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.
They are not on the same continent. Africa overall is much poorer than Europe, so obviously the poorest European countries are still a lot richer than the poorest African countries. Take a look at the income figures in the left column.
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.
I remember in Tanzania taking a van ride up to some village in the hills above Arusha. I saw women carrying baskets of maize down to Arusha to sell in the markets. It's like 15 miles round trip with a couple thousand feet of elevation gain as well. They will be lucky to make even $1 for their day's labor. Elsewhere, people laid out mats where they were selling things like a single shoe or a fork for the equivalent of a few cents.
I am thankful every day I was born in the United States. If you are American and you AREN'T grateful for what you have, a trip to Africa will quickly cure you of your ingratitude.
I don't think you can "cure" ingratitude, even with a trip to underdeveloped countries. It can certainly give you new perspectives, but gratitude is a process of selective attention that takes time and development, not something you can take home as a souvenir from a trip.
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.
I had withdrawal from the $6 hour-long full-body oil massages of Thailand after coming back to the States. That and bidets on toilets, so much better than stupid toilet paper
It takes time for the official statistics to catch up with the reality on the ground. Also, in Venezuela's case, oil money adds to the GDP even if it doesn't reach the regular people.
And now it is. Even still, the stats are a couple years behind since the government reports fake numbers. The real income is probably much less than what is shown here.
It is surprising to see Venezuela on this list, that too placed third among all the 12 countries in South America, in spite of having a larger oil reserve than that of Saudi Arabia, one of the countries known to flourish for the same reason.
At first glance it looks like African countries are making phenomenal gains, then you remember this is using PPP, go to check the real numbers, and see that while they are indeed still gaining steadily (and that's great) it's not anywhere near as much as the inflated figures would make it seem.
also i'm surprised that madagascar isn't there - a board game about countries from 2013 that i have says that madagascar has a gdp per capita of under 970$
Didn't think to try North Korea because there's usually not enough information available to include them on these quizzes. I guess maybe I should have looked at the thumbnail! :(
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 am thankful every day I was born in the United States. If you are American and you AREN'T grateful for what you have, a trip to Africa will quickly cure you of your ingratitude.
Is there one country that seems to have it best?
Yes, the salaries may be low, but what is the cost of living like?
Do the people own or rent their homes? - Do they receive money
monthly from their relatives in the US to supplement their earned
income? - Yes, poverty is poverty, but by whose measure?
ROK = Republic of Korea
also i'm surprised that madagascar isn't there - a board game about countries from 2013 that i have says that madagascar has a gdp per capita of under 970$
Hope to see Ukraine off the quiz soon.