Third World - Definition, What is Third World, Advantages of Third World, and Latest News - ClearTax (2024)

Introduction

‘Third world’ refers to economically weaker nations. ‘Third world’ countries are generally represented by lack of basic infrastructure facilities, high poverty, and economic instability. Third world countries are behind the first world and second world countries, but ahead of the fourth world countries. Third world countries generally consist of the developing countries of Asia and Africa.

Significance of Third World

1) The term ‘Third world’ was coined on the basis of economic segmentation of the world.

2) The classification of countries into ‘First’, ‘Second’, ‘Third’ and ‘Fourth’ happened during the cold war, which existed from the year 1945 to approximately the 1990s.

3) Countries are generally characterised based on their economic status and other key economic indicators, such as employment growth, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), GDP growth, and rate of unemployment. ‘Third’ world countries lag behind in most economic indicators in comparison to ‘First’ and ‘Second’ world countries.

4) The low growth in ‘Third’ world countries is also characterised by poor infrastructure, lack of sanitation and healthcare facilities, low level of education, and inadequate standards of living.

5) ‘Third’ world countries carry tremendous opportunities for growth. Many investors, especially from the ‘First’ and ‘Second’ world countries target ‘Third’ world countries for their potential for high growth and high returns, in spite of high risks. ‘Third’ world countries are ground for potential growth. Innovations and industrial breakthroughs can enable significant improvements in a short span of time.

Conclusion

‘Third’ world countries are closely watched by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) for infrastructure improvements and providing developmental aid to their economy. The ‘Third’ world categorisation is no longer relevant.

Presently, countries are categorised into one of the three general categories, namely developed, emerging, and frontier. The developed countries are the most industrialised. The emerging countries show signs of economic growth. The frontier countries closely resemble ‘Third’ world countries. They include Croatia, Estonia, Lithuania, Serbia, Nigeria and so on comprised in the Frontier markets list.

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CONTENTS

  • Introduction
  • Significance of Third World
  • Conclusion
Third World - Definition, What is Third World, Advantages of Third World, and Latest News - ClearTax (2024)

FAQs

Third World - Definition, What is Third World, Advantages of Third World, and Latest News - ClearTax? ›

'Third world' refers to economically weaker nations. 'Third world' countries are generally represented by lack of basic infrastructure facilities, high poverty, and economic instability. Third world countries are behind the first world

first world
Today, the terms are slightly outdated and have no official definition. However, the "First World" is generally thought of as the capitalist, industrial, wealthy, and developed countries. This definition includes the countries of North America and Western Europe, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand.
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › First_World
and second world
second world
The concept of "Second World" was a construct of the Cold War and the term is still largely used to describe former communist countries that are between poverty and prosperity, many of which are now capitalist states, such as Eastern Europe.
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Second_World
countries, but ahead of the fourth world countries.

What is the definition of Third World? ›

In political discourse, the term Third World was often associated with being underdeveloped. Some countries in the Eastern Bloc, such as Cuba, were often regarded as Third World. The Third World was normally seen to include many countries with colonial pasts in Africa, Latin America, Oceania, and Asia.

What are the advantages of living in a third world country? ›

A More Reasonable Cost of Living

The decreased cost of living in a third-world country is one of the benefits of living in that country that is most readily apparent.

What is the Third World definition PDF? ›

Third World countries were labeled during the Cold War to reference those nations that were not aligned with either the United States or the Soviet Union. Now that the Soviet Union no longer exists, the term Third World is still used, but the definition is not as precise and is open to some interpretation.

Is Africa a third world country? ›

The Third World includes all countries of Africa (except South Africa), Asia (except Japan), and Latin America and the Caribbean, and some states and territories of Oceania.

What is an example of Third World? ›

What is an example of a third world country? Under the Cold War definition of a third world country, Venezuela, the Philippines, and Egypt were third world countries. Modern developing countries include Somalia, Honduras, and Nepal.

What was the original definition of a third world country? ›

The Third World, meanwhile, encompassed all the other countries that were not actively aligned with either side in the Cold War. These were often impoverished former European colonies, and included nearly all the nations of Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia.

What are the disadvantages of the Third World? ›

In developing countries, low production rates and struggling labor market characteristics are usually paired with relatively low levels of education, poor infrastructure, lack of sanitation, limited access to health care, and lower costs of living.

What is the importance of Third World? ›

5) 'Third' world countries carry tremendous opportunities for growth. Many investors, especially from the 'First' and 'Second' world countries target 'Third' world countries for their potential for high growth and high returns, in spite of high risks. 'Third' world countries are ground for potential growth.

How much money do you need to live in a third world country? ›

In third world countries, 75 percent of the population lives on less than $2 per day. While our $4 means a cup of coffee at Starbucks or Gloria Jean's, that same money can make a huge difference in a place where a couple dollars goes a long way. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 25 percent of the population is hungry.

What is the poorest country in the world? ›

Percentage of population living on less than $2.15, $3.65 and $6.85 a day
Country$2.15Year
Congo, Dem. Rep.78.9%2020
Congo35.4%2011
Colombia6.0%2022
Comoros18.6%2014
92 more rows

Is the US still a First World country? ›

First world countries included Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States, among others. Today, the term has fallen somewhat out of favor, as critics argue it is an outmoded model for understanding national development.

What makes a country Third World? ›

What is “Third World”? The modern definition of “Third World” is used to classify countries that are poor or developing. Countries that are part of the “third world” are generally characterized by (1) high rates of poverty, (2) economic and/or political instability, and (3) high mortality rates.

What are the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd world countries? ›

The First World consisted of the U.S., Western Europe and their allies. The Second World was the so-called Communist Bloc: the Soviet Union, China, Cuba and friends. The remaining nations, which aligned with neither group, were assigned to the Third World. The Third World has always had blurred lines.

What is the difference between first world and Third World? ›

First world nations are those described as highly-developed industrialized, technologically-advanced, educated, and wealthy. In contrast to developing (second world) and less-developed (third world) countries, the first world is seen to enjoy many benefits such as a relatively high quality of life and prosperity.

What does living in third world mean? ›

(ˈθɜrdˌwɜrld ) adjective. of or like the Third World; specif., economically underdeveloped, politically unstable, etc. a third-world standard of living.

How many countries are in the Third World? ›

There are currently 45 economies designated by the United Nations as the least developed countries (LDCs), entitling them to preferential market access, aid, special technical assistance, and capacity-building on technology among other concessions.

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