The generally richer countries. Rough synonyms include the First World, Industrialized Countries and Global North. There is no complete consensus as to which countries should be included in this category, but the “developed countries” are conventionally defined to include at least Australia, Canada, most of Europe, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, the United States, and, increasingly, South Korea and Taiwan. There is a lack of consensus concerning certain countries, including much of Eastern Europe (for example, Albania, Macedonia, or Moldova, or even Russia or Ukraine). Other points of contention include wealthy countries with excessively inequitable income distribution–for example, some of the oil-producing kingdoms of the Arabian Peninsula and the Persian Gulf–as well as Hong Kong (now part of China but still often treated as a separate economy).
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