At one time about one-third of the world’s population lived under communist governments, most notably in the republics of theSoviet Union. Today communism is the official form of government in only five countries:China,North Korea,Laos,Cuba, andVietnam. However, none of these meet the true definition of communism. Instead, they can be said to be in a transitional stage between the end ofcapitalism and the establishment of communism. Such a phase was outlined byKarl Marx, and it came to include the creation of adictatorship of the proletariat. While all five countries haveauthoritarian governments, their commitment to abolishing capitalism is debatable.