List of country groupings

Groups of countries or regions are often referred to by a single term (word, phrase, or abbreviation). The origins of such terms include political alliances, intergovernmental organizations, business market areas, and mere colloquialism.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

A

• APAC: Asia-Pacific
• America: Usage varies; it may refer to either the United States of America alone, or all of North and South America combined.
• ANZ: Australia and New Zealand
• ANZIT: Australia-New Zealand-Italy Trilateral relations
• ANZUK: Trilateral relations between Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
• APJ: Asia Pacific and Japan
• APSG: Asia Pacific and Singapore
• African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of all fifty-five countries on the African continent.
• Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is a forum for 21 Pacific Rim member economies that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region
• Arab League, a regional organization of Arab countries in and around North Africa, the Horn of Africa and Arabia, Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, to draw closer the relations between member States and co-ordinate collaboration between them, to safeguard their independence and sovereignty, and to consider in a general way the affairs and interests of the Arab countries
• ASEAN, The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a regional organisation comprising ten Southeast Asian states
• ASEAN+3: The ASEAN countries, plus China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea

B

• BASIC countries, four large newly industrialized countries, Brazil, South Africa, India, China, to act jointly on climate change and emissions reduction
• Benelux Union is a politico-economic union of three neighbouring states in western Europe: Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
• Big Four (Western Europe) refers to France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom. These countries are considered major European powers and they are the Western European countries individually represented as full members of the G7, the G8, the G-10 and the G20.
• BIMSTEC, A group of countries in South Asia and South East Asia around the Bay of Bengal to promote technological and economic co-operation, which includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.
• BRIC, Brazil, Russia, India, and China, which are all deemed to be at a similar stage of newly advanced economic development
• BRICS: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa

C

• CAME: Central Asia and the Middle East
• CANZUK, the current personal union and proposed international organisation composed of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.
• CARICOM, Caribbean Community, an organization of fifteen Caribbean nations and dependencies
• CEFTA, the Central European Free Trade Agreement, current members: Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Moldova, North Macedonia and UNMIK for the territory of Kosovo.
• CARIFTA, Caribbean Free Trade Association
• CIVETS, six emerging markets countries, Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey, and South Africa, a diverse and dynamic economy and a young, growing population
• Comecon, formally the Council of Mutual Economic Assistance, consisted of socialist economies within the Communist world: the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, and Vietnam. The organization existed from 1949 to 1991 during the Cold War.
• Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations, a group of disputed states forging closer political ties. Members include Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Transnistria and the Republic of Artsakh.
• Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), political alliance between the former Soviet Republics of Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan.
• Commonwealth of Nations, fifty-three member states that are mostly former territories of the British Empire.
• Community of Portuguese Language Countries
• Collective Security Treaty Organization, a military alliance between Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and observer members Serbia and Afghanistan.
• Council of Europe, political alliance of 47 European countries.
• CAM: Central America México
• CALA: Caribbean and Latin America
• CEMA or CEEMEA: Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa
• CEE: Central and Eastern Europe

D

• Development Assistance Committee (DAC), to discuss issues surrounding aid, development and poverty reduction in developing countries, the world's major donor countries, Australia, European Union, Iceland, New Zealand, South Korea, Austria, Finland, Ireland, Norway, Spain, Belgium, France, Italy, Poland, Sweden, Canada, Germany, Japan, Portugal, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Greece, Luxembourg, Slovakia, United Kingdom, Denmark, Hungary, Netherlands, Slovenia, and United States.
• DACH: Majority German-speaking states of Central Europe (excludes the Principality of Liechtenstein). Utilises the German name of Germany, English name of Austria, and the Latin name of Switzerland. Germany (Deutschland), Austria (Austria) and Switzerland (Confoederatio Helvetica)
• DOS: Germany, Austria and Switzerland (for the countries' respective names in German: Deutschland, Österreich, and Schweiz)

E

• East African Community (EAC) is an intergovernmental organisation composed of six countries in the African Great Lakes region in eastern Africa: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.
• Eastern Partnership, a group of former soviet republics forging closer economic and political ties with the European Union. Members include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine.
• Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, a political and economic organization, a platform to discuss ways to improve development and promote trade and investment opportunities, the objective is to establish a single market for goods and services.
• EAEU: Eurasian Economic Union, an economic union of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and observer member Moldova.
• EU, The European Union, a political and economic union of twenty-eight member states that are located primarily in Europe.
• EFTA: European Free Trade Association
• EMEA: Europe, the Middle East and Africa
• ENWA: Europe and Northwest Asia

F

• Five Eyes (FVEY), is an anglophone intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.
• Four Asian Tigers, economies of Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, underwent rapid industrialization and maintained exceptionally high growth rates, now developed into advanced and high-income economies.
• FLAME: France-Latin America relationship

