G8 Leaders in 2013
The G7 (formally the G8) is a governmental political forum that originated with a 1975 summit hosted by France. It brought six governments France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, thus leading to the name Group of Six or G6. The summit became known as the Group of Seven or G7 in 1976 with the addition of Canada.
Russia was added to the political forum from 1997. In 2014 Russia was suspended after their annexation of Crimea.
The annual G8 leader's summit is attended by the heads of government. The member country holding the G8 presidency is responsible for organizing and hosting the year's summit.
Some criticism centers on the assertion that members of G8 do not do enough to help global problems such as Third World Debt, global warming and the AIDS epidemic—due to strict medicine patent policy and other issues related to globalization.