G8
Group of Eight
Canada
Prime Minister Stephen Harper
France
President Nicolas Sarkozy
Germany
Chancellor Angela Merkel
Italy
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi
President of the G8 for 2009
Japan
Prime Minister Taro Aso
Russia
President Dmitry Medvedev
United Kingdom
Prime Minister Gordon Brown
United States
President Barack Obama
Also represented
European Union[1]
Commission President José Manuel
Barroso
Council President Mirek Topolánek
The Group of Eight (G8, and formerly the
G6 or Group of Six) is a forum, created by
France in 1975, for governments of eight na-
tions of the northern hemisphere: Canada,
France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the
United Kingdom, and the United States; in
addition, the European Union is represented
within the G8, but cannot host or chair.[1]
"G8" can refer to the member states or to the
annual summit meeting of the G8 heads of
government. The former term, G6, is now fre-
quently applied to the six most populous
countries within the European Union (see G6
(EU)). G8 ministers also meet throughout the
year, such as the G7/8 finance ministers (who
meet four times a year), G8 foreign ministers,
or G8 environment ministers.
Each calendar year, the responsibility of
hosting the G8 rotates through the member
states in the following order: France, United
States, United Kingdom, Russia, Germany,
Japan, Italy, and Canada. The holder of the
presidency sets the agenda, hosts the summit
for that year, and determines which minis-
terial meetings will take place. Lately, both
France and the United Kingdom have ex-
pressed a desire to expand the group to in-
clude five developing countries, referred to
as the Outreach Five (O5) or the Plus Five:
Brazil, China,
India, Mexico, and South
Africa. These countries have participated as
guests in previous meetings, which are some-
times called G8+5. Recently, France, Ger-
many, and Italy are lobbying to include Egypt
to the O5 and expand the G8 to G14.[2]
History
The concept of a forum for the world’s major
industrialized democracies emerged follow-
ing