In which countries is Coca-Cola not sold?

LONDON. September 12. KAZINFORM After almost 60 years, Coca-Cola is on sale again in Burma. It's one of the world's most recognised brands, so are there any countries where the drinks giant still remains unsold?

photo: QAZINFORM

Coca-Cola says it sells 1.8 billion servings of the drink every day. But for the last six decades, none has been in Burma.

That's because of US trade sanctions on the military junta which ruled the country from 1962 to 2011.

Those sanctions were suspended a few months ago, as the country began to move towards democratic reforms, BBC News reports.

But the company said on Monday its first delivery had arrived and local production would begin soon.

Coca-Cola's entry into any country is a powerful symbol, says Tom Standage, author of A History of the World in Six Glasses.

"The moment Coca-Cola starts shipping is the moment you can say there might be real change going on here," he says. "Coca-Cola is the nearest thing to capitalism in a bottle."

Coca-Cola's rival PepsiCo has also announced plans to resume sales in Burma.

There are now just two countries in the world where Coca-Cola cannot be bought or sold - at least, not officially. They are Cuba and North Korea, which are both under long-term US trade embargoes (Cuba since 1962 and North Korea since 1950).

Cuba was actually one of the first three countries outside the US to bottle Coke, in 1906.

But the company moved out as Fidel Castro's government began seizing private assets in the 1960s, and has never returned.

In North Korea - the other Coca-Cola-free zone - recent media reports suggested it was being sold in a restaurant in Pyongyang. But Coca-Cola says if any drinks are being sold in either North Korea or Cuba, they are being smuggled in on the black market, not via official channels.

The dark fizzy soda was created in 1886 in Atlanta, Georgia. From the early days the Coca-Cola company looked to expand worldwide, and by the early 1900s it was bottling the drink in Asia and Europe.

Read more