Communist Countries in the World – CHINA – Part 1/7
A List of Current Communist Countries in the World
Thought Co / Melissa Ling
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During the time of the Soviet Union (1922–1991), communist countries could be found in Eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa. Some of these nations, like the People’s Republic of China, were (and still are) global players in their own right. Other communist countries, such as East Germany, were essentially satellites of the U.S.S.R. that played a significant role during the Cold War but no longer exist.
Communism is both a political system and an economic one. In politics, communist parties have absolute power over governance, and elections are single-party affairs. In economics, the party controls the country’s economic system, and private ownership is illegal, although this facet of communist rule has changed in some countries like China.
By contrast, socialist nations are generally democratic with multi-party political systems. A socialist party does not have to be in power for socialist principles—such as a strong social safety net and government ownership of key industries and infrastructure—to be part of a nation’s domestic agenda. Unlike communism, private ownership is encouraged in most socialist nations.
The basic principles of communism were articulated in the mid-1800s by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, two German economic and political philosophers. But it wasn’t until the Russian Revolution of 1917 that a communist nation—the Soviet Union—was born. By the middle of the 20th century, it appeared that communism could supersede democracy as the dominant political and economic ideology. Yet today, only five communist countries remain in the world.
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China (People’s Republic of China)
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Mao Zedong took control over China in 1949 and proclaimed the nation as the People’s Republic of China, a communist country. China has remained consistently communist since then, and the country has been called “Red China” due to the Communist Party’s control.
China does have political parties other than the Communist Party of China (CPC), and open elections are held locally throughout the country. That said, however, the CPC has control over all political appointments, and little opposition typically exists for the ruling Communist Party.
As China has opened up to the rest of the world in recent decades, the resulting disparities of wealth have eroded some of the principles of communism. In 2004, the country’s constitution was changed to recognize private property.
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Cuba (Republic of Cuba)
![Cuban flag flying over Havana](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/t-NLNEMon3MX2J7uYO0BWpqbP68=/1500x1000/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/Communist-Cuba-58b9cde83df78c353c384ad5.jpg)
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