# Which country is the most backwater godforsaken hell-hole on earth? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 31, 2010, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-is-the-most-backwater-godforsaken-hell-hole-on-earth/541393 "2010-05-31T16:10:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-is-the-most-backwater-godforsaken-hell-hole-on-earth/541393/61 "2010-06-01T21:47:28Z")
Mister Excellent: > [@](#): > > There are also some public-health problems which get much, much worse in tropical or semi-tropical climates. Malaria, for example, has never stalked the streets of Oslo. Sure, but by the same token, hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa seldom see frostbite victims. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-is-the-most-backwater-godforsaken-hell-hole-on-earth/541393/62 "2010-06-01T21:48:59Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > Kyla: > > How cold are they? Isn’t their latitude more southern than Turkey and Greece? Looking at a map, those countries seem to be mostly aligned with or north of Turkey or Greece. BTW, I was in the middle of Turkey (in Cappadocia) over New Years 2007/2008 and it was REALLY FUCKING COLD (ie, snowing, inadequate heat in my hostel) so I wouldn’t exactly consider it to be a tropical paradise itself. And of course I used to live in a country that neighbors both Greece and Turkey and I have some really hellish stories about surviving the winters there. Or would you consider Bulgaria to be a warm-weather country? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-is-the-most-backwater-godforsaken-hell-hole-on-earth/541393/63 "2010-06-01T21:49:50Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > Kyla: > > How cold are they? Isn’t their latitude more southern than Turkey and Greece? Further - although all these countries are poor, none are really good candidates for “most backwater godforsaken hellhole.” Granted, the governments of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are pretty unpleasant - Turkmenistan in particular has been called the North Korea of Central Asia. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-is-the-most-backwater-godforsaken-hell-hole-on-earth/541393/64 "2010-06-01T21:51:29Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > Further - although all these countries are poor, none are really good candidates for “most backwater godforsaken hellhole.” Granted, the governments of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are pretty unpleasant - Turkmenistan in particular has been called the North Korea of Central Asia. Oh yeah, I wasn’t trying to say they compete with the DRC in terms of unpleasantness, just saying that there are, in fact, impoverished cold weather countries with shitty governments. Forgot a couple more - Moldova and Belarus are baaaaaad places to live. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-is-the-most-backwater-godforsaken-hell-hole-on-earth/541393/65 "2010-06-01T21:51:56Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > Mister Excellent: > > Sure, but by the same token, hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa seldom see frostbite victims. Yes, but it’s hard to get frostbite that’s so bad it debilitates you for years and years. Malaria’s nasty stuff in a way that frostbite can’t be. A better example to rebut my position might be tuberculosis, which has become endemic in Russia. Russia’s prisons in particular are really pumping out TB. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-is-the-most-backwater-godforsaken-hell-hole-on-earth/541393/66 "2010-06-01T22:12:49Z")
Kyla: > [@](#): > > Looking at a map, those countries seem to be mostly aligned with or north of Turkey or Greece. BTW, I was in the middle of Turkey (in Cappadocia) over New Years 2007/2008 and it was REALLY FUCKING COLD (ie, snowing, inadequate heat in my hostel) so I wouldn’t exactly consider it to be a tropical paradise itself. And of course I used to live in a country that neighbors both Greece and Turkey and I have some really hellish stories about surviving the winters there. Or would you consider Bulgaria to be a warm-weather country? Well, I suppose there are factors other than latitude that affect climate. But my mental image of Greece, at least, has always been of Mediterranean island beaches. Consider me educated. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-is-the-most-backwater-godforsaken-hell-hole-on-earth/541393/67 "2010-06-01T23:30:47Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > And then there is the cannibalism… I see there’s a lot of mention of Liberian cannibalism in this thread. Is there any credible evidence for it? I haven’t watched the Vice Guide to Liberia, but I got curious about who the producers (VBS) really are. Are they serious journalists, or cut & paste & make-stuff-up journalists? The CNN article painted a nice picture of them, but it was all written by a [VBS editor](http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/01/18/vbs.liberia/index.html), not CNN staff. [This blog](http://videosift.com/video/Liberia-War-Cannibalism) doesn’t paint VBS in a very good light. I’m certainly don’t know enough about Liberia to refute this myself, but everything I’ve read about modern-day cannibalism (outside of “stranded in the wilderness with nothing to eat but George” stories) has called it urban legend, and I do tend to be a skeptic. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-is-the-most-backwater-godforsaken-hell-hole-on-earth/541393/68 "2010-06-01T23:45:39Z")
