Aussie Passport Holders Given New Powers To Travel The World

There are many great things about being Australian - the sun, the sea, the beers, cool animals that could kill you at any time. And now you can even add your passport to that list.

That is because an Aussie passport can now get you into 183 destinations without needing a visa, meaning it is now one of the sixth best passports in the world to own. Great news for Aussie folk looking to escape their (massive) island home and see the world.

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It is joint with Greece in terms of the best passports to possess.

But don't worry all you competitive Brits, the Aussies still sit below the famous British passport - which will be turning blue after we officially leave the European Union next year to 'symbolise our national identity', according to the government.

The UK ranks fourth in its ease of access to the rest of the world - 186 countries to be exact - alongside Austria, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway Portugal and the US.

But none of them hold a candle to the top three of Japan, Singapore and Germany, countries which have the most powerful passports in the world.

In fact, it's been all change in the Henley Passport Index this year, which ranks countries according to the number of destinations their passport holders can access without having to pre-apply for a visa, with Japan and Singapore both sitting on top of the pile for the first time in its 13 year history. They must be absolutely buzzing.

The index's third tier is filled by Finland, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Denmark, France and South Korea whose passport holders can access 187 countries across the world without a visa.

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Ironically, South Korea's friendly neighbour North Korea is one of the countries which requires a separate passport for entry into its borders, along with Angola, Mali, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, United States, Vanuatu, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, the Republic of the Congo, Maldives, Singapore and Syria.

You'd need a total of 14 passports to be able to get anywhere in the world.

Although its nuclear posturing with the US might have turned off tourists from wanting to visit North Korea's shores anyway, the country has actually been trying to attract more and more tourists in recent years. Good luck with that, guys.

Topics: Passport, News, travel, UK, Australia

Mischa Pearlmen

Mischa is a freelance journalist usually based in either New York or London. He has written for Kerrang!, Record Collector, NME, the New York Observer and FLOOD magazine, among others. Contact him at [email protected]