This is a list, in alphabetical order, (with their ranking) of ten of the world’s poorest countries outside of Africa.

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Afghanistan is extremely poor. The living standard is one of the lowest in the world. It has never been a developed or developing nation, save briefly during the Soviet occupation. It is dependent on foreign aid, and it’s main agricultural crop is the Opium poppy. Roughly $4 billion in illicit economic activity is gained via that trade.

Socially, criminality, insecurity, the Afghan Government’s inability to extend rule of law to all parts of the country pose challenges to future economic growth.

The current conflict simply gives identifiable combatants. The withdrawal of foreign troops will in no way effect the current tribal divisions, the illicit Opium trade, nor the non-progressive cultural impediments to development.

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Bangladesh has the highest population density in the world and a high poverty rate. Geographically, the country straddles the fertile Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta and is subject to annual monsoon floods and cyclones. Political rule has been suspended under emergency law since January 11, 2007.

Bangladesh has made progress in human development in the areas of literacy, gender parity in schooling and reduction of population growth. However, Bangladesh continues to face a number of major challenges, widespread corruption, discrimination against women and religious and ethnic minorities inhibits progress.

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Haiti has remained the least-developed country in the Americas. Comparative social and economic indicators show Haiti falling behind other low-income developing countries (particularly in the hemisphere) About 80% of the population are estimated to be living in poverty. Economic growth was negative in 2001 and 2002, and flat in 2003.

About 66% of all Haitians work in the agricultural sector, which consists mainly of small-scale subsistence farming, but this activity makes up only 30% of the GDP. The country has experienced little formal job creation over the past decade, although the informal economy is growing.

Mangoes and coffee are two of Haiti’s most important exports but currently it is involved in a guns for drugs trade, its south eastern coast being controlled by gangs.

Haiti has consistently ranked among the most corrupt countries in the world on the Corruption Perceptions Index.

Foreign aid makes up approximately 30%-40% of the national government’s budget. The largest donor is the United States.

Of Haiti’s 8.7 million inhabitants, just below half are illiterate.

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Kiribati has few natural resources. Commercially viable phosphate deposits were exhausted at the time of independence. Copra and fish now represent the bulk of production and exports. Tourism provides more than one-fifth of GDP.

Foreign financial aid, largely from the United Kingdom and Japan, is a critical supplement, equal in recent years to 25% to 50% of GDP.

Kiribati’s narrow export base and its enormous need for imports contribute to the country’s large deficit in the merchandise trade balance. However, the country has several sources of external income, including fishing license fees, investment income, seamens remittances and external grants.

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Kosovo has one of the most under-developed economies in Europe. Kosovo was the poorest province of Yugoslavia and received substantial development subsidies from all Yugoslav republics. Additionally, over the course of the 1990s a blend of poor economic policies, international sanctions, poor external commerce and ethnic conflict severely damaged the economy which remains weak.

After a jump in 2000 and 2001, growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was negative in 2002 and 2003. The prevalence of official corruption and the pervasive influence of organised crime gangs has caused serious concern internationally.

The United Nations has made the fight against corruption and organised crime a high priority, pledging a “zero tolerance” approach.

Remittances from Kosovars living abroad accounts for an estimated 13 percent of GDP, and foreign assistance for around 34 percent of GDP.

The industrial sector remains weak and the electric power supply remains unreliable, acting as a key constraint. Unemployment remains pervasive, at around 40-50% of the labour force.

All goods imported into Kosovo face a flat 10% customs duty fee. These taxes are collected from all Tax Collection Points installed at the borders of Kosovo

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Myanmar is one of the poorest nations in southeastern Asia, suffering from decaying infrastructure and extreme corruption.

Under British administration and until the early 1960s, Burma was the wealthiest country in Southeast Asia, once the world’s largest exporter of rice. It produced 75% of the world’s teak and had a highly literate population.

Today, the country lacks adequate infrastructure. Goods travel primarily across the Thai border, where most illegal drugs are exported and along the Ayeyarwady River.

Railroads are old and rudimentary, with few repairs since their construction in the late nineteenth century. Highways are normally unpaved, except in the major cities. Energy shortages are common throughout the country.

