G8

The Group of Eight (G8) was a group made up of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia (suspended), the United Kingdom and the United States. The European Commission is also represented in the committee. The group has conferences or meetings throughout the year, it researches policies, and has a summit meeting once a year. The heads of government of each G8 country attend the summit meeting.

Group of Eight
Map of G8 member nations and the European Union
Map of G8 member nations and the European Union

 Canada

 France

 Germany

 Italy

 Japan

 Russia (suspended)[1]

 United Kingdom

 United States

 European Union

Each year a different country takes over the presidency of the group for the duration of the year. The country that holds the presidency sets the agenda for the year and hosts the summit for that year. The first G6 meeting was in 1975. Canada joined in 1976, making G7. Russia made it G8 in 1997.

The organization's official 2014 summit was not held in Moscow as previously planned, due to the invasion and takeover of Crimea.[2] On March 24, 2014, all seven member nations voted to suspend Russia from the G-8.[3][4] The meeting was held in Brussels instead, and the G8 will be called G7 since there are now seven leaders.

Overview

The G8 is not considered an international organization because it does not have administrative structure. This means that besides the president, there are no official titles for the members, they are all considered equal. Their meetings are not formal. The goal is to talk about global topics and problems in a relaxed manner.

There are many global problems and issues that can be discussed at meetings. Some common topics of discussion include: health, law enforcement, labor, economic and social development, energy, environment, foreign affairs, justice, terrorism, and trade.

Yearly summit

The annual meeting of G8 leaders is attended by the heads of government[5] and other invited guests. It is usually held for three days in the middle of the year. Each year one of the G8 countries is considered the G8 president. The country of the G8 presidency is responsible for organizing and hosting a summit during that year. The first summit meeting was held in November 1975 in France.[6]

DateHost countryHost leaderLocation heldWebsiteNotes
1stNovember 15–17, 1975 FranceValéry Giscard d'EstaingRambouillet (Castle of Rambouillet)G6 Summit
2ndJune 27–28, 1976 United StatesGerald R. FordDorado, Puerto Rico[7]Canada joins the group, forming the G7[7]
3rdMay 7–8, 1977 United KingdomJames CallaghanLondonPresident of the European Commission is invited to join the annual G7 summits
4thJuly 16–17, 1978 West GermanyHelmut SchmidtBonn, North Rhine-Westphalia
5thJune 28–29, 1979 JapanMasayoshi ŌhiraTokyo
6thJune 22–23, 1980 ItalyFrancesco CossigaVenice
7thJuly 20–21, 1981 CanadaPierre E. TrudeauMontebello, Quebec
8thJune 4–6, 1982 FranceFrançois MitterrandVersailles
9thMay 28–30, 1983 United StatesRonald ReaganWilliamsburg, Virginia
10thJune 7–9, 1984 United KingdomMargaret ThatcherLondon
11thMay 2–4, 1985 West GermanyHelmut KohlBonn, North Rhine-Westphalia
12thMay 4–6, 1986 JapanYasuhiro NakasoneTokyo
13thJune 8–10, 1987 ItalyAmintore FanfaniVenice
14thJune 19–21, 1988 CanadaBrian MulroneyToronto
15thJuly 14–16, 1989 FranceFrançois MitterrandParis
16thJuly 9–11, 1990 United StatesGeorge H. W. BushHouston, Texas
17thJuly 15–17, 1991 United KingdomJohn MajorLondon
18thJuly 6–8, 1992 GermanyHelmut KohlMunich, Bavaria
19thJuly 7–9, 1993 JapanKiichi MiyazawaTokyo
20thJuly 8–10, 1994 ItalySilvio BerlusconiNaples
21stJune 15–17, 1995 CanadaJean ChrétienHalifax, Nova Scotia[8]
22ndJune 27–29, 1996 FranceJacques ChiracLyonInternational organizations which are invited include: United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization.[9]
23rdJune 20–22, 1997 United StatesBill ClintonDenver, Colorado[10]Russia joins the group, forming G8
24thMay 15–17, 1998 United KingdomTony BlairBirmingham, England[11]
25thJune 18–20, 1999 GermanyGerhard SchröderCologne, North Rhine-Westphalia[12]
26thJuly 21–23, 2000 JapanYoshiro MoriNago, Okinawa[13]
27thJuly 20–22, 2001 ItalySilvio BerlusconiGenoa[14]
28thJune 26–27, 2002 CanadaJean ChrétienKananaskis, Alberta[15]
29thJune 2–3, 2003 FranceJacques ChiracÉvian-les-Bains[16]
30thJune 8–10, 2004 United StatesGeorge W. BushSea Island, Georgia[17]
31stJuly 6–8, 2005 United KingdomTony BlairGleneagles, Scotland[18]
32ndJuly 15–17, 2006 RussiaVladimir PutinStrelna, St. Petersburg[19]
33rdJune 6–8, 2007 GermanyAngela MerkelHeiligendamm, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern[20]
34thJuly 7–9, 2008 JapanYasuo FukudaToyako (Lake Toya), Hokkaido[21]
35thJuly 8–10, 2009 ItalySilvio BerlusconiL'Aquila, Abruzzo[22]
36thJune 25–26, 2010[23] CanadaStephen HarperHuntsville, Ontario[24][25]
37thMay 26–27, 2011 FranceNicolas SarkozyDeauville,[26][27] Basse-Normandie[28]
38thMay 18–19, 2012 United StatesBarack ObamaCamp David[29]
39thJune 17-18, 2013 United KingdomDavid CameronEnniskillen, Northern Ireland
40th (suspended)2014 RussiaVladimir PutinMoscow[30]Cancelled; Russia is suspended, restoring the organization to G7
41st June 4-5, 2015  Germany Angela Merkel Schloss Elmau, Garmisch, Bavaria
42nd May 26-27, 2016  Japan Shinzō Abe Shima, Mie Prefecture
43rd May 26–27, 2017  Italy Paolo Gentiloni Taormina, Sicily
44rd June 8-9, 2018  Canada Justin Trudeau Charlevoix, Quebec

Economic power

The eight countries that make up the G8 represent about 14% of the people in the world but produce over 65% of the world's economic output measured by gross domestic product (GDP).

