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    A List of Current Communist Countries in The World

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    JJ MG
    There are currently 5 communist countries in the world: China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam. Communism is defined by absolute power of communist parties, single-party political systems, and public ownership of economic systems. While some communist countries like China have introduced private ownership and market reforms, they maintain communist party rule. The principles of communism were developed in the 1800s but the Soviet Union was the first communist country established after the 1917 Russian Revolution.

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    A List of Current Communist Countries in The World

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    JJ MG
    55 views4 pages
    There are currently 5 communist countries in the world: China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam. Communism is defined by absolute power of communist parties, single-party political systems, and public ownership of economic systems. While some communist countries like China have introduced private ownership and market reforms, they maintain communist party rule. The principles of communism were developed in the 1800s but the Soviet Union was the first communist country established after the 1917 Russian Revolution.

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    There are currently 5 communist countries in the world: China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam. Communism is defined by absolute power of communist parties, single-party political systems, and public ownership of economic systems. While some communist countries like China have introduced private ownership and market reforms, they maintain communist party rule. The principles of communism were developed in the 1800s but the Soviet Union was the first communist country established after the 1917 Russian Revolution.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    55 views4 pages

    A List of Current Communist Countries in The World

    Uploaded by

    JJ MG
    There are currently 5 communist countries in the world: China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam. Communism is defined by absolute power of communist parties, single-party political systems, and public ownership of economic systems. While some communist countries like China have introduced private ownership and market reforms, they maintain communist party rule. The principles of communism were developed in the 1800s but the Soviet Union was the first communist country established after the 1917 Russian Revolution.

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    Humanities › Geography

    A List of Current Communist Countries


    in the World
    Post-Soviet Communism Is on the Wane
    SHARE FLIP EMAIL PRINT

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    ThoughtCo / Melissa Ling

    By Matt Rosenberg
    Updated on April 11, 2020

    During the time of the Soviet Union (1922–1991), communist countries could
    be found in Eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa. Some of these nations, like the
    People's Republic of China, were (and still are) global players in their own right.
    Other communist countries, such as East Germany, were essentially satellites of
    the U.S.S.R. that played a significant role during the Cold War but no longer
    exist.

    Communism is both a political system and an economic one. In politics,


    communist parties have absolute power over governance, and elections are
    single-party affairs. In economics, the party controls the country's economic
    system, and private ownership is illegal, although this facet of communist rule
    has changed in some countries like China.

    By contrast, socialist nations are generally democratic with multi-party political


    systems. A socialist party does not have to be in power for socialist principles—
    such as a strong social safety net and government ownership of key industries
    and infrastructure—to be part of a nation's domestic agenda. Unlike
    communism, private ownership is encouraged in most socialist nations.

    The basic principles of communism were articulated in the mid-1800s by Karl


    Marx and Friedrich Engels, two German economic and political philosophers.
    But it wasn't until the Russian Revolution of 1917 that a communist nation—the
    Soviet Union—was born. By the middle of the 20th century, it appeared that
    communism could supersede democracy as the dominant political and
    economic ideology. Yet today, only five communist countries remain in the
    world. FEATURED VIDEO

    01 China (People's Republic of China)


    of 07

    00:11

    These 'Rude' Habits Are Polite in


    Some Countries
    Grant Faint / Photodisc / Getty Images

    Mao Zedong took control over China in 1949 and proclaimed the nation as the
    People's Republic of China, a communist country. China has remained
    consistently communist since then, and the country has been called "Red
    China" due to the Communist Party's control.

    China does have political parties other than the Communist Party of China
    (CPC), and open elections are held locally throughout the country. That said,
    however, the CPC has control over all political appointments, and little
    opposition typically exists for the ruling Communist Party.

    As China has opened up to the rest of the world in recent decades, the resulting
    disparities of wealth have eroded some of the principles of communism. In
    2004, the country's constitution was changed to recognize private property.

