Least developed country
A least developed country (LDC) is a country that the United Nations considers to be the least developed out of all the countries in the world. They normally have the lowest ratings on the Human Development Index. The idea to name LDCs started in the late 1960s. The first group of LDCs was listed by the UN in November 1971.[1]
Classification process
Indicators are used to determine whether a country is a least devleoped country.
- The gross domestic product, per person, is low. Currently, the average over three years is considered.
- An index measuring social factors, such as health, education and literacy among adults. Currently, the Human Assets Index is used for this purpose.
- A third index looks at how vulnerable the economy is as a whole. Currently, the Economic Vulnerability Index is used.
To be considered a least developed country, a country must have high levels of poverty and infant mortality, low human resources and a vulnerable economy.[2] The UN looks at indicators, such as gross national income, nutrition, health, education and literacy. Economic vulnerability is recorded on the Economic Vulnerability Index.
LDC criteria are reviewed every three years. Countries may stop being considered an LDC when indicators show that they have become developed enough. Since the LDC category was created, four countries have graduated to developing country status.[3][4] The first country to do this was Botswana in 1994. The second was Cape Verde, in 2007.[5] Then Maldives in 2011, and Samoa in 2014.[6][7] It is expected that Equatorial Guinea and Vanuatu will be the next countries to be promoted from LDC status.[8]
As of 2014[update], there are 48 least developed countries.[9] There are also three countries which meet the criteria for LDC status, but have asked to not be included in the index: Ghana, Papua New Guinea and Zimbabwe.[10]
Current list
The "least developed countries" according to the United Nations:
- Africa (32 countries)
Algeria
Angola- 22x20px Benin
Burkina Faso[11]- File:Flag of Burundi.svg Burundi[11]
- 22x20px Cameroon
- File:Flag of the Central African Republic.svg Central African Republic[11]
Chad[11]- 22x20px Comoros[12]
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Djibouti- File:Flag of Eritrea.svg Eritrea
Eswatini- 22x20px Ethiopia[11]
Gambia
Guinea- 22x20px Guinea-Bissau[12]
- File:Flag of Kenya.svg Kenya
Lesotho[11]
Liberia
Madagascar
Malawi[11]
Mali[11]
Mauritania- 22x20px Mozambique
- File:Flag of Niger.svg Niger[11]
Nigeria
Rwanda[11]
Sao Tome and Principe
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Somalia- File:Flag of South Sudan.svg South Sudan
Sudan
Tanzania
Togo
Uganda[11]
Zambia[11]
Zimbabwe
- Asia (18 countries)
Afghanistan[11]
Bangladesh[13]
Cambodia
East Timor[12]
India
Iran
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Lebanon- File:Flag of Myanmar.svg Myanmar
Nepal[11]
North Korea
Pakistan
Palestine
Syria
Tajikistan
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan
Yemen
- Oceania (3 countries)
- Americas (6 country)
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Least Developed Country Media
- Poverty headcount ratio at 1.90 a day.png
Poverty headcount ratio at $1.90 a day
- G33 Members.svg
G33 countries: a coalition of developing countries in regards to agriculture.
- Deputy Foreign Minister Spyros Kouvelis at the 4th UN Conference on Least Developed Countries (5709246557).jpg
Deputy Foreign Minister of Greece Spyros Kouvelis at the 4th UN Conference on Least Developed Countries
Related pages
References
- ↑ General Assembly resolution 2768 (XXVI) Archived 2011-07-09 at the Wayback Machine (PDF)
- ↑ UN-OHRLLS Criteria for Identification and Graduation of LDCs Archived 2019-07-25 at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 38: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
- ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 38: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
- ↑ "UN advocate salutes Cape Verde’s graduation from category of poorest States", UN News Centre, 14 June 2007.
- ↑ "Maldives identifies challenges in graduating to a developing country" Archived 2010-11-29 at the Wayback Machine, UN-OHRLLS, 23 December 2010
- ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 38: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
- ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 38: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
- ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 38: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
- ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 38: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
- ↑ 11.00 11.01 11.02 11.03 11.04 11.05 11.06 11.07 11.08 11.09 11.10 11.11 11.12 11.13 Also a landlocked developing country
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 Also a Small Island Developing State
- ↑ UN-OHRLLS About LDCs Archived 2014-10-08 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2015-12-12.
More reading
- United Nations, "LDCs: Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries, and Small Island Developing States"
- World Trade Organisation, ""WTO Launches Trade Initiative for Least Developed Countries", FOCUS newsletter, WTO, Geneva, Switzerland, November 1997 issue 24.