WHAT IS GLOBAL DIVIDES?

independent countries and 3 major

territories.
- Global Divides refers to disparities or o In some uses, ‘South
the separation between the America’ may include the
developed (Global North) and the portion of Panama south of
developing (Global South) countries. the Isthmus of Panama.
- The North-South divide is a socio- o Islands near the main
economic and political categorization continent are also considered
of countries and it arose during the to be part of South America.
Cold War of the mid 20th century. These include Easter Island
Before, countries were primarily (Chile), the Galapagos
categorized according to their Islands (Ecuador), the
alignment between the Russian East Falkland Islands (U.K.) and
and the American West. South Georgia Islands (U.K.).

HOW DO WE DEFINE NORTH, SOUTH, CAUSES OF THE DIVISION BETWEEN

LATIN AMERICA? THE NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA

LATIN AMERICA 1. Industry vs. Farming – In the mid-

- a region, cultural and geographical 1800s, northern states did not need
world or group of countries having a to rely on slave labor in farming due
lot of geographical, political, cultural to transition from farming to industry,
and other similarities between while southern states maintained a
themselves and at the same time large farming economy based on
very different from one another. slave labor.
o Latin America is a cultural 2. Slavery – The South’s issues
entity of a very diverse group revolved around slavery, as it was
of people who differ by relied upon for labor. Abolitionists,
nationality, race, ethnicity like John Brown, Frederick
and culture. Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and
o Spanish is common Harriet Beecher Stowe, argued for
throughout Latin America its illegalization, causing fear among
and Portuguese is the main the South.
language of Brazil.. 3. Bleeding Kansas- The Kansas-
o Among the exceptions that Nebraska Act in 1854 led to the first
could not be considered part fighting over slavery in Kansas,
of Latin America are Belize, resulting in Bleeding Kansas, a
Guyana, Surinam and skirmish involving several deaths,
Trinidad and Tobago. and ultimately resulting in Kansas
becoming a free state in 1861.
NORTH AMERICA 4. Abraham Lincoln – Abraham
- North America is a continent that Lincoln, a member of the anti-
includes Canada, the United States, slavery Republican Party, won the
Mexico, Central America and the presidential election in ten southern
islands of the Caribbean Sea. states without being on the ballot,
o Geographically, the North causing tensions in the South.
American continent also 5. Secession – Due to Lincoln winning
includes Greenland, though the election, many of the southern
culturally and politically, the states decided to leave the United
country is more aligned with States, starting with South Carolina,
Europe. eleven states would eventually leave
o In some uses of ‘North and form a new country called,
America’, Central America “Confederate States of America”.
and the Caribbean are Abraham Lincoln tried to stop the
excluded and in others, even South from Leaving and the Civil
Mexico is left out of the War began.
definition.
o North America includes 23 During the Cold War, countries were
independent countries. categorized based on their alignment with
the Russian East and the American West.
SOUTH AMERICA This division was abandoned after Second
South America is the other World countries joined First World countries.
continent in the Western The North-South Divide emerged, with the
Hemisphere and the fourth largest in First World with some second world
the world. It includes the nations countries as the North and Third World
south of Panama, including 12 countries as the South.

GLOBAL SOUTH
 - Global South has traditionally been Global South
used to refer to underdeveloped or o Is a new and simpler
economically disadvantaged nations. classification of developing
These countries are those who tend countries. It is the term that
to have unstable democracy, are in replaced ‘third world’ that
the process of industrializing, and emerged in the 1970’s during
have historically frequently faced Cold War of the mid 20th
colonization by Global North century.
countries (especially by European o It was coined in 1952 by the
countries). French Demographer,
anthropologist, and economic
HERE ARE SOME CHARACTERISTICS historian Alfred Sauvy.
COMMONLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE
GLOBAL SOUTH: Third World
- Economic challenges o is more often referred to
- Colonial history today as “South” or
- Natural resource dependency “developing countries,”
- Limited Infrastructure o Term is also inaccurate and
- Political instability outdated, there are more
- Cultural Diversity than 100 countries that fit the
“third world" but they have
Countries: CARIBBEAN, LATIN AMERICA, vastly different levels of
AFRICA, SOUTH AMERICA, AND PARTS economic stability. Some are
OF ASIA (these countries were used to be relatively poor but many are
called the third world during the cold war). not.
- There are nations that were once o “Third World” was coined
considered part of the Global South during the Cold War to
but have made significant progress describe nations that neither
and transitioned to being part of the supported ‘the West’ (NATO)
Global North. Some examples nor ‘the East’ (the
include: SOUTH KOREA, TAIWAN, Communists). In effect, the
SINGAPORE, UNITED ARAB term was created as a
EMIRATES. marker for a nation’s political
ideology (perhaps often
GLOBAL NORTH pacifism in the case of “Third
- Global North is a widely accepted World countries”) in a time of
synonym for first-world or developed great global unrest.
countries, which are also the richest
countries in the world according to
metrics including GDP per capita.
The Global North is the economic
opposite of the Global South, a term
coined in 1969 to describe the
world’s developing and least
developed countries.

Characteristics:
o Have developed economies
and account for over 90% of
all manufacturing industries
in the world,
o Account for only one- quarter
of the total global population
but they control 80% of the
total income earned around
the world.
o 95% of the population have
enough basic needs and
have access to education

Countries: US, CANADA, ALL COUNTRIES

IN WESTERN EUROPE, AUSTRALIA,
NEW ZEALAND, JAPAN AND SOUTH
KOREA. (Regarded as first world countries
during cold war)

GLOBAL SOUTH VS. THIRD WORLD