    02 Cuba (Republic of Cuba)


    of 07

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    Sven Creutzmann / Mambo photo / Getty Images

    A revolution in 1953 led to the takeover of the Cuban government by Fidel


    Castro and his associates. By 1965, Cuba became a fully communist country and
    developed close ties to the Soviet Union. At the same time, the United States
    imposed a ban on all trade with Cuba. Because of this, when the Soviet Union
    collapsed in 1991, Cuba was forced to find new sources for trade and financial
    subsidies. It did so in countries including China, Bolivia, and Venezuela.

    In 2008, Fidel Castro stepped down and his brother, Raul Castro, became
    president; Fidel died in 2016. During U.S. President Barack Obama's second
    term, relations between the two nations were relaxed and travel restrictions
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    loosened. In June 2017, however, President Donald Trump rolled this back and
    tightened travel restrictions on Cuba.

    03 Laos (Lao People's Democratic Republic)


    of 07

    Iwan Gabovitch / Flickr / CC BY 2.0


    Laos—officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic—became a communist
    country in 1975 following a revolution supported by Vietnam and the Soviet
    Union. The country had previously been a monarchy.

    Laos' government is largely run by military generals who support a one-party Advertisement

    system grounded in Marxist ideals. In 1988 though, the country began allowing
    some forms of private ownership, and it joined the World Trade Organization in
    2013.

    04 North Korea (DPRK, Democratic People's


    of 07
    Republic of Korea)

    Alain Nogues / Corbis via Getty Images

    Korea was occupied by Japan during World War II, and after the war, it was
    divided into a Russian-dominated north and an American-occupied south. At
    the time, no one thought the partition would be permanent, but the division has Advertisement

    lasted.

    North Korea did not become a communist country until 1945 when South Korea
    declared its independence from the North, which quickly declared its own
    sovereignty in return. Backed by Russia, Korean communist leader Kim Il-Sung
    was installed as leader of the new nation.

    The North Korean government doesn't consider itself communist, even if most
    world governments do. Instead, the Kim family has promoted its own brand of
    communism based on the concept of juche (self-reliance).

    First introduced in the mid-1950s, juche promotes Korean nationalism as


    embodied in the leadership of (and cult-like devotion to) the Kims. Juche
    became official state policy in the 1970s and was continued under the rule of
    Kim Jong-il, who succeeded his father in 1994, and Kim Jong-un, who rose to
    power in 2011.

    In 2009, the country's constitution was changed to remove all mention of the
    Marxist and Leninist ideas that are the foundation of communism, and the very
    word "communism" was also removed.

    05 Vietnam (Socialist Republic of Vietnam)


    of 07

    Rob Ball / Getty Images

    Vietnam was partitioned at a 1954 conference that followed the First Indochina
    War. While the partition was supposed to be temporary, North Vietnam became
    communist and was supported by the Soviet Union while South Vietnam
    became democratic and was supported by the United States.

    Following two decades of war, the two parts of Vietnam were unified, and in
    1976, Vietnam as a unified country became communist. Like other communist
    countries, Vietnam has, in recent decades, moved toward a market economy
    that has seen some of its socialist ideals supplanted by capitalism.

    The U.S. normalized relations with Vietnam in 1995 under then-president Bill
    Clinton.

    06 Countries With Ruling Communist Parties


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    Paula Bronstein / Getty Images

    Several countries with multiple political parties have had leaders who are
    affiliated with their nation's communist party. However, these states are not
    considered truly communist because of the presence of other political parties,
    and because the Communist Party is not specifically empowered by the
    constitution. Nepal, Guyana, and Moldova have all had ruling communist
    parties in recent years.

    07 Socialist Countries
    of 07

    David Stanley / Flickr / CC BY 2.0

    While the world has just five truly communist countries, socialist countries
    (countries whose constitutions include statements about the protection and rule
    of the working class) are relatively common Examples include Portugal, Sri
    Lanka, India, Guinea-Bissau, and Tanzania. Many of these nations, such as
    India, have multi-party political systems, and several are liberalizing their
    economies, like Portugal.

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