Who goes to IFLA?
The twelve corners of the world

IFLA > Twelve
 

The main data on participation by region are given in Table 1.

Table 1. IFLA 2003. Participants by world region
Region
Share of world population
Participation rate per 100 mill. pop.
Number of delegates
Share of delegates
WORLD
-
5
2 995
-
1. South Asia
22%
2
32
1%
2. South East Asia
9%
9
49
2%
3. Latin America
9%
16
89
3%
4. East Asia
24%
17
251
8%
5. Central Asia
1%
18
11
0,4%
6. Africa South of Sahara
11%
22
152
5%
7. Middle East
6%
31
125
4%
8. Eastern Europe
6%
98
345
12%
9. North America
5%
117
376
13%
10. Southern Europe
3%
167
317
11%
11. Oceania
0,5%
169
49
2%
12. Northern Europe
3%
593
1199
40%
SUM
100%
-
-
101%

Sources: The population data are mid-year estimates for 2003 from CIA. The world factbook. Only countries with more than 1 million inhabitants have been counted. This means, however, that 99,8% of the world`s population is included.

The number of delegates have been coded from. IFLA. World Library and Information Congress. 69th IFLA General Conference and Council. List of participants and IFLA. ... Addendum to List of participants.

The great gap in participation rates occurs, as we would expect, between the developing and the developed world.

The differences within the two groups are also substantial. In the South, the region of South Asia has a very low level of participation. In the North, Northern Europe has a very high level of participation. Denmark alone had four times as many delegates as India.

The German organizing committee should be relieved that Northern Europe is exceptional. If 593 delegates per 100 million had been the normal rate, 350 000 library people would have turned up in Berlin.

The location of the conference surely makes an impact. Berlin is not far from Copenhagen. If the conference had been arranged in Bangkok or Colombo, rather fewer Danes and many more Indians would certainly show up. In the near future I hope to analyze similar data from IFLA conferences located in the South.

But I suspect the rates between the most and the least favored countries will still differ by a factor of 100 or more. Wealth is much more important than distance. Distant Pakistan - with 150 million inhabitants - sent three delegates. Remote New Zealand - with 4 million inhabitants - sent twelve.
Tord Høivik - 2004/07/22