Polygamy refers to marriages involving more than two partners. While illegal in Western countries, it is legal and sometimes preferred in many other parts of the world. The document defines different types of polygamous marriages such as polygyny where a man has multiple wives, polyandry where a woman has multiple husbands, and group marriages involving multiple husbands and wives. Some cultures and religions, such as Islam, have traditionally allowed polygynous marriages, though laws and social acceptance vary globally.

2.  Polygamy is illegal in the United States and in
European countries. However, it is legal --even
preferred-- in many countries and in numerous
local societies throughout the world.
 Why is this the case? Why do some societies
accept polygamy and even consider it an ideal,
while others forbid it?

3.  The polygamy term comes from a Greek term
which translated is going to mean "often
married". This way the polygamy means a
marriage which is going to be made with more
than two partners.

4.  The polygamy is a social practice that is not
well tolerated in most countries and it's being
kept against the law. This term is going to refer
most of the time to a type of marriage where
there is going to be more than one spouse, but
most of the time this is going to mean more
than one wife.

5.  For much time, there were a lot of cultures,
societies and civilizations around the world
that accepted the polygamy as a normal thing
to do, and there were absolutely no problems
for a man to have more than one wife and
sometimes even women could have more than
one husband.

6.  The polygamy term is often confusing and it is
being taken as the meaning of the bigamy term,
where you are allowed to have two different
and separate marriages at the same time,
compared to what polygamy really means: to
have multiple spouses living in the exact same
household

7.  Polygyny - in this polygamy situation a man is
going to have multiple wives at the same time.
 Polyandry - This term is being used for the
exact same thing as the polygyny except for the
fact that this time the women is going to have
at the same time more than one husband
 Group Marriages - The group marriages
represent a family unit where there are going
to be multiple husbands and wives at the same
time.

8.  Under Islamic marital jurisprudence, Muslim
men are allowed to practice polygyny under
Islam, that is, they can have more than one wife
at the same time, up to a total of four.
Polyandry, the practice of a woman having
more than one husband, by contrast, is not
permitted.

9.  Average life span of females is more than that
of males
 World female population is more than male
population
 Restricting each and every man to have only
one wife is not practical