G8 Countries
The members of the Group of Eight, or G8, are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The eight members meet once a year at Heads of State and Government level.
France, the United States and Russia are represented by their Heads of State, whereas the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Italy and Canada are represented by their respective Heads of Government.
France
Geographical information:
Area: 550,000 km2
Population: 63.0 million (2006) [1]
Annual population growth rate: 0.5% (2006)
Capital: Paris
Official language: French
Economic data:
GDP (nominal) 2007 [2]
- Total $2,593 billion
- Pro capita $ 42,033
- % World GDP 4.8 [4]
GDP (PPP) 2007 [3]
- Total $ 2,068 billion
- Pro capita $ 33,508
- % World GDP 3.2 [4]
Form of government:
Presidential republic
Leader:
President Nicolas Sarkozy
G8s held to date:
Evian Summit (2003)
Lyon Summit (1996)
Summit of the Arch (1989)
Versailles Summit (1982)
Rambouillet Summit (1975)
[1] ONU - World Population Prospects: The 2006 Revision
http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wpp2006/wpp2006.htm
[2] Estimates for 2007 published by the International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database, October 2008.
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2008/01/weodata/index.aspx
[3] PPP (Purchasing Power Parity)
Estimates for 2007 published by the International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database, October 2008.
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2008/01/weodata/index.aspx
For further information on the calculation of purchasing power parity consult http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purchasing_power_parity
[4] Reprocessing of the figures published by the International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database.
