18 19 Figure 1: Map highlighting the countries participating in PIRLS 2016 In 2016, IEA conducted PIRLS in 61 settings, comprised of 50 countries and 11 benchmarking entities. Figure 1 highlights participating countries by geographical location (UAE in yellow and other countries in green). Table 3 shows the name of each participating country in PIRLS and ePIRLS. Given the distinctive characteristics of the population in the UAE schools across the country, Dubai and Abu Dhabi were among six different benchmarking participants (See Table 4). PIRLS and ePIRLS 2016 Participating Countries Table 3: Country Participants in PIRLS and ePIRLS 2016 Table 4: Benchmarking Participants in PIRLS and ePIRLS 2016 * Participated in PIRLS and ePIRLS * Participated in PIRLS and ePIRLS Abu Dhabi, UAE Buenos Aires, Argentina Dubai, UAE Madrid, Spain Norway (4) Quebec, Canada Andalusia, Spain Denmark (3) Eng/Afr/Zulu - RSA (5) Moscow City, Russian Fed. Ontario, Canada Australia Belgium (French) Czech Republic France Iran, Islamic Rep. of Latvia Netherlands Poland Singapore Sweden Austria Bulgaria Denmark Georgia Ireland Lithuania New Zealand Portugal Slovak Republic Trinidad and Tobago Azerbaijan Canada Egypt Germany Italy Macao SAR Northern Ireland Qatar Slovenia United Arab Emirates Bahrain Chile England Hong Kong SAR Kazakhstan Malta Norway (5) Russian Federation South Africa United States Belgium (Flemish) Chinese Taipei Finland Hungary Kuwait Morocco Oman Saudi Arabia Spain