What Is Global South Countries? The Group, the List, and the Catch
Global South countries are the roughly 130 low and middle income states of Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and Oceania that share a history of colonisation and a common set of demands in world politics. The term is political, not geographic. Australia sits in the southern hemisphere and is not in it.
Global South countries are the roughly 130 low and middle income states of Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and Oceania that share a history of colonisation and a common set of demands in world politics. The term is political, not geographic. Australia sits in the southern hemisphere and is not in it.
The short answer
Global South countries are the low and middle income states of Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and parts of Oceania. Roughly 130 of them, depending on who is counting. The usual shorthand for the group in the UN system is the G77, which now has 134 members plus China.
The name is misleading on purpose and by accident. It is not a compass reading. It is a label for countries that were colonised, that came late to industrialisation, and that still hold less weight in bodies like the IMF and the UN Security Council than their population would suggest.
So Australia and New Zealand are far south and are not Global South. Mongolia is far north and is. India, Brazil, Nigeria, Indonesia, Egypt and South Africa are the loudest voices in the group. China is in the odd position of being both the second largest economy on earth and a country that still speaks as part of the Global South.
Where the term came from
Carl Oglesby, an American activist, used the phrase in 1969 while writing about the Vietnam War and what he called the dominance of the northern hemisphere over the global south. It sat unused for years. The Brandt Report in 1980 then drew a line across a world map, dipping below the United States, above North Africa and the Middle East, then curving under China but over Australia and New Zealand. That squiggle became famous as the Brandt Line.
Before Global South caught on, people said Third World. That came out of the Cold War: first world meant the US bloc, second world the Soviet bloc, third world everyone else. After 1991 the second world stopped existing, so third world stopped making sense, and the word had picked up a sneer along the way.
Developing countries replaced it for a while. Many governments dislike that one too, because it treats their countries as unfinished versions of Europe. Global South avoided the insult by describing a shared position rather than a deficiency. That is most of the reason it won.
Who is actually in it
There is no signed membership list. Different institutions draw different boundaries, which is why you will see the count move between about 120 and 150. What follows is the version most people use.
| Region | Roughly how many | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Africa | All 54 states | Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, Ethiopia, South Africa |
| Asia | About 45 | India, China, Indonesia, Pakistan, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia |
| Latin America and Caribbean | 33 | Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Cuba, Jamaica |
| Oceania (excluding Australia, NZ) | About 14 | Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tuvalu |
| Not included, despite location | Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Singapore |
The awkward cases
The edges are where the term starts to leak. Japan and South Korea were both poor and, in Korea's case, colonised. Both are now firmly counted as Global North. Singapore has a higher income per head than the United Kingdom and still turns up at Global South meetings. Israel is in West Asia and is not on the list.
China is the big one. Beijing calls itself the largest developing country in the world and uses that status in climate talks, where it means weaker obligations. Rich countries push back hard on this, given China now emits more carbon each year than the US and EU combined. Both sides are being self-serving.
Then there is Russia, which is neither. Post-Soviet Central Asia usually gets counted in, Eastern Europe usually does not. If you are looking for a clean rule, stop. The category was built by politics and it stays that way.
Why the grouping still does work
Because 130 countries voting together in the UN General Assembly can move things, and because the demands overlap. Debt relief. A permanent seat or two on the Security Council. Money for climate damage they did not cause. Fairer vaccine access, a grievance sharpened permanently by 2021, when high income countries had boosted much of their population while several African states were still below five percent first doses.
India has leaned into this hard. At the G20 summit in New Delhi in September 2023 it got the African Union admitted as a permanent member, and it hosted three Voice of the Global South summits. Brazil and South Africa took the same line during their own G20 presidencies. The BRICS expansion in 2024, adding Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the UAE, was pitched the same way.
The honest criticism is that the group is not one thing. Qatar and Chad share a label and almost nothing else. A Gulf oil exporter and a Pacific island facing sea level rise want opposite outcomes from a climate deal. Coalitions built on grievance hold together until the money is on the table.
Use the term the way diplomats do, as a description of a bargaining bloc rather than a region. Then it stops confusing you.
FAQs
Is India part of the Global South?
Yes, and it has positioned itself as the group's spokesman. India hosted three Voice of the Global South summits and pushed the African Union into permanent G20 membership at the New Delhi summit in September 2023.
Is China a Global South country?
China calls itself the largest developing country in the world and is counted with the G77 as "G77 and China". Wealthy states dispute this, because China is the second largest economy and the biggest annual emitter of carbon dioxide.
Why is Australia not in the Global South?
Because the term describes economic position and colonial history, not latitude. Australia is a high income country settled by a European colonial power, so it is grouped with the Global North despite sitting in the southern hemisphere.
What is the difference between the Global South and the Third World?
They cover mostly the same countries, but Third World came from Cold War bloc politics and turned into an insult. Global South replaced it because it names a shared bargaining position instead of implying a country is backward.
What is the Brandt Line?
A line drawn on a world map in the 1980 Brandt Report separating rich north from poor south. It runs below the US, above Africa and the Middle East, then loops under China to keep Australia and New Zealand on the northern side.
How many countries are in the Global South?
Around 130, though no official list exists. The G77 bloc at the UN is the closest thing to a formal roster, with 134 members plus China.