if的奇怪用法?The pain is being felt most keenly in the underdevel

if 在此为连词,意思为“即使,纵然”,可以换成 "even though"
再问： 不对吧？变为even though 意思解释不通。
再答： if 在此是针对underdeveloped，表达意思为：即使资源丰富，但依然欠发达的...

如果 if 换成 "even though"，句型也须稍加变化，成为：

The pain is being felt most keenly in the west and south-west of the country where they are underdeveloped even though they are resource-rich.