one
sort or another. Information regarding disputes over international
terrestrial and maritime boundaries has been reviewed by the US
Department of State. References to other situations involving borders
or frontiers may also be included, such as resource disputes,
geopolitical questions, or irredentist issues; however, inclusion does
not necessarily constitute official acceptance or recognition by the US
Government.

Distribution of family income - Gini index
This index measures the degree of inequality in the distribution of
family income in a country. The index is calculated from the Lorenz
curve, in which cumulative family income is plotted against the number
of families arranged from the poorest to the richest. The index is the
ratio of (a) the area between a country's Lorenz curve and the 45
degree helping line to (b) the entire triangular area under the 45
degree line. The more nearly equal a country's income distribution, the
closer its Lorenz curve to the 45 degree line and the lower its Gini
index, e.g., a Scandinavian country with an index of 25. The more
unequal a country's income distribution, the farther its Lorenz curve
from the 45 degree line and the higher its Gini index, e.g., a Sub-
Saharan country with an index of 50. If income were distributed with
perfect equality, the Lorenz curve would coincide with the 45 degree
line and the index would be zero; if income were distributed with
perfect inequality, the Lorenz curve would coincide with the horizontal
axis and the right vertical axis and the index would be 100.

Economic aid - donor
This entry refers to net official development assistance (ODA) from
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) nations to
developing countries and multilateral organizations. ODA is defined as
financial assistance that is concessional in character, has the main
objective to promote economic development and welfare of the less
developed countries (LDCs), and contains a grant element of at least
25%. The entry does not cover other official flows (OOF) or private
flows.

Economic aid - recipient
This entry, which is subject to major problems of definition and
statistical coverage, refers to the net inflow of Official Development
Finance (ODF) to recipient countries. The figure includes assistance
from the World Bank, the IMF, and other international organizations and
from individual nation donors. Formal commitments of aid are included
in the data