2004 Population GDP
  Millions of people % Billions of dollars %
World 6345.1 100.0 39833.6 100.0
United States United States 350.5 4.6 12179.9 30.7
Japan Japan 127.8 2.0 4749.9 11.9
Germany Germany 82.6 1.3 2749.0 6.3
United Kingdom United Kingdom 59.4 0.9 2136.4 5.2
France France 60.0 0.9 1858.7 4.7
Italy Italy 57.6 0.9 1503.6 3.8
Canada Canada 31.9 0.5 905.6 2.3
Russia Russia 142.8 2.3 487.3 1.2
G8 855.6 13.5 26270.4 66.1

Source: World Development Report 2006, World Bank

References
The 36th G8 summit in Huntsville, Ontario in Canada
The 38th G8 summit at Camp David in the US.
  1. "Russia just quit the G8 for good". Independent.co.uk. 13 January 2017.
  2. "G8 summit 'won't be held in Russia'". BBC News. 24 March 2014.
  3. Correspondent, By Jim Acosta, CNN Senior White House (24 March 2014). "U.S., other powers kick Russia out of G8 - CNNPolitics". CNN. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. Smale, Alison; Shear, Michael D. (24 March 2014). "Russia Is Ousted From Group of 8 by U.S. and Allies". The New York Times.
  5. Feldman, Adam. "What's Wrong With The G-8," Archived 2008-10-25 at the Wayback Machine Forbes. July 7, 2008; retrieved 2012-3-16.
  6. Hajnal, Peter I. (1999). The G8 System and the G20: Evolution, Role and Documentation, p. 30.
  7. Shabecoff, Philip. "Go-Slow Policies Urged by Leaders in Economic Talks; Closing Statement Calls for Sustained Growth Coupled With Curbs on Inflation; Ford's Aims Realized; 7 Heads of Government Also Agree to Consider a New Body to Assist Italy Co-Slow Economic Policies Urged by 7 Leaders," New York Times. June 29, 1976; Chronology, June 1976. Archived 2010-07-15 at the Wayback Machine
  8. "Halifax G7 Summit 1995". Chebucto.ns.ca. 2000-05-28. Retrieved 2010-06-27.
  9. Kirton, John. "A Summit of Substantial Success: The Performance of the 2008 G8"; page 88 and 89 Archived 2008-10-01 at the Wayback Machine G8 Information Centre — University of Toronto July 17, 2008.
  10. "Denver Summit of the Eight". State.gov. Retrieved 2010-02-08.
  11. "Birmingham G8 Summit, UK, 1998". 1998-12-12. Archived from the original on 1998-12-12. Retrieved 2011-05-21.
  12. "1999 G8 summit documents". 2005-02-26. Archived from the original on 2005-02-26. Retrieved 2010-06-27.
  13. "Kyushu-Okinawa Summit". MOFA. Retrieved 2010-02-08.
  14. "Vertice di Genova 2001". 2001-08-06. Archived from the original on 2001-08-06. Retrieved 2010-02-08.
  15. "UT G8 Info. Centre. Kananaskis Summit 2002. Summit Contents". G8.utoronto.ca. Archived from the original on 2021-04-23. Retrieved 2010-02-08.
  16. "G8 - Sommet Evian Summit 2003 - Home". Archived from the original on 2011-04-13. Retrieved 2022-05-03.
  17. "Sea Island Summit 2004". Georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov. Retrieved 2010-02-08.
  18. "Special Reports | G8_Gleneagles". BBC News. 2008-09-17. Retrieved 2010-02-08.
  19. "G8". Archived from the original on 2015-04-21. Retrieved 2022-05-03.
  20. "G8 Summit 2007 Heiligendamm - G8 SUMMIT". www.g-8.de. Retrieved 2022-05-03.
  21. "Hokkaido Toyako Summit – TOP". Mofa.go.jp. Retrieved 2010-02-08.
  22. "G8 Summit 2009 - official website - The Summit". Archived from the original on 2009-07-09. Retrieved 2022-05-03.
  23. "Canada's G8 Plans" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-07-05. Retrieved 2010-06-27.
  24. "Prime Minister of Canada: Prime Minister announces Canada to host 2010 G8 Summit in Huntsville". Pm.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 2010-02-08. Retrieved 2010-02-08.
  25. "2010 Muskoka Summit". Canadainternational.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 2011-04-10. Retrieved 2011-05-21.
  26. "Le prochain G20 aura lieu à Cannes," Le point. November 12, 2010.
  27. The City of Deauville Archived 2012-03-19 at the Wayback Machine Official 2011 G8 website. Retrieved February 7, 2011.
  28. "Home – French Presidency of the G-8". G20-g8.com. Archived from the original on 2011-05-22. Retrieved 2011-05-21.
  29. "2012 G8 Summit Relocation". www.g8.utoronto.ca. Archived from the original on 2013-04-06. Retrieved 2013-06-26.
  30. "Moscow likely to host G8 summit in 2014 – Dvorkovich". Interfax Europe Ltd. Retrieved 2012-02-17.

Other page

Other websites
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.