11. United Republic of Tanzania
Orphan population: 3.1 million
It is estimated that out of more than three million orphans living in Tanzania, up to 1.8 million lost parents due to AIDS. The second leading cause of children becoming parentless is widespread poverty that affects a third of country’s population. The majority of orphaned children are parental orphans, followed by maternal, while 1.1 percent of all orphans lost both parents. Orphans in Tanzania, as in other places on this list, are more vulnerable than children living in nuclear families. However, the difference in levels of disadvantage between these two groups is not as high as one might expect as total Tanzania’s child population is exposed to similar risks – poverty, illnesses, exploitation.
