Least Developed Countries (LDCs) rank among the world's poorest, exhibiting low health and education indicators and high economic vulnerability. LDCs also make up more than half of the world's countries - the majority of which are in Africa, followed by Asia - comprising over 800 million people. The United Nations describes the Least Developed Countries as "the poorest and the most vulnerable segment of humanity at the very epicentre of the developmental emergency", but with only a few countries "graduated" from LDC status in the last decade, the plight of the Least Developed Countries is as pressing as ever.