why are there only 1st world countries and third world countries,what about second world countries?

Question

i am from south africa and would like to know why it classified as equal to all the extreme poverished countries in africa like ethiopia and sudan. south africa is actually a decent country with a stable economy and it is much better that other african countries.so where is the second world countries?

Answer 1

The "Second World" is the SOCIALIST World. It hardly exists today. And those countries that are socialist seem to fit better into the dirt-poor Third World: North Korea, Cuba . . .

"Third world was coined in French (le tiers monde) by the population expert Alfred Sauvy, to refer to those poor countries, especially in Latin America, Africa and Asia, which were aligned with neither the communist nor the capitalist blocs. It appeared in an article in L’Observateur on 14 August 1952: 'Ce Tiers-Monde, ignoré, exploité, méprisé comme le Tiers-État' ('That Third World, ignored, exploited, scorned, like the Third Estate'). He created it with a nod to a famous pamphlet by the Abbé Sieyès in January 1789 about the Third Estate, le Tiers-État, one of the classes in the Estates-General, a pamphlet that was influential in the lead-up to the French Revolution later that year. The Third Estate was the commons or the ordinary people, the First Estate being the clergy and the Second Estate the nobility (the English term Fourth Estate, the press, came from this classification by analogy some decades later).

"Third world was taken up in translation by economists and politicians in Britain and the United States in the early 1960s. By analogy, first world and second world were later coined from it in English, being recorded respectively in 1967 and 1974. The former was a collective term for the developed countries that were based on a capitalist model of high-income market economies, of which the USA is the principal example. This was contrasted with the second world, the relatively high-income Communist countries or those with centrally planned economies in which the government owns the means of production; here the USSR was the prime case. Neither term was as widely used as third world; both have lost popularity since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 except in historical contexts, though the phrase first world countries for the industrialised nations is still fairly common."

Answer 2

Actually, nowadays, it is politically incorrect to call a country first- or third-world. They are only developed, or developing. Hence, South Africa and Sudan would both be under "developing" and countries like America would be "developed".

In this way, it eliminates any talk of first-, second-, or third-world classifications.

Answer 3

I believe that "second-world countries" are countries which are "built", meaning they are structured with an operating government, enough food for the people, and jobs exist.

The only difference, I believe, is that "second-world" countries don't have a great economy, with high amounts of unemployment. The economy is generally controlled by the government.

The old U.S.S.R. is the most known example of this.

Answer 4

Just like the rich all over the world always try to crush the middle class so that they can maintain a big gap between them and the poor, so the first world countries call the poorer ones third world to keep that same kind of gap --- except in this case on an INTERNATIONAL basis --- bigger and wider!

Answer 5

I believe that the 'second world countries' refers to the communist nations, especially those in the Soviet Bloc. It doesnt really apply anymore as the world has changed. I dont think the term ever really has a lot to do with the economics or poverty of a region, although as the world has changed so has the definition changed in peoples understanding of it to mean that.

Answer 6

Second world refers to the former Soviet nations. The First world was anyone allied with NATO and the US. The Third world was anyone not aligned with either. These terms are no longer relevant today, since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Answer 7

There are second world countries, it is just not many people talk about them. Many countries in Asia and Central America are classified as second world.

Answer 8

"Second World" refers to the former communist-socialist, industrial states, (formerly the Eastern bloc, the territory and sphere of influence of the Union of Soviet Socialists Republic) today: Russia, Eastern Europe (e.g., Poland) and some of the Turk States (e.g., Kazakhstan) as well as China.

To see the following list more easily - take a look at the source.
Country formerly part of: Region
Albania * Southern Europe
Armenia Soviet Union Western Asia
Azerbaijan Soviet Union Western Asia
Belarus Soviet Union Eastern Europe
Bosnia and Herzegovina Yugoslavia Southern Europe
Bulgaria Eastern Europe
Croatia Yugoslavia Southern Europe
Czech Republic Czechoslovakia Eastern Europe
Estonia annexed by Soviet Union** Northern Europe
Georgia Soviet Union Western Asia
East Germany Western Europe
Hungary Eastern Europe
Kazakhstan Soviet Union South-Central Asia
Kyrgyzstan Soviet Union South-Central Asia
Latvia annexed by Soviet Union** Northern Europe
Lithuania annexed by Soviet Union** Northern Europe
Macedonia Yugoslavia Southern Europe
Moldova Soviet Union Eastern Europe
Montenegro Yugoslavia
Poland Eastern Europe
Romania Eastern Europe
Russia Soviet Union Northern Europe/Asia
Serbia Yugoslavia Southern Europe
Slovakia Czechoslovakia Eastern Europe
Slovenia Yugoslavia Southern Europe
Tajikistan Soviet Union South-Central Asia
Turkmenistan Soviet Union South-Central Asia
Ukraine Soviet Union Eastern Europe
Uzbekistan Soviet Union South-Central Asia
(Formerly) Communist States in Asia ***
China Eastern Asia
Korea (North) Korea Eastern Asia
Lao PDR South East Asia
Mongolia**** China, until 1921 Eastern Asia
Viet Nam (North) South East Asia

* Albania broke Soviet influence in the 1960s and aligned itself with China.
** The forcible annexation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania into the Soviet Union in 1940 was considered illegal by the United States and most Western European democracies and the three nations were de jure not considered parts of the Soviet Union.
*** This countries are considered sometimes being part of the Second World, the relatively high-income Communist countries or those with centrally planned economies in which the government owns the means of production.
**** Today Mongolia is a parliamentary republic.

Answer 9

never heard of 1st world countries before but i see what you mean. second world countries would be developing countries like india. but the usual labeling is:

LEDC's- less economicaly developed countries
MEDC's- more economicaly developed countries

Answer 10

Now there is no first, second third.
There are only two countires.
First countries: that represent the sole pole of the world.
Margin countires: that does not coincide with the pole.