List of central European countries by development indexes
This is a partial list of Central European countries by development indexes such as the Globalisation index, Human Development Index, Press Freedom Index, Legatum Prosperity Index, EF English Proficiency Index, and other statistical measures and rankings. The concept of what countries belong to Central Europe is not well-defined, so tables or lists below may show different countries listed. Economy. Human Development Index. Countries in descending order of Human Development Index (2018 data): Globalisation. The index of globalization in Central European countries (2016 data): Prosperity Index. Legatum Prosperity Index demonstrates an average  and high level of prosperity in Central Europe (2018 data) Corruption. Most countries in Central Europe tend to score above the average in the Corruption Perceptions Index (2018 data): Education. Central European countries are very literate. All of them have the literacy rate of 96% or over (for both sexes): Languages. Languages taught as the first language in Central Europe are: Croatian, Czech, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Romansh, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian. The most popular language taught at schools in Central Europe as foreign languages are: English, German and French. Proficiency in English is ranked as high or moderate , according to the EF English Proficiency Index: Other languages, also popular (spoken by over 5% as a second language): Education performance. Student performance has varied across Central Europe, according to the Programme for International Student Assessment. In the last study, countries scored medium, below or over the average scores in three fields studied. In maths: In the sciences: In reading: Higher education. Universities. The first university east of France and north of the Alps was the Charles University in Prague established in 1347 or 1348 by Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and modeled on the University of Paris, with the  full number of faculties (law, medicine, philosophy and theology). The list of Central Europe's oldest universities in continuous operation, established by 1500, include (by their dates of foundation): Regional exchange program. Central European Exchange Program for University Studies (CEEPUS) is an international exchange program for students and teachers teaching or studying in participating countries. Its current members include (year it joined for the first time in brackets): Culture and society. Architecture. Central European architecture has been shaped by major European styles including but not limited to: Brick Gothic, Rococo, Secession (art) and Modern architecture. Seven Central European countries are  amongst those countries with higher numbers of World Heritage Sites: Media. There is a whole spectrum of media active in the region: newspapers, television and internet channels, radio channels, internet websites etc. Central European media are regarded as free, according to the Press Freedom Index, although the situation in Poland, Hungary and Croatia is described as "problematic". Some of the top scoring countries in the Press Freedom Index are in Central Europe, and include: Politics. Democracy. European countries score very highly in the Democracy Index: Global Peace Index. In spite of its turbulent history, Central Europe is currently one of  world's safest regions. Most Central European countries are in top 20%: