[Airbornelawyer]

Originally Posted by NousDefionsDoc

Check this out:

Of the 118 countries listed by the World Bank as "low-income" or "low-middle-income" (below $2,936 per capita annual), 109 are located inside the Gap.

2/3 of Gap states have poverty levels above 10%, 1/3 above 30%. In several African states, the poverty level is 60-70%

According to Freedom House's 2003 survey of states surveyed around the world, 48 countries of a global total of 192 surveyed were rated as "not free". Of those 48 states, 45 are in the Gap. The three remaining are NK, China and Belarus.

Of the 50 states with the lowest life expectancy rates (37-57 years), all but one South Africa, is in the Gap.

All of the countries with a median age of less than 20 are in the Gap.

80-90% of "current conflicts" are in Gap states.

According to the US Refugee Committee's 2002 survey, GAP states account for 96% of refugees leaving their country and 93% of refugees displaced within their own country.

Of the sixteen current (2004) UN peacekeeping missions, all are inside the Gap.

19 of 23 states identified by US State Department as major drug producers are Gap states.

20 of 21 states classified as "reluctantly connected" to the internet are Gap states.

Source - Barnett.

This is a tautology. "Gap" countries are defined as countries displaying these conditions, so the fact that an overwhelming number of countries displaying these conditions are "Gap" countries is, shall we say, unsurprising.