THE 31 MOST REPRESENTATIVE SOCIALIST COUNTRIES - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The most prominent socialist countries in the 20th century have been the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Cuba or East Germany, but many more have applied this political and philosophical doctrine in their states for many years.

Socialism was one of the most discussed political expressions of the 20th century. With its defenders and detractors, the true foundations were lost between utopias and totalitarianisms. It had its heyday during the mid-20th century, in what is known as the Cold War, and ended its decline in the late 1980s, with the fall of the Soviet Union.

Although only a few countries currently maintain this system of social and economic organization, there were many who applied it during the 20th century. Here we will review some of them.

31 countries that have represented socialism

1- China

Mao proclaiming the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949

Since 1949, the People's Republic of China adopted socialism as its form of government, after a long civil war lasting more than 20 years in which the Chinese Communist Party was established.

It is currently the most populous country in the world and one of the two main economies in the world, the only country that competes in GDP with the United States. Xi Jinping is the head of state.

2- North Korea

North Korean citizens paying homage to statues of leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il

His conversion to socialism occurred in 1945 with the end of World War II, when the Soviet Union and the United States divided the territories of Korea.

The war between the two nations remains latent because they never signed a peace agreement. Kim Jong-un is the supreme head of the state.

3- Cuba

Interior Ministry adorned with a steel sculpture of Che Guevara

After the Cuban Revolution, led by Fidel Castro and Ernesto “Che” Guevara in 1959, Cuba had its transformation to socialism. Something that was ratified in 1961.

Ruled by the Communist Party, it was one of the most critical points of conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. This generated a 44-year embargo between the island and North America.

The leader of the revolution, Fidel Castro, passed away in 2016. He presided over Cuba from 1965 to 2011, when he gave power to his brother Raúl.

4- Laos

Kaysone Phomvihane Memorial in Vientiane, (Laos)

The Lao People's Democratic Republic after its independence from France in 1949 and a civil war that lasted until 1975, acquired socialism as a system of government.

With a great ethnic variety and a population that is mostly dedicated to agriculture, in Laos there is a socialist state but with a market economy and since 1980 more and more private companies have been operating in the country.

5- Vietnam

Propaganda of the XIV Meeting of the Communist Party in the city of Ha Đông.

After three decades of war between the North and the South, in 1976 the Socialist Republic of Vietnam was unified under socialism. In its definition, it opted for a parliamentary socialist form of government with a market economy, dominated by the Communist Party.

It is one of the economies that grew the most in the 21st century but with high levels of inequality.

6- Albania

Mount Shpiragu, where the name of Enver Hoxha, Albania's communist leader from 1944 until his death in 1985, is inscribed

Since its proclamation as an independent country in 1946, Albania has been a socialist country.

It had different alliances with Russia and China, which were broken during the 1980s. It is currently in an economic opening stage.

7- Bulgaria

Oval Skeleton of the House of the Bulgarian Communist Party

Bulgaria was one of the nations of the eastern group after World War II.

It maintained a socialist system until in 1990 the Communist Party allowed multiparty elections and thus the country turned to a free market economy.

8- Czechoslovakia

From 1968 until its dissolution in 1992, when it was divided into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Czechoslovakia was a socialist nation.

The reformer Alexander Dubček was responsible for the reforms during the Prague Spring of 1968.

9- Democratic Germany

The Trabant, one of the symbols of the communist bloc of the Democratic Republic of Germany

After World War II, the territory of Germany was divided into two parts in 1949, each with a different system of government.

Under Soviet occupation and with its capital in Berlin, the German Democratic Republic was one of the flags of socialism. In 1990, the wall that divided the capital city and the country was torn down, Germany was unified, and socialism disappeared from this nation.

10- Hungary

Statue dedicated to communism in Budapest

Its socialist moment occurred between 1947 and 1989, when it was governed by the communist party.

After the opening of the borders with Austria in 1989, things in the country began to change until it became a parliamentary republic with a market economy.

11- Poland

Another country that remained in the East of the world and adopted socialist policies after the Second World War.

In 1989, the socialist government was overthrown and a period of political transformations began in Poland, leading to it becoming a capitalist nation.

12- Romania

Romania's is a particular case. During World War II he changed sides. It responded first to German power and then to Soviet power, staying on the socialist side during the Cold War.

But beginning in 1989, like many other countries, it began a shift toward Western representative democracy and a capitalist market economy.

13- Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

It could be considered as the mother of all the battles of socialism. This republic existed between 1922 and 1999, as the sum of 15 subanations that were identified with the idea of ​​a National Government and a centralized economy.

With important changes during its history, the URRS alternated socialist and communist moments, and it was in 1990 that it dissolved.

Georgia, Lithuania, Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Estonia, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Moldova were the new countries.

14- Yugoslavia

Located on the Balkan Peninsula, this extinct nation was infamous for the fierce separatist wars of the late 1980s and early 1990s.

From 1963 and until his disappearance it was renamed the Federal Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia (RFSY), which was the longest-lasting Yugoslav state, with Marshal Tito in power.

Following its dissolution in the 1990s, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia emerged.

15- Angola

A particular case is that of Angola, which was in a civil war for much of the 20th century and had a socialist form of government in that period.

Between 1975, from the liberation of Portugal until 1990, the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola was responsible for the state. This party is still part of the Socialist International.

16- Norway

One of the most successful cases of modern socialism, thanks to the Nordic welfare model. It is the third richest country in the world according to its GDP per capita and one of the lowest unemployment in the world.

The state is responsible for financing social welfare, which includes health, education, housing, work and pleasure. Citizens must pay their taxes, which affect everyone but progressively.

However, it maintains in part a liberal economy, which allows it to take advantage of being the third largest oil producing country in the world.

17- Finland

Finland shares with Norway the Nordic welfare state, still in force, but with less economic development and more limited resources. It is also one of the countries with the lowest corruption rates on the planet.

18- Sweden

It is a case similar to that of Norway, but after 1990, due to a strong economic recession, it was transformed into a capitalist market economy.

19- Iceland

Another country that applies the Nordic welfare state but in recent years has been adopting a market economy. The UN called it the third most developed country in the world.

20- Denmark

Denmark can also be considered a socialist country because it has shared the Nordic welfare state but with a market economy for several decades.

21- Libya

With the coming to power of Muammar Gaddafi in 1969, Libya became a socialist state, called Yamahiriya, "State of the masses."

Although the quality of life indices increased during this process, so did the internal conflicts. The civil war ended in 2011 with the death (executed in the middle of the street) of Gaddafi.

22- Benin

It could also be considered a socialist state during the period of the Benin People's Republic between 1975 and 1990, until the ruling party abandoned Marxism-Leninism.

23- Algeria

It could be said that Algeria was born as a socialist republic. Since 1962, when it became independent, it had socialist governments, supported by the URRS during the Cold War. But excessive corruption led to internal conflicts that ended this system in 1990.

24- Egypt

One of the pharaohs of the planet due to its extensive civilization, it also had a socialist period during the Cold War.

From 1961 the industry was nationalized, the Arab Socialist Union was founded and an agrarian reform was carried out, which lasted until 1970 with the death of Gamal Abdel Nasser, the leader of the revolution.

25- Syria

It is a case similar to that of Egypt, with whom it shared the Arab Socialist Union until 1970 when Hafez al Assad assumed power, who died in 2000 and left power to his son Bashar. Since then the country has been mired in a bloody civil war.

26- Iraq

Another of the Arab socialist countries, like Syria (with which it shares its great ethnic complexity) and Egypt. It was Ahmed Hasan al-Bakr who intensified the socialist system until Saddam Hussein came to power in 1979.

27- South Yemen

Unlike its Arab neighbors, South Yemen adopted a doctrine more closely tied to Marxism-Leninism until 1986 when the civil war broke out.

28- People's Republic of the Congo

This African nation had a socialist state from 1970 to 1991 under the rule of the Congolese Party of Labor.

The socialist experiment ended when the Sovereign National Council assumed power and withdrew the popular name from the country's name.

29- Cambodia

"Democratic Kampuchea" was the name of this country during its socialist period. But a strong massacre by the ruling party, which killed a quarter of the population, caused the UN in 1991 to end an internal war of almost two decades.

30- Mongolia

Another country that was born socialist after a long period of struggle for its independence from China.

Thanks to the support of the URRS, the People's Republic was constituted in 1924 and ratified in 1946, but in 1990 a change of government ended the system.

31- Chile

Between 1970 and 1973, Chile was governed by Salvador Allende, who tried to carry out a socialist government.

On September 11, 1973, a coup d'etat ended the life of Allende, with the socialist project and established a fierce military dictatorship with economic liberalism at the hands of Augusto Pinochet, who left power in 1990.