The term The South is often used to refer to the poorer, less technologically advanced nations of the world as opposed to The North, which is richer and more developed. In some cases the compass direction south is not accurate; Australia is in this sense a Northern country, even though it is not north of the equator.

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The term The South can also be used to indicate the southern part of a particular country or geographical region. Within that region, if places with a common characteristic are mostly found in the south, then the South becomes a synonym for that characteristic.

• Italy is one of several countries with a north-south divide where the poorer regions are in the south. The South is mainly agricultural, whilst the North is the richer industrial and commercial heartland of the country.

• In England, by contrast, the South (or more accurately the South-east) is relatively rich. It is the home to two-thirds of the population, and attracts higher salaries and greater job prospects than the North.

• In the United States of America, "the South" (see: U.S. Southern states) generally refers to those states which seceded at the time of the American Civil War as the Confederate States of America.

See also: latitude