The Group of Seven (G7) is an intergovernmental political and economic forum, not a formal institution, consisting of seven major advanced economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The European Union (EU) is also a "non-enumerated member".
The group originated from an informal gathering of finance ministers, known as the "Library Group," on March 25, 1973, in Washington, D.C.. The first Leaders' Summit, then called the G6, was held in November 1975 in France. It was created to coordinate solutions to major global economic problems, such as the 1973 oil crisis and the Nixon shock. Canada joined in 1976, establishing the G7.
The G7 operates by consensus and lacks a permanent secretariat or treaty. Its mechanism is a rotating presidency, where one of the seven member states hosts the annual Leaders' Summit and sets the agenda for the year. The forum addresses a broad range of issues, including global economic stability, security, and climate change.
A key related concept is the G20, which was created in 1999 on the sidelines of the G7 Summit to include major developing countries like India for strategic economic communication. India is also frequently invited as a guest country to the annual G7 summits.
The group's structure changed significantly when Russia officially became the eighth member in 1997, forming the G8. However, Russia's membership was indefinitely suspended in March 2014 following its annexation of Crimea, which effectively dissolved the G8 and reverted the group to the G7. The core function of coordinating policy among advanced democracies has stayed the same, but the scope has expanded from purely economic issues to include security and geopolitical concerns.