North-South divide

The North-South divide is the socio-economic and political division which exists between the wealthy developed countries, known collectively as "The North", and the poorer developing countries, or "The South". Although most nations comprising the "North" are in fact located in the Northern Hemisphere, the divide is not primarily defined by geography. The term was coined to differentiate the cultural divide between East and West. The north south divide also refers to the split between the more powerful Northern and the less powerful Southern Hemisphere. Nearly all of the world's wealth and power is held by the northern half of the globe, the home to four out of five permanent members of the Security Council and all members of the G8.

As nations become economically developed, they may become part of the "North", regardless of geographical location, while any other nations which do not qualify for "developed" status are in effect deemed to be part of the "South". An examination of a globe reveals the only large inhabited land masses in the Southern Hemisphere are: Australia, under half of Africa, and most of South America. India, China, South-East Asia, and all of sub-Saharan Africa lie in the Northern Hemisphere.

The global digital divide is often characterized as corresponding to the North-South divide, however it is interesting to note that Internet use, and especially broadband access, is now soaring in Asia compared with other continents. This phenomenon is partially explained by the ability of many countries in Asia to bypass older Internet technology and infrastructure, coupled with booming economies which allow vastly more people to get on-line.

The North-South divide has been more recently named the development gap. This places greater emphasis on closing the evident gap between rich (MEDC) countries and poor (LEDC) countries. A good measure of on which side of the gap a country exists is the Human Development Index,(HDI), the nearer it is to 1.0 the greater the country's level of development, and the further it is on its development pathway (the disatance toward being well developed), exemplified well by Rowstow's model, and the Clark Fisher model.

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