Global stratification refers to the unequal distribution of wealth, power, prestige, resources, and influence among the worlds nations. It is different from stratification in the United States, which refers to the unequal distribution of resources among individuals. There are two dimensions to global stratification: gaps between nations and gaps within nations. Scholars and international organizations such as the United Nations and the World Bank have used various classification systems, or typologies, to classify nations into three or four categories based on their degree of wealth or poverty, their level of industrialization and economic development, and related factors.

Economic stratification is a subset of global stratification that is concerned with how wealth is distributed among nations. It has a major impact on factors such as job opportunities, availability of facilities, and the predominance of certain ethnicities and cultures, among others. Global stratification is not a fixed concept, and the distribution of wealth and resources among nations does not remain constant. With the liberalization of trade, international transactions, travel, and migration, the composition of nations is changing every second.

Various models of global stratification rank countries according to their relative economic status, or gross national product (GNP) . There are three primary ways to measure global stratification: GNP per capita, the Human Development Index (HDI), and the Gini coefficient. Global inequality has two dimensions: the extremely large economic gap between the wealthy and poor nations of the world, and the gap within nations.

To understand global stratification, it is important to classify nations into categories based on their degree of wealth or poverty, their level of industrialization and economic development, and related factors. The impact of global poverty is a major issue related to global stratification[[4]](https://open.lib.umn.edu/sociolog...