Ah. I got over-excited when I saw Qatar’s absurdly high GDP per capita and mixed it up with Kuwait in my head. The Kuwait-Iraq ratio is only 13x. Since I’m comparing it to countries vaguely nearby though, Qatar is only a short hop across the desert from Yemen, and the disparity between those two countries is a phenomenal 66x.
They don’t border either, but Equatorial Guinea and DR Congo are only a few hundred miles apart and the disparity between them is 122x, using the CIA stats for GDP per capita (PPP).
If you base it on UN HDI numbers, Libya -> Niger also wins with a 0.47 difference.
Full data behind the spoiler:
[ol]
[li]Libya -> Niger:0.76 -> 0.295 (0.47)[/li][li]Libya -> Chad:0.76 -> 0.328 (0.43)[/li][li]Algeria -> Niger:0.698 -> 0.295 (0.4)[/li][li]Libya -> Sudan:0.76 -> 0.408 (0.35)[/li][li]Algeria -> Mali:0.698 -> 0.359 (0.34)[/li][li]Iran -> Afghanistan:0.707 -> 0.398 (0.31)[/li][li]Saudi Arabia -> Yemen:0.77 -> 0.462 (0.31)[/li][li]South Africa -> Mozambique:0.619 -> 0.322 (0.3)[/li][li]Spain -> Morocco:0.878 -> 0.582 (0.3)[/li][li]China -> Afghanistan:0.687 -> 0.398 (0.29)[/li][li]Turkmenistan -> Afghanistan:0.686 -> 0.398 (0.29)[/li][li]Botswana -> Zimbabwe:0.633 -> 0.376 (0.26)[/li][li]Israel -> Palestinian territories:0.888 -> 0.641 (0.25)[/li][li]Algeria -> Mauritania:0.698 -> 0.453 (0.24)[/li][li]Israel -> Egypt:0.888 -> 0.644 (0.24)[/li][li]Uzbekistan -> Afghanistan:0.641 -> 0.398 (0.24)[/li][li]South Africa -> Zimbabwe:0.619 -> 0.376 (0.24)[/li][li]Oman -> Yemen:0.705 -> 0.462 (0.24)[/li][li]Egypt -> Sudan:0.644 -> 0.408 (0.24)[/li][li]Dominican Republic -> Haiti:0.689 -> 0.454 (0.23)[/li][li]China -> Nepal:0.687 -> 0.458 (0.23)[/li][li]Hong Kong -> China:0.898 -> 0.687 (0.21)[/li][li]Ghana -> Burkina Faso:0.541 -> 0.331 (0.21)[/li][li]Tajikistan -> Afghanistan:0.607 -> 0.398 (0.21)[/li][li]France -> Suriname:0.884 -> 0.68 (0.2)[/li][li]Botswana -> Zambia:0.633 -> 0.43 (0.2)[/li][li]Iran -> Pakistan:0.707 -> 0.504 (0.2)[/li][li]Swaziland -> Mozambique:0.522 -> 0.322 (0.2)[/li][li]Saudi Arabia -> Iraq:0.77 -> 0.573 (0.2)[/li][li]Mexico -> Guatemala:0.77 -> 0.574 (0.2)[/li][li]Namibia -> Zambia:0.625 -> 0.43 (0.2)[/li][li]Gabon -> Cameroon:0.674 -> 0.482 (0.19)[/li][li]Israel -> Jordan:0.888 -> 0.698 (0.19)[/li][li]Norway -> Russia:0.943 -> 0.755 (0.19)[/li][li]Kuwait -> Iraq:0.76 -> 0.573 (0.19)[/li][li]China -> Pakistan:0.687 -> 0.504 (0.18)[/li][li]South Africa -> Lesotho:0.619 -> 0.45 (0.17)[/li][li]France -> Brazil:0.884 -> 0.718 (0.17)[/li][li]China -> Bhutan:0.687 -> 0.522 (0.17)[/li][li]Nigeria -> Niger:0.459 -> 0.295 (0.16)[/li][li]China -> Laos:0.687 -> 0.524 (0.16)[/li][li]Greece -> Turkey:0.861 -> 0.699 (0.16)[/li][li]Thailand -> Cambodia:0.682 -> 0.523 (0.16)[/li][li]Thailand -> Laos:0.682 -> 0.524 (0.16)[/li][li]Costa Rica -> Nicaragua:0.744 -> 0.589 (0.16)[/li][li]Cameroon -> Chad:0.482 -> 0.328 (0.15)[/li][li]Indonesia -> Papua New Guinea:0.617 -> 0.466 (0.15)[/li][li]Tanzania -> Burundi:0.466 -> 0.316 (0.15)[/li][li]Israel -> Lebanon:0.888 -> 0.739 (0.15)[/li][li]Kenya -> Ethiopia:0.509 -> 0.363 (0.15)[/li][li]Tanzania -> Mozambique:0.466 -> 0.322 (0.14)[/li][li]Malaysia -> Indonesia:0.761 -> 0.617 (0.14)[/li][li]Sri Lanka -> India:0.691 -> 0.547 (0.14)[/li][li]Chile -> Bolivia:0.805 -> 0.663 (0.14)[/li][li]Ghana -> Côte d’Ivoire:0.541 -> 0.4 (0.14)[/li][li]United Arab Emirates -> Oman:0.846 -> 0.705 (0.14)[/li][li]United States -> Mexico:0.91 -> 0.77 (0.14)[/li][li]China -> India:0.687 -> 0.547 (0.14)[/li][li]Namibia -> Angola:0.625 -> 0.486 (0.14)[/li][li]Cameroon -> Central African Republic:0.482 -> 0.343 (0.14)[/li][li]Gabon -> Equatorial Guinea:0.674 -> 0.537 (0.14)[/li][li]Argentina -> Bolivia:0.797 -> 0.663 (0.13)[/li][li]Iran -> Iraq:0.707 -> 0.573 (0.13)[/li][li]Benin -> Niger:0.427 -> 0.295 (0.13)[/li][li]Argentina -> Paraguay:0.797 -> 0.665 (0.13)[/li][li]Romania -> Moldova:0.781 -> 0.649 (0.13)[/li][li]Nigeria -> Chad:0.459 -> 0.328 (0.13)[/li][li]Kazakhstan -> Kyrgyzstan:0.745 -> 0.615 (0.13)[/li][li]Finland -> Russia:0.882 -> 0.755 (0.13)[/li][li]Turkey -> Iraq:0.699 -> 0.573 (0.13)[/li][li]Belize -> Guatemala:0.699 -> 0.574 (0.13)[/li][li]Jordan -> Iraq:0.698 -> 0.573 (0.13)[/li][li]Greece -> Albania:0.861 -> 0.739 (0.12)[/li][li]Libya -> Egypt:0.76 -> 0.644 (0.12)[/li][li]Algeria -> Morocco:0.698 -> 0.582 (0.12)[/li][li]Senegal -> Guinea:0.459 -> 0.344 (0.12)[/li][li]Rwanda -> Burundi:0.429 -> 0.316 (0.11)[/li][li]Zambia -> Mozambique:0.43 -> 0.322 (0.11)[/li][li]Senegal -> Guinea-Bissau:0.459 -> 0.353 (0.11)[/li][li]Ghana -> Togo:0.541 -> 0.435 (0.11)[/li][li]Pakistan -> Afghanistan:0.504 -> 0.398 (0.11)[/li][li]Slovakia -> Ukraine:0.834 -> 0.729 (0.1)[/li][li]Togo -> Burkina Faso:0.435 -> 0.331 (0.1)[/li][li]Kazakhstan -> Uzbekistan:0.745 -> 0.641 (0.1)[/li][li]Russia -> Mongolia:0.755 -> 0.653 (0.1)[/li][li]Venezuela -> Guyana:0.735 -> 0.633 (0.1)[/li][li]El Salvador -> Guatemala:0.674 -> 0.574 (0.1)[/li][li]Senegal -> Mali:0.459 -> 0.359 (0.1)[/li][li]South Africa -> Swaziland:0.619 -> 0.522 (0.1)[/li][li]Benin -> Burkina Faso:0.427 -> 0.331 (0.1)[/li][li]China -> Vietnam:0.687 -> 0.593 (0.09)[/li][li]Mauritania -> Mali:0.453 -> 0.359 (0.09)[/li][li]Germany -> Poland:0.905 -> 0.813 (0.09)[/li][li]Greece -> Bulgaria:0.861 -> 0.771 (0.09)[/li][li]India -> Nepal:0.547 -> 0.458 (0.09)[/li][li]Slovenia -> Croatia:0.884 -> 0.796 (0.09)[/li][li]Hungary -> Ukraine:0.816 -> 0.729 (0.09)[/li][li]Brazil -> Guyana:0.718 -> 0.633 (0.08)[/li][li]Poland -> Ukraine:0.813 -> 0.729 (0.08)[/li][li]Djibouti -> Eritrea:0.43 -> 0.349 (0.08)[/li][li]China -> Tajikistan:0.687 -> 0.607 (0.08)[/li][li]Chile -> Peru:0.805 -> 0.725 (0.08)[/li][li]Estonia -> Russia:0.835 -> 0.755 (0.08)[/li][li]Ukraine -> Moldova:0.729 -> 0.649 (0.08)[/li][li]Sudan -> Chad:0.408 -> 0.328 (0.08)[/li][li]Argentina -> Brazil:0.797 -> 0.718 (0.08)[/li][li]Malaysia -> Thailand:0.761 -> 0.682 (0.08)[/li][li]Malawi -> Mozambique:0.4 -> 0.322 (0.08)[/li][li]Brunei -> Malaysia:0.838 -> 0.761 (0.08)[/li][li]United Arab Emirates -> Saudi Arabia:0.846 -> 0.77 (0.08)[/li][li]China -> Kyrgyzstan:0.687 -> 0.615 (0.07)[/li][li]Bulgaria -> Turkey:0.771 -> 0.699 (0.07)[/li][li]Saudi Arabia -> Jordan:0.77 -> 0.698 (0.07)[/li][li]Mexico -> Belize:0.77 -> 0.699 (0.07)[/li][li]Côte d’Ivoire -> Liberia:0.4 -> 0.329 (0.07)[/li][li]Vietnam -> Cambodia:0.593 -> 0.523 (0.07)[/li][li]Austria -> Hungary:0.885 -> 0.816 (0.07)[/li][li]Côte d’Ivoire -> Burkina Faso:0.4 -> 0.331 (0.07)[/li][li]Vietnam -> Laos:0.593 -> 0.524 (0.07)[/li][li]Spain -> Portugal:0.878 -> 0.809 (0.07)[/li][li]Slovenia -> Hungary:0.884 -> 0.816 (0.07)[/li][li]Russia -> China:0.755 -> 0.687 (0.07)[/li][li]Djibouti -> Ethiopia:0.43 -> 0.363 (0.07)[/li][li]Tanzania -> Malawi:0.466 -> 0.4 (0.07)[/li][li]Saudi Arabia -> Oman:0.77 -> 0.705 (0.07)[/li][li]Uruguay -> Brazil:0.783 -> 0.718 (0.07)[/li][li]Sudan -> Central African Republic:0.408 -> 0.343 (0.06)[/li][li]Mali -> Niger:0.359 -> 0.295 (0.06)[/li][li]Croatia -> Bosnia and Herzegovina:0.796 -> 0.733 (0.06)[/li][li]Kenya -> Uganda:0.509 -> 0.446 (0.06)[/li][li]Libya -> Algeria:0.76 -> 0.698 (0.06)[/li][li]Libya -> Tunisia:0.76 -> 0.698 (0.06)[/li][li]Peru -> Bolivia:0.725 -> 0.663 (0.06)[/li][li]Norway -> Finland:0.943 -> 0.882 (0.06)[/li][li]Qatar -> Saudi Arabia:0.831 -> 0.77 (0.06)[/li][li]Sudan -> Eritrea:0.408 -> 0.349 (0.06)[/li][li]Kazakhstan -> Turkmenistan:0.745 -> 0.686 (0.06)[/li][li]Panama -> Colombia:0.768 -> 0.71 (0.06)[/li][li]Kazakhstan -> China:0.745 -> 0.687 (0.06)[/li][li]Poland -> Russia:0.813 -> 0.755 (0.06)[/li][li]Jordan -> Palestinian territories:0.698 -> 0.641 (0.06)[/li][li]Poland -> Belarus:0.813 -> 0.756 (0.06)[/li][li]Côte d’Ivoire -> Guinea:0.4 -> 0.344 (0.06)[/li][li]Angola -> Zambia:0.486 -> 0.43 (0.06)[/li][li]Equatorial Guinea -> Cameroon:0.537 -> 0.482 (0.06)[/li][li]Lithuania -> Russia:0.81 -> 0.755 (0.06)[/li][li]Russia -> Azerbaijan:0.755 -> 0.7 (0.06)[/li][li]Brazil -> Bolivia:0.718 -> 0.663 (0.05)[/li][li]Lithuania -> Belarus:0.81 -> 0.756 (0.05)[/li][li]Zimbabwe -> Mozambique:0.376 -> 0.322 (0.05)[/li][li]Zambia -> Zimbabwe:0.43 -> 0.376 (0.05)[/li][li]Brazil -> Paraguay:0.718 -> 0.665 (0.05)[/li][li]Czech Republic -> Poland:0.865 -> 0.813 (0.05)[/li][li]Romania -> Ukraine:0.781 -> 0.729 (0.05)[/li][li]Honduras -> Guatemala:0.625 -> 0.574 (0.05)[/li][li]Austria -> Slovakia:0.885 -> 0.834 (0.05)[/li][li]Latvia -> Russia:0.805 -> 0.755 (0.05)[/li][li]Hungary -> Serbia:0.816 -> 0.766 (0.05)[/li][li]El Salvador -> Honduras:0.674 -> 0.625 (0.05)[/li][li]Latvia -> Belarus:0.805 -> 0.756 (0.05)[/li][li]Suriname -> Guyana:0.68 -> 0.633 (0.05)[/li][li]India -> Bangladesh:0.547 -> 0.5 (0.05)[/li][li]France -> Andorra:0.884 -> 0.838 (0.05)[/li][li]Turkmenistan -> Uzbekistan:0.686 -> 0.641 (0.05)[/li][li]Sudan -> Ethiopia:0.408 -> 0.363 (0.04)[/li][li]India -> Pakistan:0.547 -> 0.504 (0.04)[/li][li]Kenya -> Tanzania:0.509 -> 0.466 (0.04)[/li][li]Côte d’Ivoire -> Mali:0.4 -> 0.359 (0.04)[/li][li]Spain -> Andorra:0.878 -> 0.838 (0.04)[/li][li]Germany -> Czech Republic:0.905 -> 0.865 (0.04)[/li][li]Norway -> Sweden:0.943 -> 0.904 (0.04)[/li][li]Montenegro -> Bosnia and Herzegovina:0.771 -> 0.733 (0.04)[/li][li]Germany -> Luxembourg:0.905 -> 0.867 (0.04)[/li][li]Brazil -> Suriname:0.718 -> 0.68 (0.04)[/li][li]Tanzania -> Rwanda:0.466 -> 0.429 (0.04)[/li][li]Honduras -> Nicaragua:0.625 -> 0.589 (0.04)[/li][li]Burkina Faso -> Niger:0.331 -> 0.295 (0.04)[/li][li]Tanzania -> Zambia:0.466 -> 0.43 (0.04)[/li][li]Hungary -> Romania:0.816 -> 0.781 (0.03)[/li][li]Uzbekistan -> Tajikistan:0.641 -> 0.607 (0.03)[/li][li]China -> Mongolia:0.687 -> 0.653 (0.03)[/li][li]Chad -> Niger:0.328 -> 0.295 (0.03)[/li][li]Serbia -> Bosnia and Herzegovina:0.766 -> 0.733 (0.03)[/li][li]Montenegro -> Albania:0.771 -> 0.739 (0.03)[/li][li]Nigeria -> Benin:0.459 -> 0.427 (0.03)[/li][li]Czech Republic -> Slovakia:0.865 -> 0.834 (0.03)[/li][li]Croatia -> Serbia:0.796 -> 0.766 (0.03)[/li][li]Zambia -> Malawi:0.43 -> 0.4 (0.03)[/li][li]Estonia -> Latvia:0.835 -> 0.805 (0.03)[/li][li]Switzerland -> Italy:0.903 -> 0.874 (0.03)[/li][li]Mali -> Burkina Faso:0.359 -> 0.331 (0.03)[/li][li]Belarus -> Ukraine:0.756 -> 0.729 (0.03)[/li][li]Uzbekistan -> Kyrgyzstan:0.641 -> 0.615 (0.03)[/li][li]Russia -> Ukraine:0.755 -> 0.729 (0.03)[/li][li]Netherlands -> France:0.91 -> 0.884 (0.03)[/li][li]Croatia -> Montenegro:0.796 -> 0.771 (0.03)[/li][li]Venezuela -> Colombia:0.735 -> 0.71 (0.03)[/li][li]India -> Bhutan:0.547 -> 0.522 (0.03)[/li][li]Panama -> Costa Rica:0.768 -> 0.744 (0.02)[/li][li]Netherlands -> Belgium:0.91 -> 0.886 (0.02)[/li][li]United Kingdom -> Cyprus:0.863 -> 0.84 (0.02)[/li][li]United Kingdom -> Cyprus:0.863 -> 0.84 (0.02)[/li][li]Cameroon -> Nigeria:0.482 -> 0.459 (0.02)[/li][li]Sweden -> Finland:0.904 -> 0.882 (0.02)[/li][li]Germany -> France:0.905 -> 0.884 (0.02)[/li][li]Germany -> France:0.905 -> 0.884 (0.02)[/li][li]Australia -> New Zealand:0.929 -> 0.908 (0.02)[/li][li]Australia -> New Zealand:0.929 -> 0.908 (0.02)[/li][li]Slovakia -> Poland:0.834 -> 0.813 (0.02)[/li][li]Iran -> Turkmenistan:0.707 -> 0.686 (0.02)[/li][li]Germany -> Austria:0.905 -> 0.885 (0.02)[/li][li]Tanzania -> Uganda:0.466 -> 0.446 (0.02)[/li][li]Austria -> Czech Republic:0.885 -> 0.865 (0.02)[/li][li]Liechtenstein -> Austria:0.905 -> 0.885 (0.02)[/li][li]Hungary -> Croatia:0.816 -> 0.796 (0.02)[/li][li]Switzerland -> France:0.903 -> 0.884 (0.02)[/li][li]Germany -> Belgium:0.905 -> 0.886 (0.02)[/li][li]Switzerland -> France:0.903 -> 0.884 (0.02)[/li][li]Belgium -> Luxembourg:0.886 -> 0.867 (0.02)[/li][li]Switzerland -> Austria:0.903 -> 0.885 (0.02)[/li][li]Slovakia -> Hungary:0.834 -> 0.816 (0.02)[/li][li]France -> Luxembourg:0.884 -> 0.867 (0.02)[/li][li]Uganda -> Rwanda:0.446 -> 0.429 (0.02)[/li][li]Venezuela -> Brazil:0.735 -> 0.718 (0.02)[/li][li]Armenia -> Turkey:0.716 -> 0.699 (0.02)[/li][li]Armenia -> Azerbaijan:0.716 -> 0.7 (0.02)[/li][li]Central African Republic -> Chad:0.343 -> 0.328 (0.02)[/li][li]Romania -> Serbia:0.781 -> 0.766 (0.02)[/li][li]Peru -> Colombia:0.725 -> 0.71 (0.02)[/li][li]Spain -> United Kingdom:0.878 -> 0.863 (0.02)[/li][li]Mali -> Guinea:0.359 -> 0.344 (0.02)[/li][li]Guinea -> Liberia:0.344 -> 0.329 (0.01)[/li][li]Botswana -> South Africa:0.633 -> 0.619 (0.01)[/li][li]Argentina -> Uruguay:0.797 -> 0.783 (0.01)[/li][li]Ethiopia -> Eritrea:0.363 -> 0.349 (0.01)[/li][li]Norway -> Australia:0.943 -> 0.929 (0.01)[/li][li]Norway -> Australia:0.943 -> 0.929 (0.01)[/li][li]Austria -> Italy:0.885 -> 0.874 (0.01)[/li][li]Ecuador -> Colombia:0.72 -> 0.71 (0.01)[/li][li]Slovenia -> Italy:0.884 -> 0.874 (0.01)[/li][li]Romania -> Bulgaria:0.781 -> 0.771 (0.01)[/li][li]Russia -> Kazakhstan:0.755 -> 0.745 (0.01)[/li][li]Germany -> Denmark:0.905 -> 0.895 (0.01)[/li][li]Saudi Arabia -> Kuwait:0.77 -> 0.76 (0.01)[/li][li]France -> Italy:0.884 -> 0.874 (0.01)[/li][li]Guinea-Bissau -> Guinea:0.353 -> 0.344 (0.01)[/li][li]Armenia -> Iran:0.716 -> 0.707 (0.01)[/li][li]Brazil -> Colombia:0.718 -> 0.71 (0.01)[/li][li]Chile -> Argentina:0.805 -> 0.797 (0.01)[/li][li]Botswana -> Namibia:0.633 -> 0.625 (0.01)[/li][li]Iran -> Turkey:0.707 -> 0.699 (0.01)[/li][li]Togo -> Benin:0.435 -> 0.427 (0.01)[/li][li]Kyrgyzstan -> Tajikistan:0.615 -> 0.607 (0.01)[/li][li]Guinea -> Sierra Leone:0.344 -> 0.336 (0.01)[/li][li]Sierra Leone -> Liberia:0.336 -> 0.329 (0.01)[/li][li]Iran -> Azerbaijan:0.707 -> 0.7 (0.01)[/li][li]Peru -> Brazil:0.725 -> 0.718 (0.01)[/li][li]Senegal -> Mauritania:0.459 -> 0.453 (0.01)[/li][li]France -> Spain:0.884 -> 0.878 (0.01)[/li][li]Namibia -> South Africa:0.625 -> 0.619 (0.01)[/li][li]Netherlands -> Germany:0.91 -> 0.905 (0.01)[/li][li]Bulgaria -> Serbia:0.771 -> 0.766 (0.01)[/li][li]Lithuania -> Latvia:0.81 -> 0.805 (0.01)[/li][li]Montenegro -> Serbia:0.771 -> 0.766 (0.01)[/li][li]Peru -> Ecuador:0.725 -> 0.72 (0.01)[/li][li]Egypt -> Palestinian territories:0.644 -> 0.641 (0.0)[/li][li]Poland -> Lithuania:0.813 -> 0.81 (0.0)[/li][li]United States -> Canada:0.91 -> 0.908 (0.0)[/li][li]Paraguay -> Bolivia:0.665 -> 0.663 (0.0)[/li][li]Belgium -> France:0.886 -> 0.884 (0.0)[/li][li]Liechtenstein -> Switzerland:0.905 -> 0.903 (0.0)[/li][li]Belgium -> France:0.886 -> 0.884 (0.0)[/li][li]Germany -> Switzerland:0.905 -> 0.903 (0.0)[/li][li]Belarus -> Russia:0.756 -> 0.755 (0.0)[/li][li]Austria -> Slovenia:0.885 -> 0.884 (0.0)[/li][li]Azerbaijan -> Turkey:0.7 -> 0.699 (0.0)[/li][li]Laos -> Cambodia:0.524 -> 0.523 (0.0)[/li][/ol]
The Human Development Index is a better measure of living standards than GDP per capita.
The link above shows country rankings and has useful tools and data to play around with.
semi-relevent hijack: has a country ever been invaded by a country of lesser SoL? My guess is maybe South Korea, though I don’t think they were as advanced in 1950 as they are now.
Damn you Shalmanese. I shouldn’t have been playing around with the map tool for so long.
I’m not sure that the ratio is the proper metric for comparison, here: If we had two hypothetical countries, A where the mean annual income was $4, and B where it was $2, I wouldn’t say that A was significantly better-- They’re both dirt-poor holes. I think that the difference, as in subtraction, might be a better measure, in which case it looks like it really might be Finland-Russia.
Nope, if you’re talking GDP per capita (PPP), there’s still lots of other countries with much larger nominal differences than Finland and Russia:
[ul]Israel-Palestinian Territories:
$39800 - $2900 = $36,900
[li]South Korea-North Korea:[/li]$30,000 - $1,800 = $28,200
**[li]Finland-Russia: **[/li]$35,400 - $15,900 = $19,500
[/ul]
Just to name two. It would also produce some fairly absurd results - the difference between Liechtenstein and Switzerland is an enormous $98,500 for instance, even though the ratio is only 3x.
