Five Poorest Countries by Continent

You said poorest was easier but I missed 4 on this one and only 1 on the richest...

I scored the same as Kal: 4 missed here, 1 missed on richest. However, I found that overall this quiz was easier. I got all 5 European and South American countries without error but struggled to find Liberia, Nepal, Cambodia, and Haiti. Fun quiz and good list of poor tourist destinations if you dislike poverty.

Surprised by the averages - I definitely agree with these guys, poorest was harder than richest. Fewer rich countries and more poor countries mean there's usually a relatively small selection to choose from for the rich countries, whereas the five poorest countries in Africa? There are a LOT of candidates, sadly.

well, got them all this time.

I found this much more difficult as well for some reason...

Yes, I got 29/30 in richest,

And only 21/30 in poorest...

Lacks time.

Also inflation is high, so GDP in dollars is low, but life isn't as bad as it appears here.

I've spent a lot of time in Ukraine and not surprised at all. It's probably the cheapest country in Europe right now so in real terms it may be even poorer, but even using this ppp malarky... salaries there are *very* low. Especially for public servants like nurses and teachers. Which is why so many model-gorgeous young women in Kiev turn to prostituting themselves online on Mamba, and why Odessa has a notorious "wife shopping" season when Western European men come looking for trophy wives in search of a way out. And... I would have said that in spite of this it's a lovely country and I had a nice time there but that was on my first trip. When I went back I ended up violently assaulted and hospitalized. That wasn't as much fun.

DC suburbs in Virginia

I have the same problem with Micronesia...

I have the same problem with the Maldives...

East-Timor for me...

Read The Sex Lives of Cannibals by J Maarten Troost. You'll never forget Kiribati again.

Kiribati is actually a beautiful place. Go there sometime.

Sadly, it may disappear soon

Kiribati is the only country in the world that is on all four hemispheres. *Letting that sink in*

Seconded. Quite tricky this one.

Surprised Yemen was not on the list.

I have been in both Albania and Malawi, and the idea that the two countries are even comparable in wealth/poverty is ridiculous. In my mind, Malawi is by far the poorer country.

lowest on here is $600, still more than i make a month...

These figures are annually, not monthly.

Kalbahamut's answer puts things in perspective, doesn't it?

Great quiz, but could probably use more time.

Agree, like a minute more. Was typing like a speed demon trying to get done.

I guess I'm moving to Peru.

Surprised not to see Suriname.

Some of these dollar amounts are really sad. :(

These figures I assume are the total income divided by the population. Places like Qatar mentioned earlier at 102,000 per person does not mean that every person is receiving that amount, some are receiving 20 times that amount and many are getting very little. Likewise with the poorest nations there are many individuals receiving great amounts and even more gaining very little. It is easier to get along in a poor country if you are poor than in a rich country if you are poor. The rich will never help the poor, whereas poor people tend to help even poorer people when needed. Money received in many of the rich countries is spent on Motor vehicles, gas, taxes, rents, mortgages, computers, holidays etc etc whereas in very poor countries these sorts of expenditures don't come into their expectations. Some poor peoples are growing their own food, not paying tax, don't own vehicles, don't have computers etc etc, so they have to live a more simple life and who knows, maybe more fulfilling.

"Some poor peoples are growing their own food, not paying tax, don't own vehicles, don't have computers etc etc, so they have to live a more simple life and who knows, maybe more fulfilling."

I think you're definitely on to something here. I have worked with many people from third world countries and several have told me that just because people are poor doesn't mean they're unhappy.

I've spent a lot of time in some very poor countries (though actually none from this quiz- poorest I've been to was Ethiopia). I would say be careful when romanticizing extreme poverty. I don't think most people living on $600 a year feel very fulfilled. And... that's just the average. It's not the poorest of the poor. Many people around the world live on less than a dollar a day. Maybe in your pastoral fantasies that might sound nice, but when your bamboo shack you spent 5 years saving to build collapses in a typhoon and you can't afford to fix it, or you can't get clean drinking water and as a result your child dies from diarrhea that you are too poor to get him medicine for, you might have a different view of things.

update: I've now been to Moldova and Ukraine. Ukraine was fantastic, though I did meet a paramedic there who said her starting salary was $40/month. Moldova kind of sucked.

