The North

The North may refer to:

A geographical section of the world (see latitude).

The wealthy and technologically advanced nations of the world, as opposed to the South, which is poorer and less developed (see North-South divide).

In the study of politics and international relations, the term the North is often used as a more theoretically coherent replacement for the earlier notion of the West.

The northern part of a particular country or geographical region. Within this region, if places with a common characteristic are mostly found in the north, then the North becomes a synonym for places with that characteristic. Among the many countries and regions with this designation are:

* Canada, where the North refers to Northern Canada – usually understood as the three territories, or coincident northerly lands. Similarly, the Far North is sometimes used to refer to the Canadian Arctic.

* Italy, which has a north-south divide where the wealthier regions are in the north. The North is the richer industrial and commercial heartland of the country, whilst the South is mainly agricultural. Lega Nord (the Northern League) campaigns for the secession of northern Italy from the rest of the country.

* United Kingdom, where "the North" is used as a neutral euphemism, short for Northern Ireland, as opposed to "the north of Ireland," which is used by many Catholics in the North to refer to Northern Ireland.

** England, where the North is relatively poor. It is the home of many of the traditional heavy industries that have become run-down in recent years.

* the United States of America, where the North is used to refer to those states which did not secede at the time of the American Civil War (see: U.S. Northern states).

The North, or Norden, can also refer to the Nordic countries.

In addition, before 17th century, Nordic or Northern was used to mean Northern Europe, including European Russia, the Baltic countries (at that time Livonia and Courland) and Greenland.

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