Burma is the world’s second largest producer of opium, accounting for 8% of entire world production and is a major source of illegal drugs, including amphetamines.

The major agricultural product is rice which covers about 60% of the country’s total cultivated land area.

The lack of an educated workforce skilled in modern technology contributes to the growing problems of the economy.

Corruption Perceptions Index released on September 26, 2007 ranked Burma the most corrupt country in the world, tied with Somalia.

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Tajikistan was the poorest country in Central Asia following a civil war in 1991. With foreign revenue precariously dependent upon exports of cotton and aluminium, the economy is highly vulnerable to external shocks. In fiscal year (FY) 2000, international assistance remained an essential source of support for rehabilitation programs that reintegrated former civil war combatants into the civilian economy, thus helping keep the peace.

International assistance also was necessary to address the second year of severe drought that resulted in a continued shortfall of food production. As of March 2007 57% of Tajikistan citizens live below the poverty line.

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East Timor’s economic infrastructure was destroyed by Indonesian troops and anti-independence militias, and 260,000 people fled westward. From 2002 to 2005, an international program led by the United Nations, manned by civilian advisers, 5,000 peacekeepers (8,000 at peak) and 1,300 police officers, substantially reconstructed the infrastructure. By mid-2002, all but about 50,000 of the refugees had returned.

East Timor inherited no permanent maritime boundaries when it attained independence.

The first significant new development since Timorese independence is a large petroleum resource in the Timor Sea, the Greater Sunrise gas field.

Its exploitation was the subject of separate agreements in 2003 and 2005. Only 20% of the field lies within its territory and the rest in waters not subject to the treaty.

In 2007, a bad harvest led to deaths in several parts of Timor-Leste. Much of the country still needs food supplied by international aid.

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Tuvalu has almost no natural resources, and its main form of income consists of foreign aid. Virtually the only jobs in the islands that pay a steady wage or salary are with the government.

Subsistence farming and fishing remain the primary economic activities, particularly off the capital island of Funafuti.

Government revenues largely come from the sale of stamps and coins, fishing licenses and worker remittances.

Substantial income is received annually from the Tuvalu Trust Fund, which was established in 1987 by Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom and supported also by Japan and South Korea.

This fund grew from an initial $17 million to over $35 million in 1999. The US government is also a major revenue source for Tuvalu, with 1999 payments from a 1988 treaty on fisheries at about $9 million, a total which is expected to rise annually.

In 1998, Tuvalu began deriving revenue from use of its area code for “900″ lines and from the sale of its “.tv” Internet domain name. In 2000, Tuvalu negotiated a contract leasing its Internet domain name “.tv” for $50 million in royalties.

However, the Canadian entrepreneur who negotiated the deal, Jason Chapnik, was unable to raise the $50 million in the contracted time period, and the contract eventually fell into other hands.

Due to the country’s remoteness, tourism does not provide much income; a hundred tourists are estimated to visit Tuvalu annually. Almost all visitors are government officials, aid workers, non-governmental organization officials or consultants.

Tuvalu allegedly participated in Japan’s vote-buying scheme at the International Whaling Commission in 2006. Greenpeace maintains that vote-buying took place and Tuvalu was one of the countries to receive economic assistance from Japan in 2006.

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Yemen’s gas and oil revenues are expected to plummet and fall to zero as supplies run out. The economy is based on remittances from Yemenis working abroad and foreign aid.

Instability is predicted as Yemen’s democracy is “fragile” with armed conflicts with Islamists and tribal insurgents.

Yemen is trying to diversify its earnings. In 2006 Yemen began an economic reform program designed to bolster non-oil sectors of the economy and foreign investment. As a result of the program, international donors pledged about $5 billion for development projects.

In the south, pre-independence economic activity was overwhelmingly concentrated in the port city of Aden.

The seaborne transit trade, which the port relied upon, collapsed with the closure of the Suez Canal and Britain’s withdrawal from Aden in 1967.

The government entered into agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to implement a structural adjustment program. Phase one of the IMF program included major financial and monetary reforms, including floating the currency, reducing the budget deficit, and cutting subsidies.

This program, tried in other nations, rarely has the desired results.