Examples of first world countries include the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. Several Western European nations qualify as well, especially Great Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland, and the Scandinavian countries.
The term Third World was originally coined in times of the Cold War to distinguish those nations that are neither aligned with the West (NATO) nor with the East, the Communist bloc. Today the term is often used to describe the developing countries of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Australia/Oceania.
A strong and open economy
Australians enjoy some of the highest living standards in the world despite being home to only 0.3 per cent of the global population. Since 1992, our economy has grown faster than any other major developed country.
The Second World consisted of the communist Soviet Union and its Eastern European satellites. The Third World, meanwhile, encompassed all the other countries that were not actively aligned with either side in the Cold War.
The First World consisted of the U.S., Western Europe and their allies. The Second World was the so-called Communist Bloc: the Soviet Union, China, Cuba and friends. The remaining nations, which aligned with neither group, were assigned to the Third World. The Third World has always had blurred lines.
Examples of first world countries include the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan.
First World Definition
Following the Cold War, the use of the term “first world” changed. Today, a first-world country refers to industrialized and developed nations with higher literacy rates, life expectancies, and GDP per capita in comparison to other nations.
Understanding Second World
By the first definition, some examples of second world countries include: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Russia, and China, among others.
The term Fourth World was born later as an extension of the developing Third World to describe places and populations characterized by extremely low income per capita and limited natural resources. Fourth World nations consisted of those excluded from mainstream society.
The concept of "Second World" was a construct of the Cold War and the term is still largely used to describe former communist countries that are between poverty and prosperity, many of which are now capitalist states, such as Eastern Europe.
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands.
The world's 12th largest economy
Strong growth in 2021 solidified Australia's position as the world's 12th largest economy in 2021. Nominal GDP was around A$2.2 trillion (US$1.6 trillion) in 2021. Australia is home to just 0.3% of the world's population, but accounts for 1.7% of the global economy.
Source: Australian Energy Update 2022. Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. Australia ranks 7th on the OECD Better Life Index, based on living conditions and quality of life. In 2021, renewable energy accounted for 29% of Australia's total electricity generation.
And the list of countries considered part of the new world are: USA, Canada, Argentina, Chile, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.
Australia is “working to become a third-world country” through its economic dependence on mining natural resources for export and reliance on coalmining, according to doomsday ecologist Paul Ehrlich.
Australia is a highly developed country with a mixed economy.
The modern definition of “first world” is used to classify countries that are highly industrialized and with advanced economies. First-world countries include the United States, Canada, Japan, and Western European countries.
Definition of First World
Modern journalists using the term First World countries are typically describing the most industrialized nations. This includes all of the major actors on both sides of the Cold War: the United States, Russia, China, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Australia, and more.
For example, in the Western theory, China and India belong respectively to the second and third worlds, but in Mao's theory both China and India are part of the Third World which he defined as consisting of exploited nations.
Second world countries refer to the countries that lean more toward a socialist society, and generally were allied with the Soviet Union during the Cold War. These countries include Russia, Poland, China and some Turk states. Third world countries are all the other countries that did not pick a side.
The Third World includes all countries of Africa (except South Africa), Asia (except Japan), and Latin America and the Caribbean, and some states and territories of Oceania.
It can be defined succinctly as Europe, plus the richer countries of the former British Empire (USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa), Israel, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.
There were some "neutral" states in Europe, such as Switzerland, Sweden, Austria, Ireland, and Finland, but they can be classified as First World in this context.
However, it is important to remember that Africa is not a country, but rather a continent. It also is home to some countries that are considered part of the First World, such as South Africa, Egypt, Mauritius, and Libya.
Hong Kong is a highly developed territory and has a Human Development Index (HDI) of 0.952, ranking fourth in the world. The city has a very low homicide rate, the second highest life expectancy, and a public transport rate exceeding 90%.