THE GLOBAL DIVIDES:

THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH

What is North-South Divide?

The North-South Divide is a socio-economic and political categorization of countries. The Cold-War-era
generalization places countries in two distinct groups; The North and the South. The North is comprised
of all First World countries ( mayaman pero democratic ) and most Second World countries ( mayaman
pero communist or socialist ) while the South is comprised of Third World countries ( mahirap na
democratic or communist ) . This categorization ignores the geographic position of countries with some
countries in the southern hemisphere such as Australia and New Zealand being labeled as part of the
North. ( Rich countries)

GLOBAL NORTH VS GLOBAL SOUTH

GLOBAL NORTH

• United States, Canada, Western Europe. Outermost Regions of the European Union •Developed parts
of Asia, Australia and new Zealand

 Korea Japan China .. part of north

• Home to all G8 (France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Japan, the United States, Canada and
Russia) and to four of the five permanent members of UN Security Council ( 8 Most richest and powerful
countries in the whole world )

GLOBAL SOUTH

• Africa, Latin America

• Developing Asia, Including Middle East

GLOBAL NORTH

• First World

• Richer and More Developed Region

• 95% has enough food and shelter

• Economy: industries and major businesses, commerce and finance

• Textiles, lumber, clothing. machinery, leather, and wooden goods

• Railroad Construction

GLOBAL SOUTH

• Third World

• Poor and Less Developed Region

• 5% has enough food and shelter

• Source for a Raw Materials of the North

• Cotton Production

• Depended entirely on cotton

Major Differences North-South

POPULATION

• The Worlds total Population is 7.7 billion • The most populous country is China (1.398 million) and
2nd is India (1.311Million)

• The Global North cover the one-quarter of total Population ( mas kunti ang tao pero mayayaman )
while the South cover three-quarters of total Population ( mas marami ang tao at karamihan sa kamila
ay mahihirap )
WEALTH

•The total Wealth in the World is 280 trillion

•The Richest Man: Jeff Bezos with a net worth of 149.5 billion USD

•The Richest Country in the world is Qatar ($124,930 per capita) and 2nd is the country Luxembourg
($109,190 per capita)

•The Global North is controlling the 80% total income of the world

•Inversely, the South only controlling the 20% total income of the World

STANDARD OF LIVING

•South lacks the right technology, it is politically unstable, its economies are divided, and its foreign
exchange depend on primary products exports to the North

- Lack of technology, mahirap nag pamumuhay , politically unstable ( magulo ang bansa ) at ang
kanilanh economy ay bagsak

•About 95% of the population in countries in The North have enough basic needs and have access to
functioning education systems.

• In the South, as little as 5% of the population is able to access basic needs such as food and shelter

INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT

•The North of the Divide is comprised of countries which have developed economies and account for
over 90% of all manufacturing industries in the World.

•The economies of most countries in the South rely on imports from the North and have low
technological penetration

•The South serves as the Raw Materials of South

AGRICULTURE

The Global South ( Agricultural countries) is characterized with a very high rate of people working in
rural areas and according to (Todaro, 2006) over 65% are rurally based, compared to less than 27% in
the Global North ( Industrialized, manufacturing industries) , Similarly 58 % of the labor force is engaged
in agriculture, compared to only 50% in Global North. Agriculture contributes about 14% of the GNI of
Global South Nations but only 3% of the GNI of Global North. Todaro further argued that people in the
Global South countries concentrate on agricultural production because since their incomes are low their
first priorities are food, clothing, and shelter and also due to the primitive nature of technologies, poor
organization and limited physical and human capital inputs.

What is Brandt Line?

It is a divisionary line which simply separates the rich countries in the North from the poor countries in
the South. It encircles the world at latitude of 30°N. It crosses North and Central America, North of
Africa and India, and then it goes down towards the South, placing Australia and New Zealand above the
line.

HISTORY OF THE DIVIDE

The idea of categorizing countries by their economic and developmental status began during the Cold
War with the classifications of East and West. The Soviet Union and China represented the East, and the
United States and their allies represented the West. The term “Third World” was coined by states
hoping to navigate between the two poles of the Cold War, and ultimately gave birth to the Non-Aligned
Movement. These countries were generally less economically developed than their First- and Second-
World counterparts. As some Second World countries joined the First World, and others joined the
Third World, a new and simpler classification was needed. The First World became the “North’ and the
Third World became the “South.

CLASSIFYING COUNTIRIES

Countries can be classified into three

Different types:

• Most Developed Countries (MDCs) *Rich countries

• Less Developed Countries (LDCs) * Developing countries ex. Philippines

• Least Developed Countries (LLDCs) *African countries poor

REASONS:

There are three (3) main reasons why our world is so unequal today

• Colonialism

• Trade

• Debt

NORTH AND SOUTH ARE THE SAME