Global South

or glob·al south

[ gloh-buhl south ]

noun

1. the low- or middle-income countries located in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania; Third World:

   The article argues that poverty in the Global South stems from European exploitation of its natural resources.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Global South¹

First recorded in 1965–70; not literally referring to the Southern Hemisphere, but continuing the 20th century contrasts between the wealthy industrial north and the poverty-stricken agricultural south, and probably beginning with Antonio Gramsci’s essay “The Southern Question” (1926), in which he argued southern Italy had, in effect, been colonized by capitalists from northern Italy

Example Sentences

Countries in the Global South will continue to bear the greatest burden of the plastic crisis.

From Science Daily

Almost everyone I spoke with placed the blame on immigrants, holding the view, as Crusius did, that dark-skinned people from the global south are surging northward to overwhelm white Christians, what’s become known as the “great replacement theory.”

From Salon

Beijing has already built alliances with emerging economies across the so-called Global South.

From BBC

It enables India to work with some of its closest friends in an expanding organisation that espouses principles close to India’s heart, from multilateralism to embracing the Global South.

From BBC

"Tragically, those who are least responsible for climate change are the ones most at risk: namely low income people in low income countries in the global south."

From Salon