Not All Passports Are Created Equal, As This Map Will Tell You

A passport from the United States allows its citizens free access to well over 100 other countries.

But not all travelers have such an overwhelming spread of choices: Residents of Iraq, for example, can access only 31 countries with their passports. Venturing away from Afghanistan? Your options dwindle to 28 countries, according to the infographic below.*

You might say we've been taking our travel freedom for granted here in the U.S.

However, that freedom comes with a price. In most cases, a passport costs $140 for U.S. citizens, which is about 19 hours of work at minimum wage. That's a much higher cost than in many countries: A Swedish passport costs just one hour's worth of average wages, and the average Norwegian can buy a passport after just three hours of work. Afghanistan has one of the world's worst passports: citizens have access to just 28 countries for the cost of $128, according to data from 2013.

In this infographic map from the folks at GOOD*, countries are color-coded based on the "power" of their passports. The darker in color, the more freedom that country's residents have to travel. Lighter orange colors mean residents can visit fewer countries with their passports. How powerful is yours?

See the full-size infographic here.

*Infographic is based on data from June 2014. The graphic is courtesy of GOOD and designed by Ricky Lynn.