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State of the Basin Report - 2003other adverse changes. In some regions of the LMB, such as the Central Highlands and the NorthernRegion of Lao PDR, the poverty gap is between 15-20 percent, indicating more deeply entrenchedpoverty in those regions. 124While poverty levels have declined throughout much of the LMB, there is increasing inequality in thedistribution of income between the rich and the poor, and between urban and rural areas in mostcountries. In Viet Nam, 96 percent of the increase in inequality can be attributed to a widening gapbetween urban and rural poverty. 125 That is, the substantial declines in poverty have been due primarilyto economic growth in urban areas, rather than a more equitable distribution of wealth.Table 16. Poverty incidence in the LMB, 1993-1999 (most recent dates)Headcount (%)Gini coefficientPoverty gapy1993-96 1997-99 1992-94 1997-99Cambodia 39 35.9 6.5 0.340Lao PDR 45.0 38.6 10.3 0.357Thailand 11.4 15.9 4.3 0.511 0.531Viet Nam 58.1 37.4 10.0 0.330 0.350Sources: ADB 2001b; Ministry of Planning, Cambodia 1999b; SPC 2000;Glewwe et al. 2000; WB 2001aSpatial distribution of poverty. Over 90percent of poor households live in rural villages.The rate of rural poverty is 10-35 percent higherthan the national averages. Seventy percent andmore of poor households are headed by personswhose main source of income is in theagricultural sector. 126 However, even in ruralareas, the incidence of poverty variessignificantly between richer and poorer villages,depending on access to productive land, roads,markets and social services. In Cambodia, forexample, 70 percent of the population of thepoorest villages is below the poverty line, whileonly 4 percent of people in the richest villagesare poor. 127Over 35 percent of the populations of Cambodia,Lao PDR and Viet Nam live below the poverty lineThere is also a significant variation in poverty levels among sub-national regions. Poverty levels inthe Tonle Sap (37.8 percent), the Northern Region (52.5 percent) and the Central Highlands (52.2percent) are the highest in, respectively, Cambodia, Lao PDR and Viet Nam. In Thailand, the Northand Northeast Regions account for nearly 75 percent of all poverty in the country. 128Poverty levels are very high and deeply entrenched in the remote rural areas where ethnic minoritygroups live. In upland areas of Lao PDR, for example, poverty levels are as high as 75-90 percent. 129In Viet Nam, poverty among ethnic minorities exceeds 70 percent compared with a national rateof 37 percent, and accounts for nearly 30 percent of all poor people 130 . The incidence of povertyyThe Gini Coefficient measures the degree of inequality in the distribution of incomes. The higher theGini Coefficient, the greater the inequality in the distribution of incomes.66