Hopefully, by now, we’re all savvy enough to stop saying “third world” countries.
But saying
“developing nations” sounds condescending too.
We usually end up calling them “those
nations”, which might be even worse.
Which nations?
“Those nations...
over there.
Don’t touch
them.”
So... what should we call “those nations”?
First off, the term “Third World” is really wrong.
It
comes from the 1950’s, and at the time, the First World meant countries aligned with
the West
or the United States.
The Second World was nations aligned with Communist Russia.
This only
sort of made sense then, and makes absolutely no sense now.
As for the “Third World”, that referred to everything else...it includes “those
nations” we mean
when we say “third world”, but it also included places like Greenland and the United
Arab
Emirates.
It was a real catch-all and as such it’s not super useful.
So... what about the term “developing nations”?
India, China, and Brazil are actively developing
and sort of fit in to that category, but people tend to call those “newly industrialized
countries.”
Or just India, China and Brazil.
“Developing nations” also include places like Syria and Somalia.
But they aren’t developing at
all.
In fact they’re spiraling.
So, the word “developing” in developing nations doesn’t actually
mean anything.
You could say “poor nations”, but not if you go off their GDP.
Currently Iraq is 56 on the UN’s list
and Iceland is 123.
When you’re talking about poverty, you don’t mean Iceland.
So for the last time: what should you say?
Well, it’s awkward and long, but you should say
Countries On The UN’s List Of Least Developed Nations.
Which is a mouthful, but accurate.
These 48 countries on the official and somewhat regularly updated list are “those nations”.
Granted, it doesn’t include all the nations people mean when they throw around those other
terms.
But when you’re talking about world poverty, it’s a place to start.