History UsefulNotes / ThirdWorld

A more politically correct terminology use today is:
* Developed country for post-industrial or highly industrialized countries (when the service sector provides more wealth than the industrial sector), a.k.a. high-income countries: the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, etc.
* Developing countries that still have an industrial-oriented economy yet they're close to post-industrial countries (essentially the "middle class" of countries) a.k.a. mid-income countries: Latin America, Eastern Europe, Northern Africa, South Africa, China, India, Russia, Iran, and several Arab and Asian countries. These countries are often called "emerging markets".
* Undeveloped countries or least developed countries that are still mostly agrarian economies a.k.a. low-income countries: most of Subsaharan Africa, most of Indochina, Haiti, Yemen, etc. (and these are most probably the ones Westerners refer to when saying "third world").

* Developing countries that still have an industrial-oriented economy yet they’re close to post-industrial countries (essentially the “middle class” of countries) a.k.a. mid-income countries: Latin America, Eastern Europe, Northern Africa, South Africa, China, India, Russia, Iran, and several Arab and Asian countries.

A more PoliticallyCorrect terminology use today is:

* Developing countries that still have an industrial-oriented economy yet they’re close to post-industrial countries (essentially the “middle class” of countries) a.k.a. mid-income countries: Latin America, Eastern Europe, Northern Africa, South Africa, China, India, Russia, Iran and several Arab and Asian countries.

* Very high development: United States, Canada, Western Europe, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina and Chile.
* High development: Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, most of South America, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, Eastern Europe, Russia, China and Iran.
* Medium development: India, Mongolia, Indonesia, most of the Indochina region, most of Central America (except the aforementioned Costa Rica and Panama) and most African countries.

Finally, it's worth mentioning that nations like China, India, Mexico, South Africa and Brazil are officially considered “[[RagsToRiches newly industrialized countries]]” by some scholars, yet it won’t be unusual for many people in the First World to call places like Mexico, Brazil or India “third world”, while on the other hand people in Latin America or China may refer to African countries as “the third world.”

->''In the past 1000 years, the Arabs have translated as many books as Spain translates in one year.''
-->--'''Larry Elder'''

* Developing countries that still have an industrial-oriented economy yet they’re close to be post-industrial countries (essentially the “middle class” of countries) a.k.a. mid-income countries: Latin America, Eastern Europe, Northern Africa, South Africa, China, India, Russia, Iran and several Arab and Asian countries.
* Undeveloped countries or least developed countries that are still mostly agrarian economies a.k.a. low-income countries: most of Subsaharian Africa, most of Indochina, Haiti, Yemen, etc. (and these are most probably the ones Westerners refer when meaning “third world”).

Finally, it's worth mentioning that nations like China, India, Mexico, South Africa and Brazil are officially considered “[[RagsToRiches newly industrialized countries]]” by some scholars, yet, won’t be unusual for many people in the First World to call places like Mexico, Brazil or India “third world”, while on the other hand people in Latin America or China may refer to African countries as “the third world.”

A very poor nation with scarce resources, sometimes torn apart by war and constant coups, the government will be almost always very corrupt if not blatantly totalitarian, it is also possible that gangs and criminal groups rule the streets and access to quality medical care and commodities, as in [[FirstWorldProblems the first world]], is rare. It's almost certain that no one would speak English and those who do would do it with an accent. Probably the population will be [[AmbiguouslyBrown brown-skinned]] (unless located in some [[{{Ruritania}} Eastern European country]]), if located in LatinLand they’ll probably be living near a beach and among palm trees and coconuts with mariachi music and a [[BananaRepublic fruit-base economy]], or they can be from Europe, but [[{{Spexico}} somehow more similar to California’s friendly neighbors]] than other Europeans. If the country is located in Africa you can expect [[DarkestAfrica dangerous jungles and uncivilized tribes]] or at least [[{{Bulungi}} tall thin shepherds and hungry children]]. But is it?

During the UsefulNotes/ColdWar the world was split in three places; the first world was EagleLand and its capitalist allies, especially (but not limited to) [[TheAlliance NATO members]], the second world was the socialist one with [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn USSR]] leading the way with both its "[[CommieLand satellite states]]" and some more rebellious (but still commies) pairs like China and Yugoslavia, and then the [[TakeTheThirdOption third option]], the [[TheNeutralZone neutrals]], the ones that were neither comrades, nor business partners; the Third World, also known as the non-aligned countries. [[note]] Some people added the “fourth world” for places poor even for third world standards[[/note]]

The term was ambiguous to begin with as was more based on politics than in economy, but as most members of the Third World were poor and underdeveloped then it became synonymous of "poor country", even when places like Cuba, Laos or Vietnam were part of the second world and places like Austria, Ireland and Switzerland were (in theory) third world.

