Human and Cultural Development in Islamic Countries; A study on the Literacy Rate and Internet Penetration

This article emphasizes on the status of human and cultural development of Islamic countries based on two indicators: the adult literacy rate and the penetration of the Internet in these countries. Thus, we considered these two indicators among the various indicators of human and cultural development. The main question in this article is: what is the status of human and cultural development in the Muslim countries with an emphasis on the literacy rate and internet penetration? The article also poses two more questions: what has happened to the development of literacy in Muslim countries during the past five decades? Is there a great gap between the literacy rate in Muslim countries and the world average rate? To answer these questions, we used documentary and library methods and conducted a data analysis. The findings of this article show that Muslim countries have been able to improve their adult literacy rate and Human Development Index during the past decades. Also, there is a great gap between the Persian Gulf states and African Muslim countries. The main reason for this is the economic situation of the Persian Gulf states in terms of their GDP per capita which has allowed them to increase their Internet penetration. On the whole, there is a great gap between the Islamic countries and world standards in terms of indicators such as human development rates and internet penetration.