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Map of World Trade Organization (WTO) member and observer countries, updated for August 2016 to include new members Liberia and Afghanistan (labeled). Color blind accessible.

Map by Evan Centanni, from public domain blank map.

Additional reporting by Caleb Centanni

Two New WTO Member Countries

This month two more countries are joining the World Trade Organization (WTO), a global body founded in 1995 to promote the management and expansion of international trade. Liberia officially became the WTO’s 163rd member on July 14, and Afghanistan joins the list as member number 164 on July 29. The last new member to join the WTO was Kazakhstan in November of last year.

Joining the WTO requires a country to sign onto a set of free trade treaties managed by the organization, and to change its laws to follow the WTO’s rules for free market trade. In return, each member country gets access to cheaper trade with all the other members, who aren’t allowed to play favorites when deciding whose imports to tax or not tax.

Organization Name:
• World Trade Organization (English)
• Organisation mondiale du commerce (French)
• Organización Mundial del Comercio (Spanish)
Founded: 1994 in Marrakech, Morocco (commenced in 1995)
Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
Website: www.wto.org

A diverse West African nation, Liberia declared independence in 1847, making it the oldest continuously independent country in Africa today. Liberia’s admission to the WTO comes after almost 10 years of negotiation, getting official approval to join in December 2015 and submitting its ratified acceptance of membership on June 14 of this year.

Afghanistan, located along the ancient Silk Road on the border of South and Central Asia, is about the 40th largest country in the world by both area and population. Afghanistan was also approved for membership last December, and submitted its ratified membership acceptance on June 29, after 11 years of negotiations.

How Many Countries are in the WTO?

Of the 195 UN-recognized countries in the world, 160 (82%) are members of the WTO. Another four members are not UN-recognized nations: China’s self-governed territories of Hong Kong and Macau, the European Union, and the disputed state of Taiwan, which participates under the name “Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu (Chinese Taipei)”.

There are also 20 WTO “observers”, down from 22 now that Liberia and Afghanistan have become full members. These countries are partially included in the organization, and have all applied for full membership (except the Holy See administration of Vatican City, which doesn’t plan to). There are only 15 UN-recognized countries that are neither members nor observers of the WTO.

Two countries, East Timor and Somalia, submitted membership applications last year, but don’t yet have WTO observer status.

More: View all articles on new WTO member countries since 2011

WTO logo is displayed without permission, based on fair use principles (source).

December 11, 2015

Map: Kazakhstan Joins WTO

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Map of World Trade Organization (WTO) member and observer countries, updated for December 2015 to include new member Kazakhstan

Member and observer states of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Map by Evan Centanni, starting from public domain blank map (license: CC BY-NC-SA).

Additional reporting by Caleb Centanni

Kazakhstan Joins WTO
On November 30, Kazakhstan officially became the 162nd member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), a global body founded in 1995 to promote the management and expansion of international trade. Kazakhstan was accepted by the organization in July, and membership was ratified by the Kazakh parliament on October 31 (membership takes effect 30 days after ratification). Kazakhstan is the second country to join the WTO in 2015, after Seychelles became a member in April.

More: All PolGeoNow articles on WTO admissions since 2011

Kaz akhstan is a landlocked former Soviet republic located mainly in Central Asia, though a small part of it is technically in Europe (depending on your definition). It’s the ninth-largest country in the world by area, and the biggest economic power in the Central Asia region, where several of the world’s few remaining non-WTO countries are located. Kazakhstan’s admission to the WTO comes after almost 20 years of negotiation and various economic reforms that made it more friendly to international business.

Of the 195 UN-recognized countries in the world, 158 (about 81%) are members of the WTO. Another four members are not UN-recognized nations: the China-administered territories of Hong Kong and Macau, the European Union, and the disputed state of Taiwan, which participates under the name “Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu (Chinese Taipei)”.

There are also 22 WTO “observers”, down from 23 now that Kazakhstan has become a full member. These observer countries are partially included in the organization, and have all applied for membership (except the Holy See administration of Vatican City, which does not plan to). There are only 15 UN-recognized countries that are neither members nor observers of the WTO.

WTO logo is displayed without permission, based on fair use principles (source).

May 1, 2015

Map: Seychelles Join WTO

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Map of World Trade Organization (WTO) member and observer countries, updated for April 2015 to include new member Seychelles

Member and observer states of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Map by Evan Centanni, starting from public domain blank map (license: CC BY-NC-SA).

Additional reporting by Caleb Centanni

Seychelles Joins WTO

This Sunday, Seychelles joined the World Trade Organization (WTO), a global body founded in 1995 to promote the management and expansion of international trade.The last country to join the organization was Yemen last June, preceded by Laos and Tajikistan in 2013.

Seychelles is a country made up of a group of islands off the coast of East Africa. A member of the African Union, it is Africa’s smallest country by both area and population. This year marks the end of a 20-year negotiation process for Seychelles to enter the WTO. It is the organization’s 161st member.

Of the 195 UN-recognized countries in the world, 157 (about 81%) are members of the WTO. Another four members are not UN-recognized nations: the Chinese administered territories of Hong Kong and Macau, the European Union, and the disputed state of Taiwan, which participates under the name “Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu (Chinese Taipei)”.

There are also 23 WTO “observers”, down from 24 now that Seychelles has become a full member. These observer countries are partially included in the organization and have applied for membership (excepting the Holy See, which does not plan to apply). There are only 15UN-recognized countries that are neither members nor observers of the WTO.

