[JohnGB]

The general usage of "third-world" has changed over time to be focused more on development than on whether a country was pro-USA or pro-Soviet.

If one were to hold to the original meaning of "third-world", then one would have to class Namibia and Angola as "first-world" countries while classing Switzerland, Ireland, Sweden, and Finland as "third world". Something that clearly goes against the current general usage of the term.

[celticninja]

They are better described as developing nations however I agree that people tend to understand that third world means this, rather than the political definition.