Third World and poverty? When people hear or use the word ‘third
world’ there is a common misconception that it refers to the
economic development of the country. So third world countries
are those with low economic development while first world
countries are those with high economic development. However this
is completely wrong and actually refers to an outdated means of
seperating the political alliances of the various countries
during the Cold War. First World: The First world actually
refers to capitalist or industrialised countries that were
aligned or under the American sphere of influence after WWII.
These included Australia, the UK, France and so on. Second
World: Second world was a reference to communist and socialist
countries that were aligned with the USSR. These included
Russia, China and many Eastern European countries like Poland.
Third World: The third world countries were countries that were
not aligned to either the US or the USSR. They were made up of a
mix of the industrialised, the rich,