A nation where the average income is much lower than in industrial nations, where the economy relies on a few export crops, and where farming is conducted by primitive methods. In many developing nations, rapid population growth threatens the supply of food. Developing nations have also been called underdeveloped nations. Most of them are in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. (See also Third World.)

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.