* Undeveloped countries or least developed countries that are still mostly agrarian economies a.k.a. low-income countries: most of Subsaharian Africa, most of Indochina, Haiti, Yemen, etc. (and these are most probably the ones Westerners refer when meaning “third world”)

* Medium development: India, Mongolia, Indonesia, most of Indochina, most of Central America (except the aforementioned Costa Rica and Panama) and most African countries

Finally, it's worth mentioning that nations like China, India, Mexico, South Africa and Brazil are officially considered “[[RagsToRiches newly industrialized countries]]” by some scholars, yet, won’t be unusual for [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Coulter some Americans]] to call Mexico, Brazil or India “third world”, while on the other hand people in Latin America or China may refer to African countries as “the third world”.

At the end, as with people, the terminology you use to classify countries based in things like income and development is highly subjective, as for example living standards for people in Latin America or Mid East can be “poor” for someone from Scandinavia or the United States, but can be “rich” for people from Haiti and the Congo… or vice versa, after all, an African kid spending his time playing in open fields and prairies would probably be classified as “poor” while a kid spending most of his time inside an apartment building in a big city would be classified as “rich”.

[[caption-width-right:350:The traditional Cold War-era division; Blue are the [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Capitalist Pigs]], Red are the DirtyCommies and Green are the ThirdOption]]

Of course, what constitutes a poor country may be subjective, as for example some people would refer to UsefulNotes/LatinAmerica, UsefulNotes/NorthernAfrica and UsefulNotes/EasternEurope as part of the third world, even when currently they are not considered as such by the international community or economic organizations.

* Very high development: United States, Canada, Western Europe, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Australia and New Zealand.

Of course, what constitutes a poor country may be subjective, as for example some people would refer to LatinAmerica, NorthernAfrica and EasternEurope as part of the third world, even when currently they are not considered as such by the international community or economic organizations.

Keep in mind that [[UnreliableNarrator this classification]] was made by the IMF and is questioned by some people, so if you do not agree, [[DontShootTheMessage talk to them]]

* Low development: most of Subsaharian Africa, some parts of Asia and Haiti in North America.

During the UsefulNotes/ColdWar the world was split in three places; the first world was EagleLand and its capitalist allies, especially (but not limited to) [[TheAlliance NATO members]], the second world was the socialist one with [[SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn USSR]] leading the way with both its "[[CommieLand satellite states]]" and some more rebellious (but still commies) pairs like China and Yugoslavia, and then the [[TakeTheThirdOption third option]], the [[TheNeutralZone neutrals]], the ones that were neither comrades, nor business partners; the Third World, also known as the non-aligned countries. [[note]] Some people added the “fourth world” for places poor even for third world standards[[/note]]

* Low development: most of Subsaharian Africa, some parts of Asia and Haiti in the Americas.

Finally, it's worth mentioning that nations like China, India, Mexico, South Africa and Brazil are officially considered “[[RagsToRiches newly industrialize countries]]” by some scholars, yet, won’t be unusual for [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Coulter some Americans]] to call Mexico, Brazil or India “third world”, while on the other hand people in Latin America or China may refer to African countries as “the third world”.

[[caption-width-right:350:The traditional Cold War-era division; Blue are the [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Capitalist Pigs]], Red are DirtyCommies and Green are The ThirdOption]]

[[caption-width-right:350:The traditional Cold War-era division; Green are the [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Capitalist Pigs]], Red are DirtyCommies and Green are The ThirdOption]]

During the ColdWar the world was split in three places; the first world was EagleLand and its capitalist allies, especially (but not limited to) [[TheAlliance NATO members]], the second world was the socialist one with [[SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn USSR]] leading the way with both its "[[CommieLand satellite states]]" and some more rebellious (but still commies) pairs like China and Yugoslavia, and then the [[TakeTheThirdOption third option]], the [[TheNeutralZone neutrals]], the ones that were neither comrades, nor business partners; the Third World, also known as the non-aligned countries. [[note]] Some people added the “fourth world” for places poor even for third world standards[[/note]]

But the ColdWar ended, the UsefulNotes/IronCurtain fell and the second world disappears for all practical purposes. The usage of “third world” became obsolete in most academic circles and literature and nowadays is rarely used in official documents. Yet, in many media and in popular speech can still be used as a somewhat derogatory term for ''not the first world''.

The term was ambiguous to begin with as was more based on politics than in economy, but as most members of the Third World were poor and underdeveloped then it became synonymous of “poor country”, even when places like Cuba, Laos or Vietnam were part of the second world and places like Austria, Ireland and Switzerland were (in theory) third world.

But the ColdWar ended, the IronCurtain fell and the second world disappears for all practical purposes. The usage of “third world” became obsolete in most academic circles and literature and nowadays is rarely used in official documents. Yet, in many media and in popular speech can still be used as a somewhat derogatory term for ''not the first world''.

Another classification is the Human Development Index from the UnitedNations that as of 2014 was:

At the end, as with people, the terminology you use to classify countries based in things like income and development is highly subjective, as for example living standards for people in Latin America or Mid East can be “poor” for someone from Scandinavia or the United States, but can be “rich” for people from Haiti and the Congo… or vice versa, after all, an African kid spending his time playing in open fields and prairies would probably be classified as “poor” while a kid spending most of his time inside an apartment building in a big city would be classified as “rich”.