulgaria 99.6
South Africa 99.6
United Arab Emirates 99.6
Costa Rica 99.6
Fiji 99.5
Guam 99.5
Maldives 99.5
Saint Lucia 99.5
Kazakhstan 99.4
United States of America 99.4
Serbia 99.4
Guadeloupe 99.3
Nicaragua 99.3
Poland 99.3
Réunion 99.2
Botswana 99.2
Viet Nam 99.1
Montserrat 99
Kuwait 99
Grenada 99
Argentina 99
Lebanon 99
Sao Tome and Principe 98.9
Russian Federation 98.9
Vanuatu 98.9
Belize 98.9
Guinea-Bissau 98.8
Morocco 98.7
Sri Lanka 98.5
Uzbekistan 98.5
New Caledonia 98.5
Niue 98.4
Guatemala 98.4
Bahamas 98.4
Tuvalu 98.3
Saint Kitts and Nevis 98.3
Guyana 98.2
Namibia 98.2
Aruba 98.1
Suriname 98.1
Ireland 97.9
Antigua and Barbuda 97.9
Jordan 97.8
Panama 97.7
Iran (Islamic Republic of) 97.7
Thailand 97.6
Northern Mariana Islands 97.5
China 97.5
El Salvador 97.5
Jamaica 97.5
Samoa 97.5
Burkina Faso 97.5
Honduras 97.4
Djibouti 97.4
Cayman Islands 97.4
Gabon 97.2
Mexico 97.2
India 97.1
Saudi Arabia 97
Zimbabwe 97
Palau 97
Republic of Moldova 96.9
Colombia 96.8
Kyrgyzstan 96.7
Bolivia (Plurinational State of) 96.7
Mali 96.5
Nauru 96.5
Cuba 96.4
Congo 95.8
Dominica 95.7
Seychelles 95.7
Malawi 95.7
Ukraine 95.5
Uganda 95.5
Oman 95.5
Timor-Leste 95.2
Trinidad and Tobago 95.1
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 95.1
Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 95
Albania 94.9
Cameroon 94.8
Micronesia (Fed. States of) 94.8
Azerbaijan 94.7
Lesotho 94.6
Anguilla 94.6
Gambia 94.2
Indonesia 94.2
Cape Verde 94
Pakistan 93.9
Iraq 93.8
Philippines 93.7
Swaziland 93.6
Marshall Islands 93.5
Ecuador 93.4
Solomon Islands 93.2
Ethiopia 93.1
Côte d’Ivoire 93.1
Tajikistan 93.1
Senegal 92.9
Guinea 92.7
Myanmar 92.7
Ghana 92.6
Comoros 92.6
Syrian Arab Republic 92.3
Peru 91.4
Togo 91.4
Burundi 91.1
Nepal 90.9
Central African Republic 89.6
Liberia 88.6
Papua New Guinea 88
Kiribati 87.3
Rwanda 86.6
Bangladesh 86.5
Lao People’s Democratic Republic 85.6
Zambia 85.6
Dominican Republic 85.4
Benin 85.2
Sierra Leone 84.9
Algeria 84.3
Kenya 81.6
Madagascar 81.6
Democratic Republic of the Congo 81.1
Nigeria 80.8
Mozambique 80.6
Afghanistan 78.2
United Republic of Tanzania 77.2
Angola 75.4
Eritrea 73.2
Equatorial Guinea 72.5
Chad 71.8
South Sudan 66.7
Mongolia 66.4
Haiti 64.9
Mauritania 58.4
Palestine 50.7

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