science

Majority World

Majority World is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Majority World rather than just read about it. In short: The term Majority World refers to countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, and Indigenous peoples. It is an alternative to sometimes derogatory terms like "developing world" or "underdeveloped countries" and Cold War-era terms like "Third World".

Key takeaways

Majority World belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Majority World to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Majority World from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The term Majority World refers to countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, and Indigenous peoples. It is an alternative to sometimes derogatory terms like "developing world" or "underdeveloped countries" and Cold War-era terms like "Third World".

Terminology The Tunisian photojournalist Zine Ali Abidine Ben coined "Majority World" in the early 1990s. He wished to highlight the discrepancy when compared to Western countries, especially those associated with the G8, which represented a tiny minority of the world's population but exercised significant power over the rest of humanity. It sought to overcome the "West's rhetoric of democracy" focusing less on what a community has as opposed to what it lacks. The term was coined as an alternative to "Third World" or "developing world," terms which reinforced stereotypes about poor communities and hide their histories of oppression and exploitation. It challenges implicit hierarchies, between the "first" and the "third," or the need to be "developing." It is also less arbitrary than "Global South," given that these countries are not always geographically located in the south.

Related concepts In 2003, the term "Global majority" was coined as a way to speak of those of Majority World heritage living in Western contexts. This concept began to gain momentum in the 2020s in the midst of the Black Lives Matter protests, in contrast to racialized terms "ethnic minority," "Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic" in the United Kingdom, and "person of color" in the United States.

Usage Shahidul Alam later established an organization named "Majority World" to bring to the foreground photographers from the Majority World. The term has been used by academic journals like Amerasia Journal and The BMJ, and media outlets like NPR The term has also been readily used within Christianity, given the increasing recognition that the majority of the world's Christians are today found in the Majority World.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Majority World

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Majority World claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Majority World before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Majority World ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Majority World

In research: Majority World appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Majority World in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Majority World is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Geography stubs, Global South, Linguistic controversies, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Majority World outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Majority World in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Majority World means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Majority World out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Majority World in simple terms?

Why does Majority World matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Majority World?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Majority World.