World Map #3: Access to Electricity

This map shows what percentage of the total population of each country has access to electricity.  Darker colors means that a larger percentage has electricity, while lighter colors mean fewer have access to electricity.  

This map does not show electrical access in urban areas vs rural areas.  For example, in Chad, 32% of the urban population has electricity, while in rural areas only 1% have electrical access.  This averages out to 9% electrical access for the whole country, but electricity is not evenly distributed throughout the population. 

At any rate, you will notice right away that most of the Americas, Eurasia, and Australia have electricity for at least 90% of the total population, but most of sub-Saharan Africa (especially central Africa) has very little access to electricity, though the rate of electricity in this area has improved over the past few decades.

In Chad, city power is often unavailable in smaller villages, and even in larger cities it is often unreliable.  Solar powered electricity is becoming more common, but it is not yet easily affordable for many Chadians, and it is not always easy to repair it when the system breaks down in a remote area.

Without electricity, it is difficult to develop adequate medical or educational facilities, or to maintain electronic devices such as computers.