Poverty in Underdeveloped Countries—The Poorest of the Poor - The United Nations' List Of Least Developed Countries

Many scholars and researchers refer to nations whose economies are almost completely lacking in industry and technology as "least developed countries" (LDCs). That term has a specific meaning according to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (UN), which maintains a list of countries it considers to be "least developed" according to whether they meet certain criteria:

• A low-income criterion, based on a three-year average per capita estimate of the gross national income (under $750 for inclusion on the list, above $900 to be removed from the list)
• A human resource weakness criterion, involving a composite Human Assets Index (HAI) based on indicators of nutrition, health, education, and adult literacy
• An economic vulnerability criterion, involving a composite Economic Vulnerability Index (EVI) based on indicators of the instability of agricultural production; the instability of exports of goods and services; the economic importance of nontraditional activities (the share of manufacturing and modern services in gross domestic product); merchandise export concentration and the handicap of economic smallness (as measured through the population in logarithm); and the percentage of population displaced by natural disasters

Of the UN's list of least developed countries (LDCs) in 2006, thirty-four are in Africa, fourteen are in Asia and the Pacific, one is in the Caribbean/Latin America, and one is in the Arab states of the Middle East (http://www.un.org/special-rep/ohrlls/ldc/list.htm). Because the list automatically excludes very large economies—which necessarily have certain advantages over smaller econo-mies—not all countries where large percentages of the population are extremely poor are represented on the list. (Africa is notable as a continent with many large economies that is nonetheless almost uniformly underdeveloped and impoverished.) The list is maintained and reviewed every three years by the Economic and Social Council. To be removed from the list a country must meet at least two of the criteria for two three-year reviews in a row. As of January 2006, Cape Verde, the Maldives, and Samoa were all under consideration for removal from the list.