UNDERDEVELOPED COUNTRIESESA. THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES: The first world is generally believed to consist of developed countries with a market economy. The second world is made up of state-run countries which are the same as communist countries. The Third World is made up of developing countries, which represent more than half of the world's population. Third world countries do not constitute an equal group, but this name given to these countries encompasses very different realities. In addition to their diversity, third world countries have some very common characteristics. Some of these features are:1. Rapid population growth, although the infant mortality rate remains high.2. The extent of illiteracy.3. Reduced productivity at work.B. THE CAUSES OF UNDERDEVELOPMENT:1. Population growth: the number of births is very high, in relation to the quantity that manages to survive in the living conditions of a society such as that of the third world. However, mortality has significantly decreased as a result of medical progress in advanced countries, causing population growth. In addition to contributing to the decrease in mortality, it has also produced an acceleration of natural growth in these countries. In Latin America, families have on average four children, and in Africa five; but these figures are surpassed by Muslim countries.2. The legacy of colonialism: Most underdeveloped countries are former colonies. The European powers dominated these countries and constantly exploited their natural resources for their own benefit and at the same time prevented their industrial development. When the colonies achieved political independence, they continued to maintain their economic, financial and technical dependence on the country that had obtained it colonized them or with other rich countries.3. Unequal trade Developing countries need to import industrial products such as machinery and technology. To pay for these imports they sell agricultural products and mineral raw materials. The problem is that rich countries dominate this trade and impose high prices on their industrial products. Industrial products increase in price as the cost of labor increases, while natural products maintain lower prices. All this leads underdeveloped countries to progressively fall into debt..