Well, your first link does start with a CNN written editor’s note: > [@](#): > > Editor’s note: The staff at [CNN.com](http://CNN.com) has recently been intrigued by the journalism of VICE, an independent media company and Web site based in Brooklyn, New York. [VBS.TV](http://VBS.TV) is Vice’s broadband television network. The reports, which are produced solely by VICE, reflect a very transparent approach to journalism, where viewers are taken along on every step of the reporting process. We believe this unique reporting approach is worthy of sharing with our [CNN.com](http://CNN.com) readers. Viewer discretion advised. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-is-the-most-backwater-godforsaken-hell-hole-on-earth/541393/69 "2010-06-01T23:49:40Z")
Yes, **Diosa** , I did read that. But “intrigued” and “worthy of sharing” are a long way from an endorsement of accuracy. As a follow-up, I just watched [this video](http://videosift.com/video/Liberia-War-Cannibalism) (is this footage from the Vice Guide?). I can’t say whether those kids were lying (I wouldn’t know a human heart from a pig heart, myself), but it’s pretty nasty, shocking stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-is-the-most-backwater-godforsaken-hell-hole-on-earth/541393/70 "2010-06-02T00:07:18Z")
> [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](#): > > Watched it. > > Oh my God. I sit here stunned and shaking a little. I know. It is extreme. I think the boy smoking heroin and talking about him raping that “big belly” lady was enough to make me throw up in my mouth. It seemed real to me. [quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:69, topic:541393”] Yes, **Diosa** , I did read that. But “intrigued” and “worthy of sharing” are a long way from an endorsement of accuracy. As a follow-up, I just watched [this video](http://videosift.com/video/Liberia-War-Cannibalism) (is this footage from the Vice Guide?). I can’t say whether those kids were lying (I wouldn’t know a human heart from a pig heart, myself), but it’s pretty nasty, shocking stuff. [/QUOTE] I don’t think it’s from the Vice Guide, unless I’ve forgotten. I have heard about cannibalism in Liberia before the Vice Guide. I don’t think it is super, super common, but it does exist. I think it was in the West Point slum. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-is-the-most-backwater-godforsaken-hell-hole-on-earth/541393/71 "2010-06-02T00:08:29Z")
> [@Sinisterniik](#): > > Maybe it’s the terrible zombie epidemic: > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AyFEuIm6vM](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AyFEuIm6vM) > > [Texas | Fox News](http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,484326,00.html) > > [http://today.ttu.edu/2009/10/vampires-and-bats-and-ghosts…-oh-my/](http://today.ttu.edu/2009/10/vampires-and-bats-and-ghosts%E2%80%A6-oh-my/) > > [http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2009/05/13/2009-05-13\_zombie\_bugs\_texas\_to\_deploy\_braineating\_flies\_in\_battle\_against\_fire\_ants.html](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2009/05/13/2009-05-13_zombie_bugs_texas_to_deploy_braineating_flies_in_battle_against_fire_ants.html) > > [http://www.truthistreason.net/darpa-takes-on-suspended-animation-zombie-pigs-squirrels-and-hypersleep](http://www.truthistreason.net/darpa-takes-on-suspended-animation-zombie-pigs-squirrels-and-hypersleep) > > I think maybe _you_ need to start explaining! LMAO - I had no idea! ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-is-the-most-backwater-godforsaken-hell-hole-on-earth/541393/72 "2010-06-02T00:08:43Z")
Here is an article about the ordered cannibalism by Charles Taylor in Liberia. [Eat Their Flesh](http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL1334959020080313) ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-is-the-most-backwater-godforsaken-hell-hole-on-earth/541393/73 "2010-06-02T03:05:46Z")
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:28, topic:541393”] [moderating] I think asking about “the most backwater godforsaken hell-hole on earth” is pretty subjective, so I moved this thread from GQ to IMHO. [/moderating] [/QUOTE] I thought it would get moved somewhere (actually, I was thinking GD). I guess cites do not an objective stance make. > [@Alessan](#): > > Ah yes, the eternal question - Lawful Evil or Chaotic Evil? The Nine Hells or the Abyss? That metaphor occured to me as well… …I’ve been spending way too much time reading Order of the Stick. And I don’t even play D&D. ---
