Measuring a country's development is a complex task. The United Nations' Human Development Index, or HDI, is one of the most trusted snapshots of national progress, and takes into account more than 150 indicators from over 150 countries. It then boils them down into a single score.
Every country lands somewhere between zero and one, with one marking the best possible outcome and zero the worst. The UN then sorts nations into four tiers: low human development (below 0.55), medium (0.55 to 0.70), high (0.70 to 0.80), and very high (0.80 and above).
The 10 countries below all sit in that lowest level, and each has its own story of how it got there. Find below in detail.
Years of war and government struggles have made it very difficult for South Sudan to grow as a new country. Today, close to one in 10 children still die before turning five, a rate that has barely moved even as fresh refugees fleeing Sudan's war now cross the border by the thousands.
Somalia has gone without a fully functioning central government for more than three decades. Various local groups and armed forces constantly fight for control, which leaves regular citizens without basic services like clean water or health clinics.
Even though the Central African Republic is rich in valuable minerals like gold and diamonds, most of its citizens remain very poor. Violent clashes between different armed groups have kept the nation divided and unsafe for over a decade.
Chad faces deep divisions and ongoing battles between different regions of the country. Medical care is extremely rare, and easily treatable illnesses like malaria often become deadly for many people living there.
Mali has struggled for decades with droughts, rebellions, and long stretches of military rule. Most people here rely on small farms to survive, but a changing climate and rising violence make growing food harder every year.
Niger is struggling with frequent military takeovers that stop the country from building a stable economy. Without reliable leadership, pulling citizens out of deep poverty remains a challenge.
Since independence from Belgium in 1962, this small East African nation has cycled through periods of violence tied to competition for political power. Most Burundians farm tiny plots of land for a living, and only about one in 10 people has access to electricity,
Burkina Faso has no coastline, cutting it off from the trade routes that help drive growth elsewhere. This isolation has been compounded by droughts and a string of military takeovers.
Sierra Leone is still trying to rebuild after a terrible war and an Ebola outbreak. The country leans on diamond and iron ore exports while most citizens farm to survive, leaving it exposed to global price changes and political turmoil.
More than a decade of civil war has cut the economy nearly in half and blocked the oil exports that once funded the government. Millions of families have had to leave their homes to escape the fighting and now rely entirely on foreign aid. Source: (WorldAtlas) (World Population Review) (United Nations)
