the north is mostly correlated with the western world and the first world, plus much of the second world, while the south largely corresponds with the third world and eastern world, although latin america is often thought of as being neither eastern nor western. the two groups are often defined in terms of their differing levels of wealth, economic development, income inequality, democracy, and political and economic freedom, as defined by freedom indices. nations in the north tend to be wealthier, less unequal and considered more democratic and to be developed countries who export technologically advanced manufactured products; southern states are generally poorer developing countries with younger, more fragile democracies heavily dependent on primary sector exports and frequently share a history of past colonialism by northern states. nevertheless, the divide between the north and the south is often challenged and said to be increasingly incompatible with reality.