ABSTRACT
Many towns in developing countries are of fairly recent origin. They have grown up around major European enterprises or around sea ports, railway or road centres where exports to and imports from Europe were handled. Other towns grew up as centres of colonial administration or as marketing and service centres in areas where Europeans settled. Sex proportions in such towns continue to reflect the principles of selection which the Europeans used in their recruitment of indigenous labour. In regions where only men were recruited, we find towns with a large surplus of men. Some African towns have several men to each woman, and in other continents we also find towns with a large male surplus.
