the United Kingdom, where 'the North' can refer to:

Northern Ireland, as an alternative to "the north of Ireland"

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

a designation on road signs on the island of Great Britain, particularly on motorways and other major trunk roads, to denote a direction of travel.

A geographical section of the world (see latitude).

The North may refer to:

Nordicity is the degree of northernness. The concept was developed by Canadian geographer Louis-Edmond Hamelin in the 1960s based on previous work done in the Soviet Union. Hamelin's point was that northern territories – like northern Canada –...

The wealthy and technologically advanced nations of the world, as contrasted with the nations comprising the South (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.

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.

the general area in England that is North of the Midlands, though parts of the Midlands are sometimes seen as belonging to the North. This usage may also include Scotland.

the United States of America, where the North is used to refer to those states which supported preserving the Union during the American Civil War (see: U.S. Northern states).

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.