Introduction
Before the collapse of the USSR the international community was divided into two opposing parts: the socialist and capitalist countries. Among the latter, there were so-called third countries - a group of developing (mainly underdeveloped) countries ("Third World Definition | Investopedia", 2011). This division was confrontational due to the idealistic notion that the whole world is going through a transition to socialism, which represents a higher stage of economic development and social justice. In socialist countries, it was believed that socialism can be achieved without going through a long, painful years of feudal and capitalist development.
Currently there is no single division of the world. Most often, countries are divided in terms of socioeconomic development. For this purpose, a set of factors is used, including, for example, the income of the population, the availability of industrial goods, food, education and life expectancy. As a rule, the main factor is usually the value of the gross domestic (national) product per one inhabitant of the country.
Body
In terms of socioeconomic development, the countries of the world are divided into three main groups.
The first group is the countries with the highest value of GDP (GNP) per capita: USA, Canada, Japan and most of Western Europe. In some classifications, the GDP per capita of the developed countries is above $9,300 per person per year (Lomborg, 2004). These countries are called as developed countries.
Among the developed countries, we can highlight "The Group of Seven" - the US, Japan, Canada, Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy. " The Group of Seven " are the leaders of the world economy, they have achieved the highest productivity and standing at the forefront of scientific and technological progress ("Group of Seven", 2016). These countries account for over 80% of the industrial production of all developed countries, nearly all world industrial production. They produce most of the world's electricity, supplied about 50% of all exported goods to the world market. The group of developed countries tends to get new members: for example, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, South Korea, Kuwait.
It is expedient to include the following main features of the developed countries:
1. GDP per capita is relatively high and it is constantly growing. This determines the high level of consumption and investment, and the standard of living of the population as a whole ("Developed Economy Definition | Investopedia", 2010). Social support of such countries is the "middle class" that shares values and the basic foundations of society ("Growth and the Middle Class", 2011).
2. The sectoral structure of the economy in developed countries evolves towards industry dominance and the pronounced trend of transformation of the industrial economy in the post-industrial. The service sector is booming and the share of the population employed in this sector is the highest. Scientific and technological progress has a significant impact on economic growth and economic structure.
3. The developed countries' business structure is heterogeneous. The leading role in the economy belongs to the powerful conglomerates - TNCs (transnational corporations). The exception is a group of some of the smaller countries of Europe, where there are no world-class multinationals. However, for the economies of the developed countries, it is also characterized by widespread medium and small businesses as a factor of economic and social stability. This business employing the most part of the economically active population. In many countries, small businesses provide up to 65% of new jobs and the impact on the sectoral structure of the economy ("16 Surprising Statistics About Small Businesses", 2016).
The second group includes countries with an average level of socioeconomic development. The value of GDP (GNP) per capita is lower than in developed countries: between $750 and $9300 per person per year (Lomborg, 2004). Among these countries, for example, Greece, South Africa, Venezuela, Brazil, Chile, Oman, Libya. It adjoins a large group of former socialist countries such as Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Russia.
The third group is the most numerous. It includes countries with low levels of socioeconomic development with the lowest values of GDP per capita. The value of GDP per capita in these countries is lower than $750 per person per year (Lomborg, 2004). These are called underdeveloped countries. There are more than 60 countries of this kind. Among them, for example, India, China, Vietnam, Pakistan, Lebanon, Jordan, Ecuador. In this group, there are allocated the least developed countries. As a rule, they have a narrow and even monocultural structure of the economy, the high degree of dependence on external sources of financing. Due to a wide variety of developing countries, in the global economy, they are usually classified by geographical indications and by various analytical criteria.
The most important criteria of developing countries are a special place in the system of economic and political relations, the level of economic development and the specific features of reproduction and especially the socioeconomic structure. The first and most essential feature of the developing countries is their place in the world economy and politics. Today, they are part of the world capitalist system, and to a greater or lesser extent they are exposed to the prevailing economic laws and global economic trends. Staying as a link of the world economy, the trend towards deeper economic and political dependence of these countries on the developed economies is continuing.
Developing countries continue to be major suppliers of raw materials and fuels on the world market. There is a high dependence on agriculture and lack of capital and technology. The basic infrastructure is underdeveloped. As suppliers of raw materials, they are dependent on the import of finished products, so the share of the developing countries today in world exports remains very small ("Economics: Characteristics of Developing Countries", 2016).
References
16 Surprising Statistics About Small Businesses. (2016). Forbes.com. Retrieved 24 May 2016, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonnazar/2013/09/09/16-surprising-statistics-about-small-businesses/#4cceaeb03078
Developed Economy Definition | Investopedia. (2010). Investopedia. Retrieved 24 May 2016, from http://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/developed-economy.asp
Economics: Characteristics of Developing Countries. (2016). Economydetail.blogspot.com. Retrieved 24 May 2016, from http://economydetail.blogspot.com/2010/02/characteristics-of-developing-countries.html
Group of Seven. (2016). Infoplease.com. Retrieved 24 May 2016, from http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/history/group-seven.html
Growth and the Middle Class. (2011). Democracy Journal. Retrieved 24 May 2016, from http://democracyjournal.org/magazine/20/growth-and-the-middle-class/
Lomborg, B. (2004). Global crises, global solutions (pp. 448-449). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Third World Definition | Investopedia. (2011). Investopedia. Retrieved 24 May 2016, from http://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/third-world.asp
