The label of "Third World" covers half the land surface and three quarters of the population of the planet. The problems and potential of this region and its peoples are attracting increasing concern and interest.
Fully revised and updated this edition includes: * a wealth of photographic and line illustrations
* boxed case studies
* chapter summaries
* guides to further reading
Issues of increasing concern at the end of the twentieth century are fully addressed - for example, the widening gap in economic performance between countries in the Third world and the assertion of national cultures in the face of globalisation. New material on gender issues and the environmental impact of development has been included.