Group of Eight, formerly and subsequently Group of 7 (G7), intergovernmental organization that originated in 1975 through informal summit meetings of the leaders of the world’s leading industrialized countries (the United States, the United Kingdom, France, West Germany, Italy, Canada, and Japan). Canada did not attend the initial meeting in 1975, and the president of the European Commission joined the discussions in 1977. Beginning in 1994, Russia joined the discussions, and the group became known as the Group of 8 (G8) or the “Political Eight”; Russia officially became the eighth member in 1997. In March 2014 Russia precipitated an international crisis when it occupied and annexed Crimea, an autonomous republic of Ukraine. The original Group of 7 (G7) responded by indefinitely suspending Russia’s membership in the group, effectively dissolving the larger G8. With no formal charter, a limited bureaucratic structure, and no permanent secretariat, leaders of the G7 discuss major economic issues in an informal setting. Source: britannica.com