|
The original meanings of "1st world, 2nd world, 3rd world" were
US and allies (mostly Europe, Japan, Korea, Australia) == 1,
Iron Curtain and Communist countries (mostly Soviet Union/China) == 2,
Everyone else == 3.
It is purely a US-centric Cold War definition and has nothing to do with tech/soc/cultural status.
Today, the terms are meaningless, though the "3rd world" label still gets tosses around a bit as a pejorative.
|