Introduction

The countries of the Third World, with a few exceptions, possess certain characteristics in common. Most of these countries are in the tropics. Economically they are at a less developed state than the countries of western Europe or North America or Japan. They usually carry a large population, if not in absolute terms, at least relative to the opportunity offered by the environment. In general, the economy is based on agriculture, including herding, or on the extraction of timber or mineral products. Their progress is hampered by various disadvantages. These include: • shortage of natural resources or technical expertise; • inefficient transport networks; • indebtedness to international financial organizations or developed nations; • lack of power and influence in the international economic and political arrangements.

Within this general picture, however, there is a wide diversity. India, for example, has the second largest population in the world, over 935 million people in an area of 3,288 thousand km2. It is a country of intense population pressure, low per capita income, self-sufficiency in food production, an established industrial base, and sufficient technical expertise to generate nuclear power and launch space satellites. Tanzania, with an area of about 950 thousand km2 and nearly 30 million people, has an agricultural base and, in spite of the existing power and mineral resources, an underdeveloped industrial sector. Papua New Guinea, with a scattered population of about 4.3 million in a vast area of mountains, valleys, and coastal plains, is dependent on traditional agricultural practices and on extraction of forest timber or minerals such as gold and copper. Malaysia, a rapidly prospering nation of nearly 20 million people, is changing from a primarily agricultural country to one with more emphasis on industry and on the service sector.