DNA Explainer: What is Global South, a term often used by PM Modi and other world leaders?

Ahead of the G20 Summit in Delhi, the Indian government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi often used the term Global South. The term has been invoked by other global leaders including US President Joe Biden and leaders of BRICS, G7 and G20. But what does it mean?

The term was first used in 1969 by the American academic Carl Oglesby. The term Global South was first used during the Cold War to describe the broad economic divide between the wealthy, developed countries of the North and the developing countries of the South. The term also signifies a combination of political, geopolitical, and economic similarities among nations.

The Global South includes countries that are developing including countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Many of these were part of Western European colonialism until the 1960s and 1970s. Nations in these regions typically experience higher levels of poverty, income inequality, and challenging living conditions compared to the wealthier nations of the Global North.

Which countries are in the Global South? 

Several maps show the division between countries of the Global North and Global South broadly includes countries other than those adjacent to the Tropic of Cancer. Japan, New Zealand and Australia are not part of the Global South. The Global South represents more than 85 percent of the world's population and about 40 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP).

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The Global South refers to low-income countries or countries with relatively less socio-economic and industrial development compared to the wealthier Northern countries. Being a country in the Global South can have many implications, ranging from high infant mortality rates and low life expectancy to low education rates, high levels of poverty, and a high propensity to migrate in search of a better life abroad.