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___ Countries of the Third World



The term Third World was originally coined in times of the Cold War to distinguish those nations that are neither aligned with the West (NATO) nor with the East, the Communist bloc. Today the term is often used to describe the developing countries of Africa, Asia, Latin America and Oceania.
Many poorer nations adopted the term to describe themselves.

Below Third World Countries by various categories:
Third World Countries in terms of political rights and civil liberties.
Third World Countries in terms of their Gross National Income (GNI)
Third World Countries in Terms of their Human Development
Third World Countries in Terms of Poverty
Third World Countries in Terms of Press Freedom
 

Third World Countries in terms of political rights and civil liberties.

The most repressive regimes in the world.
List of countries with the worst records for political rights and civil liberties. Within these countries and territories, state control over daily life is pervasive and wide-ranging, independent organizations and political opposition are banned or suppressed, and fear of retribution for independent thought and action is part of daily life.
According to the Freedom House report Freedom in the World 2007, there are eight countries judged to have the worst records:

Burma (Myanmar), Cuba, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Turkmenistan, and
Uzbekistan.
Also included are two territories, Chechnya (Russia) and Tibet, whose
inhabitants suffer intense repression. These states and regions received the
Freedom House survey’s lowest rating: 7 for political rights and 7 for civil
liberties.

The report also includes nine further countries near the bottom of Freedom
House's list of the most repressive:
Belarus, China, Cote d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Laos, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Zimbabwe. The territory of Western Sahara (most of the territory is controlled by Morocco) is also included in this group.
While these states scored slightly better than the “worst of the worst,” they offer very limited scope for private discussion while severely suppressing opposition political activity, impeding independent organizing, and censoring or punishing criticism of the state.


(Source: Freedom House Freedom in the World 2007)
See the full report on Freedom House
See also below: Third World Countries in Terms of Press Freedom
 

Third World Countries in terms of their Gross National Income (GNI)

Countries with the least gross national income based on purchasing-power-parity (PPP) per capita in int'l Dollars.
Simplified the GNI PPP is the average annual income earned by a citizen of a country.
That means for example, a citizen of Malawi can spend $ 1.6 a day to make a living,
a citizen of Eritrea $ 2.5, the average US citizen spends $ 114 daily.

Below countries with an average yearly income per capita and year under $ 1000,
poorest nations first.

Rank
Country		 Region
GNI per capita
1 Timor-Leste South-East Asia *400
2 Malawi Eastern Africa 596
3 Somalia Eastern Africa *600
4 Democratic Republic of the Congo Middle Africa 675
5 Tanzania Eastern Africa 720
6 Yemen Middle East 745
7 Burundi Eastern Africa 753
8 Afghanistan Central Asia *800
9 Guinea-Bissau Western Africa 856
10 Ethiopia Eastern Africa 859
11 Niger Western Africa 896
12 Liberia Western Africa *900
13 Sierra Leone Western Africa 901
14 Madagascar Eastern Africa 911
15 Zambia Eastern Africa 911
16 Eritrea Eastern Africa 917

Sources: IMF -- International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database, April 2005
(*) CIA The World Factbook (covers countries not mentioned by the IMF, information may refer to 2004 or earlier.)
Slightly different figures you will find at The World Bank Group

Full list of National Economic Accounts for Countries and Regions around the World
 
 

Third World Countries in Terms of their Human Development

The Human Development Index (HDI) is published annually by the UN.
It measures the average achievements in a country in three basic dimensions of human development:

A long and healthy life
as measured by life expectancy at birth.

Knowledge
as measured by the adult literacy rate (with two-thirds weight) and the combined primary,secondary and tertiary gross enrolment ratio (with one-third weight).

A decent standard of living
as measured by GDP per capita* (PPP US$).

