Global North and South

Global North is in blue, Global South is in red

In geopolitics, the Global South (sometimes abbreviated to GS) is a general term that roughly designates the economically exploited capitalist economies, in contrast, the Global North (GN) are the most advanced capitalist countries, whose wealth was largely generated from their colonial pasts and their modern involvement in imperialism.

It's important to note that as this is a geopolitical term, some leeway must be accounted for. For example, China is generally considered by financial institutions to be part of the South, despite them soon achieving the highest GDP in the world. Israel is considered to be part of the Global North, due to its close relationship with and its strategic importance to the Global North ex-colonial powers.

The term Third world is a disambiguation; it referred to underdeveloped capitalist countries which were not totally aligned with either bloc during the Cold War. The term "developing countries" is misleading, as it ignores the fact that their development is impeded by already developed countries that either maintain them as client states or make them economically dependent on export/imports from the rich parts of the world.

In 1500, the average income in Europe was only three times higher than in Africa and Asia, but that difference grew to ten times by 1960. In addition, in 1960, the richest 20 countries were 18 times as rich as the 20 poorest countries in terms of GDP per capita. This ratio grew to 37 times in 1995.