Which countries are part of the G7 / G8 organizations?
The Group of Seven or G7 is a coalition of the major industrial democracies: the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States (the original G6 which met the first time in 1975), and Canada which joined in 1976, making it the G7. In 1998 by the addition of Russia the G8 was created. The hallmark of the G8 is an annual economic and political summit of the heads of government with international officials, though there are numerous subsidiary meetings and policy research.