WTO logo is displayed without permission, based on fair use principles (source).

July 10, 2014

Map: Yemen Joins WTO

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Map of World Trade Organization (WTO) member and observer countries, updated for July 2014 to include new member Yemen

Member and observer states of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Map by Evan Centanni, starting from public domain blank map (license: CC BY-NC-SA).

By Caleb Centanni

World Trade Organization Admits Yemen

The World Trade Organization (WTO), a global organization founded in 1995 to promote the management and expansion of international trade, added Yemen as a new member in late June. This comes after the admission of four new members in 2012, and two more in early 2013.

Yemen, located on the southern Arabian Peninsula, was approved for membership last October at the Ninth Ministerial Conference of the WTO in Bali, Indonesia. The nation officially became a member on June 26, 2014, placing the entire peninsula under the organization’s representation. Yemen’s admission comes despite recent political turmoil in the country, including an Arab Spring uprising and rebel control of large areas of its territory. Yemen is the seventh least developed member country according to the WTO.

According to the WTO, 97.1% of the world economy now falls under the body’s jurisdiction, and this newest accession brings the organization’s membership to 160. Of the 195 UN-recognized countries in the world, 156 (exactly 80%) are members of the WTO. Another four members are not UN-recognized nations: the Chinese administered territories of Hong Kong and Macau, the European Union, and the disputed state of Taiwan, which participates under the name “Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu (Chinese Taipei)”.

There are also 24 WTO “observers”, states that are partially included in the organization and have applied for membership (excepting the Holy See, which does not plan to apply). There are only 14 UN members which are neither members nor observers of the WTO.

WTO logo is displayed without permission, based on fair use principles (source).

March 6, 2013

Map: Laos and Tajikistan Join WTO

Map of World Trade Organization (WTO) member countries, updated for March 2013 to include new members Laos and Tajikistan

World Trade Organization members in green. New members Laos and Tajikistan highlighted (click to enlarge). Map by Evan Centanni, modified from this Wikimedia map by Muso (license: CC BY-SA).

World Trade Organization Continues Growing
The World Trade Organization (WTO), a global treaty-based organization formed in 1995 to manage and promote international trade, has admitted two new members in recent weeks. This follows the previous admission of four new members last year (which had been approved at the end of 2011).

Laos, a landlocked communist state in Southeast Asia, was approved for membership last October, after 15 years of unsuccessful efforts to join. The country, whose economy is very small but growing rapidly, officially became a member of the WTO on February 2nd. Laos was the last mainland Southeast Asian country to join the organization, meaning the entire region is now represented in the global body.

Tajikistan, a former soviet country in Central Asia, joined the WTO last weekend (March 2nd) after a 12-year-long campaign. The small country, which is also landlocked like Laos, was approved for membership in December. It is the second of the five ex-soviet Central Asian countries to join the organization, after Kyrgyzstan.

The World Trade Organization now has 159 members, including about 80% of the world’s countries, plus a few which are not independent countries, such as Hong Kong and the European Union (each of the EU’s members also has its own separate membership).

WTO logo is displayed without permission, based on fair use principles (source).

December 21, 2011

WTO Admits New Members

Organization: World Trade Organization
Countries in Question: Vanuatu, Russia, Montenegro, Samoa
News Categories: Intergovernmental Organizations
Summary: The World Trade Organization, the intergovernmental organization supervising international trade between the majority of the world’s countries, admitted one new member last October, and three more last week. Especially notable was the admission last Friday of Russia, which was by far the largest economy not to have joined previously.

Full Story
While some intergovernmental organizations, such as the U.N. or regional unions, were created for general purposes of cooperation between states, others serve more specific purposes. The World Trade Organization (WTO) is one of these, acting as a venue for countries to agree on rules for international trade. Among its members, economic agreements are subject to rules aimed at liberalizing international trade, and trade-related disputes are also arbitrated through the organization. Formed in 1995 as a replacement for weaker trade treaties of the past, by 2008 the WTO represented approximately 80% of the world’s independent countries.

World Trade Organization members in green. Countries joining this year in brighter green, with small countries circled. Modified from this Wikimedia map (license: CC BY-SA).

This October, the WTO grew for the first time in three years, with the acceptance of the Pacific island country of Vanuatu’s as a member. Just last week, three more countries joined: Russia, Montenegro, and Samoa. Samoa is another small Pacific island country, and Montenegro was only formed a few years ago from the final breakup of former Yugoslavia. Russia, however, has gained much attention for being the last of the world’s major economic powers to join the organization. Although it first applied for admission to the group 18 years ago, before the modern WTO was even formed, until recently Russia was slow to proceed with membership negotiations. For the last few years, it was blocked from entry by Georgia, a WTO member protesting its invasion by Russia during the 2008 war between the two countries, but that hurdle was finally crossed after a Swiss-brokered agreement between Russia and Georgia earlier this year. Although the four new countries have been accepted by the organization, their governments will still have to ratify the agreements in order for them to become full participating members.

Category: world trade organization

Map: Liberia and Afghanistan Join WTO

Two New WTO Member Countries

How Many Countries are in the WTO?

Map: Kazakhstan Joins WTO

Map: Seychelles Join WTO

Map: Yemen Joins WTO

Map: Laos and Tajikistan Join WTO

WTO Admits New Members