Subtraction is actually Liechtenstein -> Austria which is why I didn’t bother to include it.
France (GDP US$2,562,742,000,000) and Suriname (GDP US$3,682,000,000). A GDP ratio of 696:1.
GDP alone is a very poor way of comparing living standards, to the point where it’s meaningless. Niger has a higher nominal GDP than Liechtenstein ($5.5m to $5m) but Liechtenstein’s GDP per capita is 200x greater ($141,000 to $700) because its population is so much smaller. The ratio of France’s GDP/PPP per capita against Suriname’s is about 3.5x: $33,100 to $9,700.
With the US-Mexico border, the border towns are generally in a lot rougher than the country at large. So the contrast seen right at the border is a lot greater than the GDP difference alone would suggest.
Iraq invading Kuwait in the 90’s would probably be the classic example. Part of the reason for the overwhelming international response was that the invasion was such a blatant money-grab.
They don’t share a land border, but if you get the ferry from Singapore (GDP per PPP approx $44,000) 20 mins to Batam island (Indonesia GDP per PPP approx $2900) the difference is really shocking. Batam is one of the poorer areas of Indonesia so you go straight from the air conditioned shopping malls of Singapore and 30 mins later are walking in dirt streets with pigs and chickens foraging everywhere.
it’s only 20km back across the water, and you can see the huge glittering glass city, seems to be floating on water as you sit in a tiny thatched hut eating noodles for 5000 Rupiah (40 cents)
If you go to Finland - Russia border and look at the people crossing it, you’d actually get the false impression that Russia’s the more wealthy country. Their rich drive here in their SUVs to buy luxury goods while our working class people drive there to buy cheap gas and booze.
That might not be your only misconception about Bhutan. 
Botswana ($6,790) is bordered by Zimbabwe ($460) which I am pretty sure makes Botswana the world lightweight champion here.
Or so I thought until I found that Angola, at a modest $3940, is lording it over the “Democratic Republic of the Congo,” aka Zaire, at a stunning $180.
Libya-Niger by far.
Political oppression aside, it’s my understanding that Libya isn’t that bad of a place. People shop in supermarkets, live in decent housing, have medical care, have school systems, etc. By any measure, it’s solidly in the world of middle-income countries, which isn’t a bad place to be. By the Human Development Index, it’s far and away the most developed country in Africa, and counts as “highly developed” by world standards. Sure, it’s not Norway, but people live lives that we would recognize.
Niger, on the other hand, is about as poor as humanity is capable of being. We are talking about poverty to the level where all someone might own in a lifetime is a few stretches of cloth, a cooking pot, and a set of grass mats to call home. This is a place where owning a bed is a status symbol. Peace Corps doesn’t even send teachers there, because there are no schools to teach at…people are lucky to pick up a year or two of primary school. They have a literacy rate in the 20s in a good year. Almost nothing to buy, nothing to own, almost no roads, very little electricity. It is the very edge of human poverty.
North Korea is poor, but they are poor in comparison to what they could be, which is only moderately alarming in absolute terms. In terms of “experiences occasional famines, high-quality food is a luxury, people have limited access to quality goods,” it’s up there, but it’s far from the worst. Nobody in North Korea is going to envy the standard of living in Somalia or Chad.
Re: living standard difference between Finland and Russia:
Russia is a vast country with vast differences in living standards, especially between the large cities and the rural areas. National averages tell little about the local realities in this case.
The part of Russia on the other side of Finland’s eastern border, Russian Karelia, is extremely poor by any European standards. I’ll see if I have the time to dig up some numbers, but, anecdotally, Eastern Finnish people who visit Russian Karelia tell it’s like stepping into a time machine and setting the clock to c. 1900 AD, only poorer: extremely rough dirt roads through dense woodland leading to century-old farmsteads that are falling apart, the locals getting by by subsistence gardening and vodka. This is the basis for the notion of the vast difference of living standards on opposite sides of this particular border. No-one has ever claimed Moscow or St.Petersburg are poor.
Russian Karelia has been getting on it’s feet, slowly, but 20 years ago, when the Finnish-Russian border opened and claims of the biggest difference in living standards in the world were made, the disparity was truly mind-boggling, the difference between an affluent, high tech Western nation and a world only known from history books.