Below the list of 20 countries with the lowest Human Development Index (HDI)
 
#
Country
Life expect.
at birth
Adult literacy rate
Combined gross enrolment
GDP per capita (PPP US$)
Life
expect.
index
Educat.
index
GDP
index
HDI
GDP rank minus HDI rank
157 Senegal 52.7 39.3 38 1,580 0.46 0.39 0.46 0.437 -11
158 Timor-Leste 49.3 58.6 75 .. 0.41 0.64 0.26 0.436 19
159 Rwanda 38.9 69.2 53 1,270 0.23 0.64 0.42 0.431 -6
160 Guinea 48.9 41.0 29 2,100 0.40 0.37 0.51 0.425 -30
161 Benin 50.7 39.8 52 1,070 0.43 0.44 0.40 0.421 -5
162 Tanzania 43.5 77.1 31 580 0.31 0.62 0.29 0.407 12
163 Cote d’Ivoire 41.2 49.7 42 1,520 0.27 0.47 0.45 0.399 -16
164 Zambia 32.7 79.9 45 840 0.13 0.68 0.36 0.389 3
165 Malawi 37.8 61.8 74 580 0.21 0.66 0.29 0.388 9
166 Angola 40.1 42.0 30 2,130 0.25 0.38 0.51 0.381 -38
167 Chad 44.7 45.8 35 1,020 0.33 0.42 0.39 0.379 -8
168 Congo, Dem.Rep. 41.4 62.7 27 650 0.27 0.51 0.31 0.365 4
169 Central African Rep. 39.8 48.6 31 1,170 0.25 0.43 0.41 0.361 -15
170 Ethiopia 45.5 41.5 34 780 0.34 0.39 0.34 0.359 -1
171 Mozambique 38.5 46.5 41 1,050 0.22 0.45 0.39 0.354 -14
172 Guinea-Bissau 45.2 39.6 37 710 0.34 0.39 0.33 0.350 -1
173 Burundi 40.8 50.4 33 630 0.26 0.45 0.31 0.339 0
174 Mali 48.5 19.0 26 930 0.39 0.21 0.37 0.326 -11
175 Burkina Faso 45.8 12.8 22 1,100 0.35 0.16 0.40 0.302 -20
176 Niger 46.0 17.1 19 800 0.35 0.18 0.35 0.292 -8
177 Sierra Leone 34.3 36.0 45 520 0.16 0.39 0.28 0.273 -1
Source: UN Human Development Report 2004

to Country List of Human Development Index (HDI)
 
 

Third World Countries in Terms of Poverty
The world´s most impoverished countries.

The least developed countries (LDCs) are a group of countries that have been identified by the UN as "least developed".
United Nations used the following three criteria for the identification of the LDCs

1. a low-income estimate of the gross national income (GNI) per capita.

2. their weak human assets and

3. their high degree of economic vulnerability.

There are 50 countries listed in the United Nations comparative analysis of poverty,
34 African countries, 10 Asian countries, 5 Pacific Island Nations and one Caribbean nation.

to List of least developed countries (LDCs)
 
 

Third World Countries in Terms of Press Freedom

Reporters Without Borders is publishing annually an index of the countries of the world according to their respect for press freedom.

Below the list of countries, you can call them Third World of Press Freedom, the "black holes" for news where the privately-owned media is not allowed and freedom of expression does not exist. A list of countries right at the bottom of the fourth World Press Freedom Index.
 
# Country Region Score
147 Tunisia Northern Africa 57,50
148 Maldives South-Central Asia 58,50
149 Somalia Eastern Africa 59,00
150 Pakistan South-Central Asia 60,75
151 Bangladesh South-Central Asia 61,25
152 Belarus Eastern Europe 61,33
153 Zimbabwe Eastern Africa 64,25
154 Saudi Arabia Middle East 66,00
155 Lao PDR South-East Asia 66,50
- Uzbekistan South-Central Asia 66,50
157 Iraq Western Asia/ Middle East 67,00
158 Vietnam South-East Asia 73,25
159 China Eastern Asia 83,00
160 Nepal South-Central Asia 86,75
161 Cuba Caribbean 87,00
162 Libya Northern Africa 88,75
163 Myanmar (Burma) South-East Asia 88,83
164 Iran South-Central Asia 89,17
165 Turkmenistan South-Central Asia 93,50
166 Eritrea Eastern Africa 99,75
167 North Korea Eastern Asia 109,00
Source: Reporters Without Borders

to Complete Country List of RSF Press Freedom Index 2005
 

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Related Categories:
to The First, Second and Third World
to Countries of the First World
to Countries of the Second World
to Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs)
to Rich and poor countries
Categories of development of countries in the world today.

See also: to Country Economies Classification
Compare the purchasing power of countries with low income, middle income and high income.

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