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Third World debt is external debt incurred by Third World countries. (The term "Third World" is still in use, although many prefer less pejorative terms, such as "developing countries", "Majority World" or "global South".)

Unpayable debt is a term used to describe external debt where the interest on the debt exceeds the amount that the country produces, thus preventing the debt ever being paid back. It is considered by some a method of oppression or control by first world countries; a form of debt bondage on the scale of nations.

Odious debt is debt incurred by undemocratic countries and misspent (for example, on armaments or repression of the population) or misappropriated. The debt campaign organization, Jubilee USA notes that, "Odious debt is an established legal principle. Legally, odious debt is debt that resulted from loans to an illegitimate or dictatorial government that used the money to oppress the people or for personal purposes. Moreover, in cases where borrowed money was used in ways contrary to the people's interest, with the knowledge of the creditors, the creditors may be said to have committed a hostile act against the people. They cannot legitimately expect repayment of such debts." (PDF)

Debt also occured during the oil crisis in 1973 when the western members of OPEC pushed the price of oil up making the Arab nations very wealthy. They decided to deposit this money in large Western banks. The banks didn't want all of this money lying around so it was leant to the third world countries. Debt then ensued.

Some debt campaigners argue that odious debt should be cancelled at the expense of the creditors, according to a historic principle that those who suffer from the consequences of spending should not have to repay the money they never controlled. Others have argued that these funds were loaned irresponsibly in the first place. Although there are historical precedents, major recent examples, such as the Apartheid government of South Africa and the Mobutu dictatorship in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) have not been recognized by creditors as "odious". Recognizing Apartheid debt as odious would also add more criticism to the claims that creditors supported that regime, and so it would be understandable that they would not classify their own lending to such a regime as being odious.

http://en.wikipedia.org

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