Third World

Regarding Central and Eastern Asia and Latin America:

Central Asia was part of the Russian Empire, which essentially makes it a colony.

East Asia, particularly China, is an interesting case study, as it was not divided up into colonies but spheres of influence — areas where nations would have exclusive trading rights. Japan, France, Britain, Germany and Russia all had them, most often centering upon small, prosperous outposts that each nation controlled: the French had Zhangjiang, Britain Hong Kong, Germany Qingdao, Russia Port Arthur, and Japan Taiwan. China was, if we all recall, for centuries the world's most advanced and powerful nation, but a policy of isolationism and "self-containment" at the end of the Ming Dynasty led to stagnation.

It is only in more recent history that Latin America became, in essence, an American sphere of influence. For many years Europe was Latin America's biggest trading partner, a case in point being Britain and Argentina.

Socially and economically, Latin American nations essentially screwed themselves over from the second they became independent: with the exception of Haiti, wealthy Creole aristocrats still controlled most of the land and power, ensuring that for many years their nations' economies relied on th export of raw materials as opposed to industrialization, which they left to entrepreneurialism and foreign investment which built up a heavy debt. The Creoles resented the urban working and middle classes and fought to uphold the status quo for as long as possible. When the trade balance finally shifted to the United States, where there was not as much demand for Argentine beef or Colombian coffee, the Creoles were essentially f*cked and suffered economically as a result, and that suffering continues to this day.

As J.B. said, thank Europe for the Third World — oh, I'm sorry, the LEDC.

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O(+>

ASCII of the love symbol, which Prince changed his name to for seven years starting in 1993.

O(+> is the combination of the male and female symbols (androgyny), as well as the alchemy sign for soapstone. Go figure.

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south africa

The nation that consistently battles it out with Colombia in a little game called "Who's The World's Murder Capital?".

South Africa's murder rate per 100,000 citizens: 55.3 (1999)

Colombia's murder rate per 100,000 citizens: 56.0 (1998)

The United States's murder rate per 100,000 citizens: 5.6 (2002)

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