NOTES:
Countries or areas with a population of less than 100,000 in 2007
are indicated by an asterisk (*).
The designations employed and the material in this publication
do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the
part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the
legal status of any country, territory or area or its
authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or
boundaries. The designation "more developed" and "less
developed" regions are intended for statistical convenience and
do not necessarily express a judgment about the stage reached by
a particular country or area in the development process. The
term "country" as used in this publication also refers, as
appropriate, to territories or areas.
More developed regions: They comprise all regions of Europe
plus Northern America, Australia/New Zealand and Japan (see definition
of regions).
Less developed regions: They comprise all regions of Africa,
Asia (excluding Japan), Latin America and the Caribbean plus Melanesia,
Micronesia and Polynesia (see definition of regions).
Least developed countries: The group of least developed
countries, as defined by the United Nations General Assembly in
2003, comprises 50 countries, of which 34 are in Africa, 10 in
Asia, 1 in Latin America and the Caribbean, and 5 in Oceania.
The group includes 50 countries - Afghanistan, Angola,
Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cape
Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic
of the Congo,
Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia,
Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Kiribati, Lao People's Democratic
Republic, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mali,
Mauritania, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, Samoa, São Tomé
and Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia,
Sudan, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Republic of
Tanzania,
Vanuatu, Yemen and Zambia. These countries are also included in
the less developed regions.