1. Let's start by understanding what negative and positive integers are. 2. Negative integers are numbers less than zero, such as $-1, -2, -3, \ldots$. 3. Positive integers are numbers greater than zero, such as $1, 2, 3, \ldots$. 4. The number line helps visualize this: negative integers lie to the left of zero, and positive integers lie to the right. 5. On the number line, numbers increase as you move right and decrease as you move left. 6. Since all negative integers are to the left of zero and all positive integers are to the right, any negative integer is always less than any positive integer. 7. For example, $-5 < 3$ because $-5$ is to the left of $3$ on the number line. 8. This is a fundamental property of integers and their order on the number line.