Where did the term "third world country" come from? And...is there a "second world country?

Answer 1

There is no "first" or "second" world countries.

Originally it was the "Old World" (Europe) and the "New World" (North and South America). Once Africa opened up to trade and exploration, they had to have something to call it, and "Newer World" was just silly so "Third World" was adopted.

It's only fairly recently that the term "Third World" has come to mean an undeveloped and/or impoverished country.

Answer 2

The term "third world" was actually coined by economist Alfred Sauvy in an article in the French magazine L'Observateur of August 14, 1952. It was a deliberate reference to the "Third Estate" of the French Revolution. Tiers monde means third world in French. The term gained widespread popularity during the Cold War when many poorer nations adopted the category to describe themselves as neither being aligned with NATO or the USSR, but instead composing a non-aligned "third world" (in this context, the term "First World" was generally understood to mean the United States and its allies in the Cold War, which would have made the East bloc the "Second World" by default; however, the latter term was seldom actually used).

These sites give good information and explanations.

Answer 3

During the Cold War, the capitalist countries of the western hemisphere were considered first world countries. Communist countries of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union were considered the "second world." The word "third world" arose when trying to describe the remaining countries where economies had not yet developed enough to be considered either first or second world. Likewise, these so-called third world countries were targets of US and USSR persuasion. That is to say, the first and second world countries wanted to win these third world countries to their side of the economic debate. Because they were not affiliated, they were also considered "third" in a battle of two.

Answer 4

as scott said, this is a cold war terminology.
french demographer sauvy (forgot his name) was the first to use it. in his context, it referred to countries apart from the soviet union, or the western countries. the other terms (first world and second world) also evolved but these did not evolve simultanously.
the first world were broadly referred to as the western nations- north america (basically nato area) and western europe. second world was the former ussr and (usually) the colonized (poor) countries were the third world. however, many countries did not fit in. countries which chose to be neutral during the cold war did not fit in any category.

Answer 5

Christians

Answer 6

In times past, the 2nd World meant the communist world. These are Cold War terminology.

Answer 7

Scott got it. The second world was the communist block. It no longer exists.

Answer 8

Hmmm...for some reason that I can't quite put my finger on, this question seems strikingly familiar....

Answer 9

from eourope