More than 6.7 billion people live on our planet. As this map shows, they live in vastly different conditions. About 1 billion people—nearly one in six—live in extreme poverty, on less than a dollar a day.

While the developing world is not easy to describe, and the problems it presents are not easy to solve, many developing countries have made remarkable progress in the last several decades.

Overall, poverty is decreasing. Today, 82 percent of people in the world can read and write—the highest percentage in history. Between 1960 and 2005, life expectancy in developing countries increased by almost 20 years, from 47 to 65. Some developing countries have built up their economies to the point where they are now major competitors in the international marketplace.

Yet, for other countries, especially those in sub-Saharan Africa, poverty remains a daily threat. On that part of the continent, 33 million children were not enrolled in primary school in 2005.

Around the world, 854 million people still go to bed hungry every night. And each minute, one woman dies during pregnancy or childbirth because she didn't received adequate or prompt care.

Development begins with meeting the most basic human needs—food, clean water, good health, and shelter. But it also involves the chance to earn a living in a society where human rights are respected and where women as well as men can participate fully in the life of their communities. Sustainable development requires an infrastructure that provides essential services and underpins economic growth, as well as an economy that encourages innovation and respects the environment.

Canadians believe it is important to help people in need. Today, television and the Internet bring images from developing countries directly into our homes. We can see that our own security, health, environment, and economic well-being are increasingly touched by events rooted in the poverty of developing countries.

In countries affected by conflict, such as Afghanistan, Canadian development experts work side by side with Canadian diplomats and Canadian soldiers to lay a solid foundation for peace and hope.

Canada is part of a new global community working to accomplish what no nation can do alone. In September 2000, at a special United Nations assembly to mark the turn of the century, the world's leaders agreed to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)—to reduce poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation, and discrimination against women by 2015.

With support from the Canadian International Development Agency, thousands of individual Canadians and hundreds of organizations, businesses and institutions are working with partners in developing countries to reduce poverty and meet these goals. Their efforts help create a better world and a better life for us all.

This map is designed to provide a glimpse of some of the challenges in developing countries and the progress made toward achieving five of the MDGs. It uses the United Nations Development Programme's human development index (HDI) to show which countries have achieved high levels of development and which countries are still working toward improving the lives of their people.

In 1990, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) created a composite index that measures the quality of life in United Nations member countries. This human development index (HDI) is based on three aspects of human development: longevity (measured by life expectancy at birth), knowledge (measured by a combination of adult literacy and school enrolment), and standard of living (measured by GDP per capita in PPP US$).

Every year, the UNDP produces a new report that ranks member countries according to the HDI, details improvement and decline in various areas, and examines one particular topic in great detail. The 2007/2008 report looks at climate change and its impact on human development. For more information about the HDI, or about these reports and statistics, please visit the UNDP website.

This website gives you a window on our Developing World—it offers a glance at the challenges faced by developing countries and presents some of their successes. And it shows you how Canadians have made a difference in developing countries around the world.

There are many different ways to explore the map. Uncover the major quality of life indicators for over 200 countries by using the Find country menu in the top right-hand corner of the screen. Compare these indicators with any other country you choose by using the Compare with menu in the bottom left-hand corner and watching the bar graphs along the bottom of the page.

You can also use your mouse to scroll over the map and click on specific countries to find their major indicators. Click on the hyperlink More about this country for access to country profiles and other useful information. Interested in issues at the global level? Click on a specific topic in the Theme menu and watch the map change!

The web pages on this site present information about population, poverty and hunger, health, education, environment, and HIV/AIDS at the global level, and in specific regions and countries. You can find additional facts for each theme in the Did you know section.

And if you have more questions about human development, consult the website glossary and sources. It’s a great start to further exploration.

This map was developed using the Robinson projection, which aims to create a realistic, visually appealing, flat image of the entire globe. The projection was designed by Arthur A. Robinson in 1963 and has been used extensively by Rand McNally and the National Geographic Society.

It is not possible to develop a flat map without distortion in size, shape, or distance. The Robinson is a compromise projection that does not totally eliminate these types of distortion but is successful in keeping the distortion level relatively low over most of the map.