Demographers, economists and other social scientists often attempt to classify the world into categories for easier study. In many of these attempts various characteristics of each country are used in the classification. Most often the standard of living, type of government, the level of industrialization and the economic performance of the country are used. One way of classifying the world is by dividing countries into 3 categories; First World, Second World and Third World. These categories are well-known but have become less useful in the '80s and '90s. Social scientists found that the Third World category was so large that 2 other categories were suggested: Fourth and Fifth World. The following are characteristics of each World.

First World - a high standard of living with a high level of industrialization - usually a democratically elected government and a healthy economic performance - eg. USA, Japan, Germany, Canada, etc.

Second World - a moderate standard of living, a moderate level of industrialization, a communist government - eg. Old Soviet Union, Cuba, China, North Korea

Third World - on the road to industrialization with industries exploiting the newly discovered natural resources, a low to moderate standard of living - a small upper class and large lower class - eg. Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, Iran etc.

Fourth World - a lower standard of living than Third World countries - they have the potential to industrialize but need capital to exploit their resources to their fullest potential - eg. Turkey, Peru, India etc.

Fifth World - very little potential to industrialize (in the Western sense) - low standard of living - few resources - eg. Sudan, Mali, Somalia, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Chad etc.

In the '90s, social scientists have attempted to reclassify the World. Some social scientists have suggested the terms Developed and Developing countries for classifying those countries which have already seen economic progress and industrialization and those which are still going through the process. Other social scientists have proposed that the World be divided into North and South countries where, with few exceptions, the North countries are the well-developed ones with high standards of living and the South are the poorer, less developed countries. For this course, you will come across the North/South terms and the 5 Worlds terms but, for the most part, we will be using the developed/developing terminology. In some cases it may be termed DC (developed countries) and LDC (lesser developed countries).