Poland - Third World Country??

I am actually appalled at seeing so many people refer to Poland as a 'third world country', I find it to be far from that...and technically former communists countries were called second world....but I feel that Poland is a first world country, it is probably not as developed as Canada or the USA but it is quite developed, so if you were to compare Poland with a country like Ethiopia, you would find them similar???

Streets were cleaner, train system seemed to work better than UK. Higher standard of education etc

That's because they stink...

As soon as I got off the bus after returning to the UK from Poland, I felt as though I had entered a far more oppressive, unwelcoming, miserable country. Especially as the smoking ban had just come in. I sat outside the station, lit a cigarette, got told to move a couple more metres from the building. I just typed a lot more that I have self-edited for sanity's sake.

Answer is an obvious NO.

At a guess I would say that people who refer to Poland as a "third world country" have no knowledge of Poland (or wish to), probably don't really like Poland or Polish people and if they have been there, most likely had a bad experience due to the examples I've already written.

They also probably have no knowledge of what a third world country actually is...

Britians smoking ban was put in place so that people who don't smoke, don't have to breath it in. When you smoke, it affects the people around you aswell.

I don't see poland as a 3rd world country. Hardly a country filled with poviety, disease and lack of education.

couldn't agree more,
they should have seen yesterday's CNN program about corruption in Africa and their difficult living conditions.

I didn't see it but I know what you mean. Anyone saying Poland is a third world country (particularly here) is only saying it to cause trouble...maybe they should type "third world country" into a search engine and improve their general knowledge a little bit more.

agree, apparently they either want to stir up a crowd or have a bad attitude towards
poland , to which there is really no reasons other then their own selfish reasons.

Haha, Poland, a 3rd World country ??! Not at all. I've been there so many times, my opinion is better than the opinion of people who don't even know where Poland is :)

Poland HDI (Human Development Index) is around 8.50 (don't remember exactly) which belongs to a rich country.

Plus, a well-known organization consider Poland as a rich country.

:)

I'm off, i'm going to decorate the Christmas tree :)

Some people probably carry a map of the world in their heads where anything outside their own locality is simply labelled 'There Be Dragons'.


People can get shirty with you for smoking near a railway station and so bouncers can refuse re-entry to some dodgy club you left your mates and your jacket in. It also leaves pubs stinking of stale food, stale sweat and farts.

Of the houses and flats I have visited in Poland, there is not one (okay - out of about 5 in total) that doesn't put my own dwelling to shame. But then again, no hay on the floor, no back-scratching brushes on the walls and no salt-licks. (See Avatar for details).

"Second World refers to the former communist-socialist, industrial states, (formerly the Eastern bloc, the territory and sphere of influence of the Union of Soviet Socialists Republic) today: Russia, Eastern Europe (e.g., Poland) and some of the Turk States (e.g., Kazakhstan) as well as China."

nationsonline.org/oneworld/third_world_countries.htm

Some of the differences within the 'second world' seem to be pretty similar to the differences between the first and third worlds.

The term "First World" refers to so called developed, capitalist, industrial countries, roughly, a bloc of countries aligned with the United States after world war II,

"Second World" refers to the former communist-socialist, industrial states, (formerly the Eastern bloc, the territory and sphere of influence of the Union of Soviet Socialists Republic)

"Third World" are all the other countries, today often used to roughly describe the developing countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America.


seems largely to be based on a combination of geographic/geopolitical positioning and not much more

It all depends on personal experiences and I am sure that travelers who have been to places like India and then travel to a country like Poland certainly would not find it a 'Third World Country'. South Africa is considered to be one of those 'Third World Countries' too but if you look at the wealth in Cape Town you would not consider this country to be 'third World'.

With due respect people who use the word "third world" use it in the context of a poor country, a country with a poor infrastructure, corruption etc, clearly when you visit Warsaw it is nowhere to be identified as a third world country in the strict definition. People however see the red tape, corruption as that which goes on in a third world country. When you go to the Polish countryside it is certainly very poor and backward, however most homes have INTERNET and satellite TV. When you cross the boarder to the Ukraine it is certainly very very poor and backward, a third world country? doesn't matter the fact is it is very poor.

well, does it have a safe to drink tap water supply yet? I was very surprised at that,seeing the majority of people carrying those big multi litre re fill water bottles home. Other than that,doesnt seem that different to Britains so,third world, aving a larf arnt ya?

But that's like the difference between cities like Pittsburgh and Compton. All countries have cities that look worse than others. In the states, we have ghettos - areas with high pollution, high unemployment rates, and pretty much crack houses.

lol, yeah Britain has its ghetto's, better not say its a third world country though. lol.
The only people laughing are those who selling water to people thinking that local drinking is unsafe, the people selling this water at a nice profit usually fill up there containers at a nearby tap!

people saying poland is 3rd world? i wonder if they're the same people companies write to on the instructions for toasters: do not immerse in water while plugged in?

Yes, very true. I have a cousin who lived near Philadelphia. and so there was a time when I used to go over there to experience America a little. I stayed at a place called Mount Laurel and used the Grey Hound bus to go in to town. It was 'interesting' to look at the very poor quality of many little back to back houses in a country we all think of as leader of the new economic World order. In main cities too, the number of people with serious clear psychological problems just left to roam the streets, eating from garbage cans wherever they could find something to eat.

AKA the COCA COLA corp'ltd.......or, Peckham Spring water :)

having been to both quite recently I can say that they have little in common apart from their histories of communism.

I would also like to add that the term 3rd world is outdated and derogatory. Countries formerly known as 3rd world, should be more correctly termed as 'the South' or if you must, the developing nations. I wish more people would bother to travel to these countries as it might make them realise that their perceptions are so wrong.

Why must we label Poland, or any other country for that matter as 1st, 2nd or 3rd..if you really want to look at the bigger picture then there are various indicators that can be used to measure economic wealth.

Even if the compass can suggest otherwise (where is Australia).


A term that seems ill suited to many poor countries that are not developing at all (is the Democratic Republic of Congo really developing?).

yes I know that the terms are subject to debate, I didnt create them, they are just the latest development jargon. The South is meant to refer to the fact that the majority of the developing nations are south of the equator (but clearly not all of them) and of course there are many differences in terms of which countries actually are developing faster than others, but generalisation is inevitable if we are to lump together so many different countries. DRC has its troubles for sure, but I am sure there are some who would argue that it is a process of development, albeit hampered by political corruption and war, not to mention natural disasters.

Like who?????????????? come on man, who those many people you speak about.....

Trolls on this forum.

It's just people's ignorant misconception to say this. People actually still think that, we Irish, still keep pigs in the kitchen.... and we don't... honestly :o)

Communism in Ethiopia?This is really a discovery.

he he he he