HISTORY:

The concept of a forum for the world's major industrialized democracies emerged, following the 1973 oil crisis and subsequent global recession.

In 1974 the United States created the Library Group, an informal gathering of senior financial officials from the United States, the United Kingdom, West Germany, Japan and France.

In 1975, French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing invited the heads of government from West Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States to a summit in Rambouillet. The six leaders agreed to an annual meeting organized under a rotating presidency, forming the Group of Six (G6).

The following year, Canada joined the group at the behest of US President Gerald Ford and the group became known as the Group of Seven (G7).

The Cold War ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, and Russia became the successor state. Beginning with the 1994 Naples summit, Russian officials held a separate meeting with leaders of the G7 after the main summit. This group became known as the Political 8 (P8), or colloquially as the "G7 plus 1".

At the initiative of former United States President Bill Clinton, Russia formally joined the group in 1997, resulting in the Group of Eight (G8).

The European Union too has attended all meetings since it was first invited by the United Kingdom in the year 1977. The EU is represented by the President of the European Commission and the leader of the country that holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

MEMBERS:

The permanent members of the Group of Eight are: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, UK, and the USA.

CUMULATIVE REPRESENTATION:

Together, the G8 countries represent about 65 percent of the Gross World Product, the majority of global military power and almost all of the world's active nuclear weapons.

The member states account for 49 percent of global exports, 51 percent of industrial output, and 49 percent of assets in the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

In 2007, the combined G8 military spending was $850 billion. This was 72 percent of the world's total military expenditures.

Four of the G8 members namely - United Kingdom, United States of America, France and Russia - together account for 96-99% of the world's nuclear weapons.