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Apart from certain old works which are considered to be of fundamental importance, this bibliography deals more particularly with studies published since 1945. The choice of this date is not absolutely arbitrary. It has been mainly in the post-war period, as the hitherto colonial people began to rise and the least well-equipped countries made their claims on the victorious nations, that the specific problems of the underdeveloped countries have been forced on the attention of a wider public. Political considerations have, to a very large extent, stimulated scientific research and are still doing so, as is shown by the number of works being published. North American anthropology has given rise to a great number of research projects directly dealing with the subject of this study, most of which are well known, at the same time, the European nations, which have often had long experience in countries overseas, have, on their side, accumulated works which, although not presented according to any uniform system, are of great importance. Great regions which are undoubtedly underdeveloped economically-most of the South American continent, Asia and Africa, Africa has least often been the subject of systematic investigations and surveys.