A leading global monitoring group says Bangladesh, Chad and Turkmenistan are among the world's most corrupt countries.
Berlin-based Transparency International released the information today-Tuesday in its annual report on corrupt countries. It says more than two-thirds of the 159 nations surveyed on the list scored less than five out of 10.
The group's chairman, Peter Eigen, called corruption a major cause of poverty as well as a barrier to overcoming it.
Other countries topping the corruption list include Burma, Haiti, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast and Angola.
Among the least corrupt countries are Iceland and Finland.
The United States ranked 17 on the list, China came in at 82, and Venezuela at 130. Russia dropped to 126 from 90 last year.
Transparency International called for strong coordination among governments, the private sector and civil society to increase efficiency in the struggle against corruption.
Information for this report is provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
