As per the poverty estimates worked out by a expert group constituted by the Planning Commission under the Chairmanship of Prof D T Lakadawala, the poverty ratio in NE region during 1993-94 was 45.01 per cent of the rural population. It has declined to 40.01 per cent in 2000 as per NSSO's round survey, 2000, stated a PIB release. The north-eastern region comprises the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. It occupies about eight per cent of the country's land area and accounts for about four per cent of the country's population. The region has about 4,500 km of international border with Bhutan, China, Tibet, Myanmar and Bangladesh. Most of the land has a rough terrain and mountainous periphery. The density of population in the region is 122 per sq. km. The total literacy rate, according to 2001 census, varies from 54.15 per cent in Arunachal Pradesh to 88.41 per cent in Mizoram and rural literacy rate from 37.02 per cent in Arunachal Pradesh to 72.47 per cent in Mizoram, stated a PIB release.