Gerrrrrrrrr This is like 8th grade stuff man. There are 3 categories. The rest are jokes, or bad comparisons *First world nation> about a dozen of them>USA,japan,UK… *Developing nations>mexico, south Africa, china (though I rate it as aover populated 3world nation with a lot of factories!).. *Third world nations> about 160 of them Samalia, afganistan…

I have never heard second world nations described as developing nations before. I have always understood them to be Communist bloc countries, such as Eastern Europe, Cuba etc.

My understanding was that there were the following: 1st world: developed , industrialized nations, established legal systems, etc. examples: USA, Japan, UK, France, Australia etc. 2nd world: developing nations, stable growing nation-states Brazil, South Africa, China, etc. 3rd world: unstable, poverty-ridden, relies on outside aid Chad, Haiti, Somalia I have never heard the terms 4th or 5th world.

I'm pretty sure the Xth world categorization came about as a result of the cold war. The first world was the West (and Japan eventually). The second world was the Soviet Bloc. The rest of the world was then lumped into the Third World. I'm not quite so sure the term works all that well anymore. At the very least there's a lot more 1st world-ish countries now. You could probably make a case for more categories if you chose. First would would still be composed of the biggest economic powers with high GDP per capita (USA, EU, Japan). Then you'd have well off, but not top tier countries(Korea, Taiwan, Chile). Follow this with up and comers(China, India, Brazil), and round out with lost causes(Zimbabwe, Ecuador, Burma). buzzard

"Third world" countries were renamed "developing countries", I believe after the demise of the soviet union (the iron curtain communist economic bloc). The first world is now termed "developped" or "industrialized". Way back when I was in school I heard the term fourth world bandied about in reference to Somalia, Ethiopia and Afghanistan; the economic basketcases basically. 5th world never existed.

--My understanding was that there were the following: 1st world: developed , industrialized nations, established legal systems, etc. examples: USA, Japan, UK, France, Australia etc. 2nd world: developing nations, stable growing nation-states Brazil, South Africa, China, etc. 3rd world: unstable, poverty-ridden, relies on outside aid Chad, Haiti, Somalia I have never heard the terms 4th or 5th world. -- Sounds about right........hey Mex where did you hear about this 4th or 5th world stuff?

First World: Pretty well known, so I will skip this. BTW parts of former Soviet Union WAS a part of the "First World" ~ Atleast White Russia and East Germany. Second World: Nations with near-First World standards of living, but with very little economic growth or initiative. Mainly subsisting on natural resources and similar sources of income. Ex. Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait etc. recently joined by Russia (per my definition, at least). Third World: Most of the developing world ~ including China and India. AND folks THERE IS such a thing as a Fourth World country... Fourth World: Nations that actually experience not only negative growth, but also negative potential for growth. At time of its publication (2000) Afghhanistan and Somalia were the cited examples. Some would argue its time to broaden the spectrum to include a FIFTH WORLD also, defined as a "country" thats slowly disolving away into a more primeval state of policial being (which simply cannot be captured in English). They are defacto states where "State" no longer exists, but rather run by NGOs (i.e militias or terrorist organizations)

I was cnn and I found the term 4th world city, for New Orleans' current state. From their I just wandered about it since I never looked into it.

1) Developed Countries: USA, Western and Northern Europe, Canada, Oz and NZ, Japan, Israel. 2.1) Former Soviet Block. 2.2) Asiatic Dragons: SK, Singapore, Taiwan. 2.3) In-Development Powers: India, China, Brazil. 2.4) Other In-Development Countries: Pakistan, Iran, South Africa (regarding the differences of living conditions inside the Pop.), UAE, Kuwait, Asian Tigers... 3) Under-developed countries: Sub-saharian Africa, Albania...

Mao proposed his theory in early 70s, and quite famous at that time: Soviet and US are the first world, which dominate the world affairs; West Europe and Japan are the second world, developed but not dominated; Others are the third world. According to the theory, the Third world should make use of/ally with the Second world, to bring down the First World, which are the oppressors of the whole world.