We may live in a world defined by invisible meta-data and the Cloud, but the roughly 3×5 inch paper booklet known as the passport still carries a lot of weight. More than a simple grant of access into a country, passports and the visas they contain are a reflection of geopolitics, the relationship between two nations and a country’s stature relative to the rest of the world.

They’re also of immense value. Just ask any one of the developing world’s citizens if they’d rather win the lottery or the U.S. passport, chances are they’d say the latter (though they’d be wrong in thinking the American passport is the most powerful of them all).

Here’s a look at the strength of the world’s passport – ranked by the travel freedom a passport holder enjoys. [via]