How many countries have you been to? I enjoy hearing about your experiences.

61. Click on my name and I think it pulls up a map.

Out of curiousity, what is your favorite country that you have been to?

Is there one country that seems to have it best?

Every place has its ups and down. I like the culture, food, people, nightlife, weather, beaches, entertainment, some infrastructure, and $6 hour-long full-body oil massages of Thailand... on the other hand they've also got poverty, corruption, no free speech, and various political issues. Japan, Israel, the USA, the Netherlands, Russia, Ukraine, Greece, France, the Philippines, Vietnam and Romania are all also among my favorite countries but I could tell you bad things about each of them, too. I find that "poor" countries often have people that are more generous, friendly, open, and down-to-Earth, less jaded and stuck up their own arseholes... this isn't universally true but that's one thing I tend to like about them.

The top 6 poorest countries in Africa are poorer than the top poorest countries on all the other five continents.

both on the list now

The CIA shows Yemen at 2,800

Just goes to show you shouldn't make quizzes when you're foxed. :)

Actually it uses the fairly ridiculous PPP method so... no... it's not based on US standards.

MIssed Guatemala and Burundi

I'm surprised about North Korea....

The poorest country is Central African Republic

Interesting fact, the least poor country on this list is somehow the most guessed one!

That is because South America is a no-brainer. There is already almost a 50-50 chance to be correct! ;-)

Not anymore :D

WTF? How is Somalia so poor, but still together? How hasn't it collapsed already? Even if it would be twice as rich, it would be the poorest Country !

It has collapsed, it's just that nobody cares to take it over.

It's not together. Somaliland is practically very much independent, so is Puntland which however didn't formally declare independence like Somaliland.

I thought Belize wouldn't be on here

weird to think that what I make in 2 days is the just as much as an average Somalian has to work an entire year for

you have to take into account that you could buy much more with $320 in Somalia than you could in the United States.

Very surprising that Venezuela isn't here

Yemen isn't the Persian Gulf country.

It's on the Red Sea and some part of the Indian Ocean.

got all right. first one was north korea. thumbnails always help.

Where did Somalia go? I see websites list last data being from 2010/2011, is that the reason?

It is surprising to see Venezuela on this list, that too placed third among all the 12 countries in South America, in spite of having a larger oil reserve than that of Saudi Arabia, one of the countries known to flourish for the same reason.

canadry thinks Pol Pot was a cool guy. Look up the Communist countries quiz if you think I'm joking.

who?

how is north korea poor and happy, they have the 2nd happiest country rate

Through Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, all things are possible.

****! I completely forgot about Nth America. HOW??? I didn't even look at the column. ****!

You must be a soccer fan.

Surprised to see that the least guessed country is the poorest one too. I think it is the sad reality that most people don't even know Burundi :-(

yeah...

great quiz, i did terrible.

I think you should accept "Salvador" for "El Salvador" since even some quizzes use "Salvador" instead even if I know country's name is "El Salvador"

No featured quiz on this site calls or accepts Salvador for El Salvador. Is it too hard to type an E and an L?

Salvador here in Brazil is an city. Also @GrandOldMan, I agree with you.

Can You accept ''NK'' for North Korea?

DPRK = Democratic People's Republic of Korea

ROK = Republic of Korea

Gotcha.

missed Bosnia, PNG and yemen

Finally After 3 Times Of Trying I Win

I'm surprised that Zimbabwe's ruined economy doesn't get it onto this list.

At first glance it looks like African countries are making phenomenal gains, then you remember this is using PPP, go to check the real numbers, and see that while they are indeed still gaining steadily (and that's great) it's not anywhere near as much as the inflated figures would make it seem.

Cleared out Asia, North America, South America

I feel bad for Burundi 771$ only!?!?!?!

The thumbnail kinda gave a question away.