Third World

E2411

Cold War terminology development studies concept geopolitical concept

The Third World refers to the group of nations—mostly in Africa, Asia, and Latin America—that were historically non-aligned or less economically developed during the Cold War, often contrasted with the capitalist First World and communist Second World.

Observed surface forms (3)

Surface form	Occurrences
Global South	16
Global South grouping	1
global South	1

Statements (52)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Cold War terminology ⓘ development studies concept ⓘ geopolitical concept ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	Tercer Mundo ⓘ tiers monde ⓘ
associatedWithConference	Bandung Conference ⓘ
associatedWithMovement	Non-Aligned Movement ⓘ
coinedBy	Alfred Sauvy ⓘ
coinedIn	1952 ⓘ
contrastedWith	First World ⓘ Second World ⓘ
criticizedFor	being pejorative ⓘ oversimplifying diverse countries ⓘ reinforcing stereotypes ⓘ
economicCharacteristic	dependence on primary commodities ⓘ high levels of poverty ⓘ limited industrialization ⓘ low income ⓘ
fieldOfUse	development economics ⓘ international relations ⓘ political science ⓘ postcolonial studies ⓘ
firstAppearedIn	French magazine L’Observateur ⓘ
geographicalFocus	Africa ⓘ Asia ⓘ Latin America ⓘ
historicallyAssociatedWith	Third World self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Global South developing countries ⓘ non-aligned countries ⓘ postcolonial states ⓘ
implies	economic underdevelopment ⓘ marginalization in global power structures ⓘ political dependency ⓘ
increasinglyReplacedBy	Third World self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Global South developing countries ⓘ low and middle income countries ⓘ
originOfTerm	analogy with Third Estate in pre-revolutionary France ⓘ
politicalAlignment	non-aligned with NATO ⓘ non-aligned with Warsaw Pact ⓘ
relatedConcept	Third World self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Global South Non-Aligned Movement ⓘ developing world ⓘ least developed countries ⓘ
socialCharacteristic	limited access to education ⓘ limited access to healthcare ⓘ lower human development indicators ⓘ
timePeriodOfProminentUse	1950s ⓘ 1960s ⓘ 1970s ⓘ 1980s ⓘ
usageDeclinedAfter	end of Cold War ⓘ
usedDuring	Cold War ⓘ