Rauli Virtanen is widely known as the first person to have visited every country in the world. During an interview in 2023, he opened up about his experiences and revealed the country that he believes has changed the most since the 1980s.
Virtanen, a journalist from Finland, has visited many countries three or more times. Two years ago, he spoke with Nomad Mania about his travels and shared the country that has seen the most change over the years. The 76-year-old also discussed the nation that has seen the least change since the 1980s.
Virtanen said China has “definitely changed the most since the end of the 1980s”. He said the poverty in China during his first visit was “eye-watering” but has improved vastly in recent times.
He explained: “I had a chance to travel by car from Hong Kong to Beijing because there was a Hong Kong-Beijing rally. My Swedish colleagues and I decided to take detours off the rally route to visit villages where the Chinese people had never seen foreigners before.”
He added: “At that time in Beijing, foreigners were only allowed to travel maybe 20 kilometers away from the city. The conditions in the countryside and the poverty in China were eye-opening.
“I’ve returned to China many times since then, and the economic growth is amazing, although the political situation is different.”
China launched a number of economic reforms in 1978 and has since experienced an average annual economic growth of 9%. Around 800 million people have been rescued from poverty and living standards have improved across the nation.
However, Virtanen named North Korea as the country that has seen the least change since the 1980s. He said that people living under Kim Jong Un’s strict regime still have “no personal freedom”.
He explained: “In contrast, North Korea hasn’t changed much except for the development of more dangerous ballistic missiles and weapons. People are still suffering in the countryside, and there’s no personal freedom.”
The North Korean Government controls every aspect of people’s lives. They tightly monitor the flow of information and people have limited access to news from outside of the dictatorship.
Virtanen added: “In other countries like Kenya, the changes are most noticeable in big cities like Nairobi, but unfortunately, many countries have seen the clock turn back in the countryside.
“However, the advent of the Internet and mobile phones has made a big difference in material wealth. At the same time, the gap between rich and poor has been growing in every country.”