**Author:** ![Hallucinex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba9def/32.png) [@Hallucinex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hallucinex)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-is-the-most-backwater-godforsaken-hell-hole-on-earth/541393/74 "2010-06-02T04:21:53Z")
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:67, topic:541393”] I see there’s a lot of mention of Liberian cannibalism in this thread. Is there any credible evidence for it? I haven’t watched the Vice Guide to Liberia, but I got curious about who the producers (VBS) really are. Are they serious journalists, or cut & paste & make-stuff-up journalists?. [/QUOTE] Haven’t had a chance to watch it yet either, but when it came out I remembered having seen [these](http://wrongingrights.blogspot.com/2010/02/vice-guide-to-liberia-most-awesomest.html) [blog](http://chrisblattman.com/2010/01/29/buffoonian-filmmakers-and-huffpo-deviously-manipulate-me-into-a-blog-post/) [posts](http://www.scarlettlion.com/2010/01/vice-guide-to-liberia.html) by people that know/live(d)/work(ed) in the region making it sound a bit sensationalised. Sure, it sounds like there’s some awful stuff going on there, but it came across as though they might have taken the worst of the worst and presented it as though that’s what it’s like everywhere, every second of the day. > [@cmkeller](#): > > Kyla: > > Whoa, I think you’ve forgotten about the existence of the former Soviet Republics. Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan are all far from well-functioning democracies. Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Georgia are also at various levels of fucked up-ness. > > How cold are they? Isn’t their latitude more southern than Turkey and Greece? I’m in Almaty in the south of Kazakhstan right now, and they seem to go to both extremes over here. Really cold winters (it was -10 or -15C on our first day here in Feb at the end of winter, but up north on the steppe is worse in winter, can get crazy-cold in Astana) but stinking hot summers too (at least in the south and in the other Central Asian countries). At least here, it generally feels like a fairly normal city after you’ve been here a short while. There’s corruption and poverty (more so outside the cities on the latter I gather), but on any measure of hellhole-itude it wouldn’t even rank. The other central asian states I’m not too sure about in detail, but I don’t think they’d rate close to the other places mentioned in the thread. Although Turkmenistan does sound like it’s a runner up in the DPRK Awards for bizarre batshit-crazy dictatorships. Might be able to comment more in a few months after we spend a couple months travelling around the region after our stint here. ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-is-the-most-backwater-godforsaken-hell-hole-on-earth/541393/75 "2010-06-02T04:29:23Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > In the meantime, that is definitely the most awful thing I’ve ever seen (maybe I’m sheltered, I dunno). No, I don’t think you’ve been sheltered, it really does seem that awful. I don’t know if it’s the most awful thing I’ve ever seen, but it’s certainly up there. And that link **Mahaloth** provided certainly doesn’t make things sound any better. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-is-the-most-backwater-godforsaken-hell-hole-on-earth/541393/76 "2010-06-02T04:48:21Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > I came to mention Sao Tome & Principe. Why? [This](http://www.moibrahimfoundation.org/en/section/the-ibrahim-index) makes it look okay (poor, but not wracked with horrors). ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-is-the-most-backwater-godforsaken-hell-hole-on-earth/541393/77 "2010-06-02T05:10:15Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > I guess you missed the joke, yet somehow made it funnier. OK, I guess you win the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-is-the-most-backwater-godforsaken-hell-hole-on-earth/541393/78 "2010-06-02T12:51:31Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > Why does the [Wikipedia article on Somalia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia) paint such a rosy picture? Just wondering if anyone saw this post of mine. I wasn’t asking a rhetorical question – it was a genuine query. ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-is-the-most-backwater-godforsaken-hell-hole-on-earth/541393/79 "2010-06-02T23:47:22Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > Just wondering if anyone saw this post of mine. I wasn’t asking a rhetorical question – it was a genuine query. Rose-colored glasses on the part of the editor? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-is-the-most-backwater-godforsaken-hell-hole-on-earth/541393/80 "2010-06-03T01:24:01Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > I guess you missed the joke, yet somehow made it funnier. That’s hilarious…and true! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-is-the-most-backwater-godforsaken-hell-hole-on-earth/541393.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-is-the-most-backwater-godforsaken-hell-hole-on-earth/541393.md?page=5)