Most of us have enough wealth and prosperity that we can live a standard life. But there are some underprivileged and unfortunate sections of our world that don’t even have enough means to live up to the bare minimum standards of living. And some of the poorest countries in the world have one thing in common: either they have suffered civil war or an unstable socio-political environment.
At the cusp of all of these countries lies extreme corruption, lack of knowledge and limited opportunities to grow and make even a middle-class living. Today, we’ll be exploring some of the poorest countries in the world. It’s primarily dictated whether a country is poor or a rich one, on the basis of their GDP per capita assessment which is done on Purchasing Power Parity (PPP).
5. Niger – Poorest Countries In The World 2020
With 80% of its land covered by the Saharan desert, the country is currently facing a problem of population outbreak. Due to which problems like food scarcity and mortality rate are high. With a PPP per capita income of 1,106 dollars, the country’s army is constantly facing clashes with jihadi terrorist groups and Boko Haram. This is causing a lot of people to displace from their native lands.
One of the main drivers of the economy, the extraction of valuable natural resources such as gold and uranium have also suffered from volatility and low commodity prices. However, the largest nation in West Africa has some silver lining as well, as it was least affected by the coronavirus pandemic and reported a relatively low number of cases.
4. Eritrea – Top 5 Poorest Countries
A small east African nation with a population of just 3.5 million is the least developed nations in the world. A large mass of this country relies on subsistence agriculture. With a GDP per capita of 1,060 dollars, Eritrea got independence from a repressive regime of Ethiopia in 1991. Due to the rebellious moment led by Eritrean people, then the country was formally established in 1993.
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3. The Democratic Republic of the Congo
The country got independence in 1960 from the Belgian colonization. They suffered decades of rapacious dictatorship, political instability, and constant violence which led the nation into a downward spiral of poverty. Having a per capita income of 849 dollars the country ranks third in the list. Out of this country’s population of 89 million, 60% of the people here live on less than two dollars a day.
However, the country does have a rich stock of valuable minerals and metals. It has about 80 million hectares of arable land which gives it the potential to become one of the richest African nations, as per the World Bank.
2. Central African Republic (CAR)
A resource-rich country containing heaps of gold, oil, uranium, and diamond, the Central African Republic is still one of the poorest countries in the world. The reality is that it is a wealthy country with a very poor population. Having a per capita income of 823 dollars this country holds the second position on the poorest countries in the world list.
The Central African Republic got independence from the French colonial rule in 1960. In 2016 for the first time, the Central African Republic had democratically elected a president. Former Mathematics professor and Prime Minister Faustin Archange Touadéra campaigned as a peacemaker who could bridge the divide between the Muslim minority and the Christian majority.
1. Burundi – Poorest Countries In The World In 2020
This east African land lock country is considered as the poorest in the world has a GDP per capita of 727 dollars. Suffered badly by a conflict between two ethnic groups and civil war, the country’s population is about 12 million and about 90% of them rely upon subsistence agriculture. Still, the scarcity of food is a major problem masses face there. Further access to water and sanitation is a far trench for the people of this country.
Though the civil war formally ended 15 years back, still due to lack of proper infrastructure, endemic corruption and security concerns led the nation into extreme poverty.
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These were some of the poorest countries in the world and they all are from the African continent. Another thing common between these countries is the fact that they have undergone a tremendous amount of colonization. They have seen independence very recently in comparison to the rest of the world.