Shantytowns are improvised housing settlements usually located on the peripheries of cities in developing countries. They often lack basic services like sanitation, electricity, and telephone access. Over time, residents may improve their circumstances, but shantytowns remain overcrowded with low-income households living in self-built structures of scrap materials. Some of the largest shantytowns include Dharavi in Mumbai, India, favelas in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Kibera in Nairobi, Kenya, housing up to over a million people in densely populated and unsanitary conditions with limited public services.

2. Shantytowns are mostly found in developing nations , or partially developed nations with an unequal distribution of wealth (or, on occasion, developed countries in a severe recession). In extreme cases, shanty towns have populations approaching that of a city. Shantytowns also called slums, squatter settlements camps, favelas, are settlements, sometimes illegal or unauthorized of impoverished people who live in improvised dwellings made from scrap materials: often plywood, corrugated metal, and sheets of plastic. Shantytowns, which are usually built on the periphery of cities , often do not have proper sanitation, electricity, or telephone services .

3. Shanty towns Improvised housing settlements, usually but not exclusively associated with Third World cities. Common characteristics include illegal occupancy of land (squatting); concentration on land of low economic value (such as river-banks or rabbish-tips); self-built housing; overcrowding; a lack of public utilities and social services; and low-income households. Over time, individuals and neighborhoods may improve their circumstances, introducing considerable variation within and between shanty towns .

4. India DHARAVI SLUM IN MUMBAI, INDIA Dharavi is a slum that spreads out over parts of the Sion, Bandra, Kurla, and Kalina suburbs of Mumbai, India. Situated in the heart of the world’s third largest city , it occupies an area of 500 acres and has a population of between 600,000 and 1 million people. It continues to grow each day. Dharavi exports goods around the world, and the total turnover of these exported goods is estimated to be more than $650 million US dollars each year. The re-development of Asia's largest slum has stalled due to the global economic financial crisis .

5. Brazil RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL A shanty town in Brazil is called a fevela . These crowded shanty towns differ slightly from slums in terms of origin and location. Slums are created from rural migrants coming into the city. Shanty towns occur when large groups of people become displaced. Many favelas have electricity these days, but these areas are virtually inaccessible to vehicles . They consist of irregularly self-constructed housing that are illegally occupied and often built one on top of another. They consist of an ad hoc network of stairways, sidewalks, and simple tracks which allow passage through them. Many of them are built haphazardly on hills The gap between poverty and wealth has never been so well-illustrated . The 2008 Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire has brought the day-to-day misery of slum-living to our doors, but is the world ready to do something about it? This remains to be seen. One thing is for certain, something must be done.

6. Africa KIBERA SLUM, NAIROBI, AFRICA Kibera can’t be found on a map, yet at least 550,000 Nairobians – one out of every five – call this area home. Kibera is home to 60 percent of Nairobi’s populations. Kibera does not receive public services, including public waste collection. In some parts, shelter has literally been built on trash. The waste includes excrement, which fills the muddy streets and contaminates the water. The health hazards arising from the garbage are evident as soon as you enter the slum. Infectious diseases are on the rise and malaria is a huge concern at the moment. No one is sure exactly how many people live in Kibera. It is estimated that there are 750,000 people in one square mile. It is one of the most crowded places on earth.

7. Slums or squatters around the world.