First World

E12967

The First World refers to the group of economically developed, industrialized, and often Western-aligned countries, historically contrasted with the developing or non-aligned nations of the Third World.

Aliases (1)
  • Global North ×1

Statements (54)
Predicate Object
instanceOf Cold War term
geopolitical concept
socioeconomic category
alignedAgainst Eastern Bloc
Soviet Union
alignedWith United States
Western Bloc
associatedWithOrganization European Economic Community
NATO
OECD
characterizedBy advanced technological infrastructure
developed capitalist economies
high gross domestic product per capita
high level of industrialization
high standard of living
liberal democratic systems
stable political institutions
contrastedInTermsOf degree of industrialization
level of economic development
standard of living
contrastedWith Second World
Third World
criticizedFor Eurocentrism
oversimplification of global inequalities
emergedDuring Cold War
hasAlternativeName Western world
developed world
industrialized world
historicallyDefinedBy capitalist economic system
membership in Western military alliances
political alignment with the United States
includesTypicalExamples Australia
Austria
Belgium
Canada
Denmark
France
Iceland
Italy
Japan
Luxembourg
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Sweden
Switzerland
United Kingdom
United States
West Germany
replacedBy Global North
usedInField development studies
international relations
political science
sociology

Referenced by (2)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
Third World
contrastedWith
First World ("Global North")
replacedBy

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