G

• G4 nations, Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan, four countries which support each other’s bids for permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council.
• Global Governance Group (G3), a group of 30 small to medium member countries which collectively provides representation and input to the G20.
• Group of Two (G2), United States and China (informal) focusing on Sino-American relations. Per considered two of the most influential and powerful countries in the world
• Group of Seven (G7), Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, the seven major advanced economies as reported by the International Monetary Fund.
• G8+5, the G8 nations, plus the five leading emerging economies (Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and South Africa).
• G20, or Group of Twenty, twenty major economies, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, for studying, reviewing, and promoting high-level discussion of policy issues pertaining to the promotion of international financial stability.
• Group of 77 (G77), a loose coalition of developing nations, designed to promote its members' collective economic interests and create an enhanced joint negotiating capacity in the United Nations.
• GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development: Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova
• Gulf Cooperation Council, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. A regional intergovernmental political and economic union consisting of all Arab states of the Persian Gulf, except for Iraq.
• Greater China: Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan
• GAS: Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (uncommon, DACH is more widely used)

I

• IBSA Dialogue Forum, India, Brazil, South Africa, an international tripartite grouping for promoting international cooperation among these countries.
• IMEA: India, Middle East and Africa
• International Solar Alliance, The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is an alliance of more than 122 countries initiated by India, most of them being sunshine countries, which lie either completely or partly between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.

L

• La Francophonie: an international organization representing countries and regions where French is a lingua franca or customary language
• LATAM: Latin America
• LATCAR: Latin America and Caribbean
• Levant: Cyprus, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria (broadly includes: Egypt, Iraq, Turkey)

M

• Mercosur (Southern Common Market), Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, to promote free trade and the fluid movement of goods, people, and currency.
• MIKTA, an informal partnership between Mexico, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Turkey, Australia, to support effective global governance.
• MINT, the economies of Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Turkey.
• MART: Middle East, Africa, Russia and Turkey
• MEA: Middle East and Africa
• MEATI: Middle East, Africa, Turkey & India
• MEESA: Middle East, Eastern and Southern Africa
• MENA: Middle East and North Africa
• MEP: Middle East and Pakistan
• META: Middle East, Turkey and Africa

N

• NAC: North America and the Caribbean
• North American Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA is an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America.
• Next Eleven (N11), Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Turkey, South Korea, and Vietnam – identified as having a high potential of becoming, along with the BRICS countries, among the world's largest economies in the 21st century.
• NACE: North Atlantic and Central Europe
• NORAM or NA or NAMER: North American Region (Canada, United States, and Mexico)
• NWA: Northwest Asia

O

• OAS, Organization of American States, is a continental organization of the 35 different independent nations within North and South America
• OECD, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, to stimulate economic progress and world trade, countries committed to democracy and the market economy, most OECD members are high-income economies with a very high Human Development Index (HDI) and are regarded as developed countries.
• OECS, a group of island nations located in the Eastern Caribbean.
• OIAS, Organization of Ibero-American States, an organization of Portuguese and Spanish Speaking Nations of the Americas, Africa, and Europe.
• OPEC, Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, thirteen countries accounting for an estimated 42 percent of global oil production and 73 percent of the world's proven oil reserves.

P

• P5, permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
• Pacific Alliance, a trade bloc of states that border the Pacific Ocean. Permanent members include Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru.
• Paris Club, a group of major creditor countries whose officials meet ten times a year in the city of Paris, with the intent to find coordinated and sustainable solutions to the payment difficulties experienced by debtor countries.
• PIGS, the economies of the countries of Portugal, Greece, Spain, Italy and/or Ireland.

R

• Rio Group, was an international organization of Latin American and some Caribbean states that was succeeded in 2010 by the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States.
• ROME: Rest of Middle East

S

• SAARC, a geopolitical union of nations in South Asia
• SCA: South and Central America
• Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), A Eurasian political, economic, and security organisation comprising China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan.
• SaarLorLux: Saarland, Lorraine, Luxembourg
• SEA: South-East Asia
• SEMEA: Southern Europe, Middle East and Africa
• SEEMEA: South-Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa
• SENA: Southeast, East, and North Asia
• Southern Cone (Cono Sur): Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay and Southern Brazil.

U

• United Kingdom (UK), a Country in Western Europe consisting of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
• United Nations (UN), an intergovernmental organization to promote international co-operation, 193 member states.
• Union State of Eurasia, a Sovereign state made up of Russia and Belarus

V

• Visegrád Group, an alliance of four Central European States: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia.
• VISTA (Vietnam, Indonesia, South Africa, Turkey, and Argentina) is an emerging markets grouping proposed in 2006 by BRICs Economic Research Institute of Japan.

See also

• United Nations geoscheme
• List of multilateral free-trade agreements