The Euro Zone's Worst Government Debt

Sean Gallup / Getty Images Since early last year, global investors have followed every twist and turn in the ongoing debt crisis engulfing the euro zone.As the threat looms that more of the so-called "periphery" countries are forced to accept bailouts from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, investors' attention is sharpening even more on the euro zone than it was already.Click ahead to see what countries have the most indebted governments, and how learn their economies are faring. The figures represent debt as defined by the Maastricht Treaty: consolidated general government gross debt at nominal value, outstanding at the end of the year. These numbers, the most recent available, are from year-end 2009.

Alexey Sazonov / Alexey Sazonov - AFP - Getty Images The Baltic state is the newest member of the euro zone and its government's debt-to-GDP ratio was just 7.2 percent in 2009.Estonia underwent a dramatic adjustment of its economy following the economic crisis. Unemployment more than doubled to 13.8 percent in 2009, when its economy shrank 13.9 percent. Last year, it rebounded by 3.1 percent.

Lionel Bonaventure / Lionel Bonaventure - AFP - Getty Images The landlocked duchy of 502,066 people had a government debt-to-GDP ratio of 14.5 percent.Its economy grew by 3.5 percent in 2010, after a 3.6 percent fall in 2009, when unemployment was 5.2 percent.

Chris Jackson / Getty Images An Eastern European euro zone member with low government debt, Slovenia's debt stood at 35.4 percent of GDP, according to the most recent data.The country of 2 million people recorded economic growth of 1.2 percent last year, when unemployment was 5.9 percent.

Samuel Kubani / Samuel Kubani - AFP - Getty Images This Eastern European member of the euro zone also had a government debt-to-GDP ratio of 35.4 percent, well under the Maastricht-agreed ceiling of 60 percent.Its economy expanded by 4 percent in 2010, reversing a 4.8 contraction in 2009, when unemployment was 12 percent.

De Agostini / De Agostini - Getty Images The Finnish government last month took the unusual step of trying to block an increase of the euro zone's bailout found to its full lending capacity of 440 billion euros ($624.8 billion).Finland's government debt-to-GDP ratio was 43.8 percent in 2009, when unemployment was 8.2 percent. Its economy expanded by 3.1 percent in 2010, reversing a fall of more than 8 percent in the previous year.

Tom Stoddart / Getty Images Many analysts say that European Union leaders will want to draw a line in the sand before Spain, by far the biggest of the so-called "periphery" euro zone members, with a population of nearly 50 million.Spain's government debt-to-GDP ratio was 53.2 percent in 2009, according to Eurostat figures. Its unemployment was 18 percent, the highest in the euro zone. The Spanish economy contracted 0.1 percent last year.

Patrick Baz - AFP - Getty Images The island country of 803,147 people had a government debt-to-GDP ratio of 58 percent in 2009, below the Maastricht-recommended limit of 60 percent.Cyprus unemployment was 5.3 percent in 2009, when its economy shrank 1.7 percent. GDP went back to growth last year, when it expanded by 1 percent.

Paul Vreeker / Paul Vreeker - AFP - Getty Images The Dutch government debt-to-GDP ratio is 60.8 percent, and the country's economy expanded by 1.8 percent last year.Unemployment in the Netherlands was at a low 3.4 percent in 2009, according to Eurostat data.

Afp / AFP - Getty Images With government debt at 65.5 percent of gross domestic product, Ireland was the second country in the euro zone to have to ask for a bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.Irish banks have recently undergone stress tests ,which revealed they need to raise more capital to ensure their safety.

Eyeswideopen / Eyeswideopen - Getty Images The country of 8.3 million people, a big investor in Eastern Europe, had a government debt-to-GDP ratio of 67.5 percent at the end of 2009, Eurostat figures show.Austria's unemployment was 4.8 percent in 2009, among the lowest in the region. Economic growth was 2 percent last year, reversing a 3.9 fall in 2009.

Ben Borg Cardona / Ben Borg Cardona - AFP -Getty Images Malta's government debt was 68.6 percent of gross domestic product in 2009, according to the latest Eurostat data.The country's economy expanded by a healthy 3.7 percent last year, after a 3.4 percent contraction in 2009.

Afp / AFP - Getty Images Germany, with a debt-to-GDP ratio of 73.4 percent, has insisted that austerity measures be put forward in the euro zone and that periphery countries reform their economies to become more competitive.Germany, with a population of 82 million, had an unemployment rate of 7.5 percent in 2009. Its economy expanded by 3.6 percent last year.

Xulio Villarino / Xulio Villarino - Cover -Getty Images Yields on Portuguese debt skyrocketed recently and the country, with government debt of 76.1 percent of GDP at the end of 2009, said it would ask for a bailout from the EU.Portugal's economy grew by 1.3 percent in 2010; unemployment, however, jumped to 9.6 percent in 2009 from 7.7 percent the year before that.

Boris Horvat / Boris Horvat - AFP - Getty Images Some investors have expressed fears about France's 78.1 percent of GDP government debt, but the country, together with Germany, proposed a competitiveness pact to address the problems of the whole of the euro zone.France's economy expanded by an estimated 1.6 percent last year while unemployment was 9.5 percent in 2009, the most recent data Eurostat provides.

Philippe Lopez / Philippe Lopez - AFP - Getty Images The headquarters of the European Union, Belgium holds the record for the country functioning longest without a central government. Its debt as a percentage of GDP is 96.2 percent.Unemployment in Belgium is nearing 8 percent, but its economy expanded by a relatively healthy 2.1 percent last year.

Louisa Gouliamaki - AFP - Getty Images Italy's government debt to GDP ratio is 116 percent, and some analysts have lumped the country together with the other troubled euro zone countries to form the acronym PIIGS – Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain.But Italy recorded economic growth of 1.3 percent last year, versus the euro zone's 1.7 percent economic advance, and its unemployment rate is at a more comfortable 7 percent.

Louisa Gouliamaki / Louisa Gouliamaki - AFP - Getty Images With government debt making up 126.8 percent of gross domestic product, Greece dwarfs other euro zone members in terms of government debt.The country of 11.3 million people recorded an unemployment rate of over 9 percent and saw its economy shrink by 4.5 percent last year.

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