UN's Human Development Index in a single year last year.

ECONOMIST: AIDS in Kenya

On the UN Development Programme's human-development index, a general measure of wellbeing, Turkey comes below Russia, Albania and Romania.

ECONOMIST: Anchors aweigh

The UN's 2006 Human Development Index placed Guatemala last in Spanish-speaking Latin America, below Honduras, Bolivia and Nicaragua.

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UN's latest human development index (see article), all are in Africa and half have been battered by wars or coups in the past decade.

ECONOMIST: The poor who are always with us

Though it is still near the bottom of the UN's human-development index, it is ranked quite high for governance and freedom, coming 18th out of Africa's 53 countries.

ECONOMIST: Hope and worry in Zambia

Indeed, the United Nations has developed a measure of quality of life called the Human Development Index ( UN HDI).

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