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The original member states of BRICS, an international organization of world economies, consisted of Brazil, Russia, India, and China. South Africa formally joined in 2010 and attended the 3rd BRICS summit. The organization expanded again in 2024, with Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates attending the 16th BRICS summit as official members. In January 2025, Indonesia joined the organization. Many other countries are partner states or have applied to join.
Member states
[edit]
Partner states
[edit]Partner states are a new category for integration of prospective members, introduced in 2024 at the 16th BRICS summit in Kazan, the Russian Federation. These countries are observer states that are not yet officially part of the BRICS bloc, yet would get support from BRICS members. These observer states must prove themselves as partners before possibly integrating as a member, similar to the accession process of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.[8] 13 states were invited to be formal partners; the following 9 states then ensured their partnership status by January 2025, while Indonesia acceded into the core membership.
Three more countries had been invited to join the BRICS bloc as observer partner states like the ones listed above but have not yet confirmed that status as of mid-January 2025.[8]
| Flag | Country |
Capital |
Area (km2) |
Population (2016) |
Density (/km2) |
GDP per cap. (PPP) |
HDI | Currency |
Official languages | Leaders | Application submitted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Algeria People's Democratic Republic of Algeria |
Algiers | 2,381,741 | 46,700,000 | 19 | 16,483 | 0.745 | Algerian dinar (DZD) | Arabic | Head of State: Abdelmadjid Tebboune Head of Government: Nadir Larbaoui |
|
 |
Turkey Republic of Türkiye |
Ankara | 783,562 | 85,372,377 | 111 | 40,283 | 0.855 | Turkish lira (TRY) | Turkish | Head of State and Government: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan | |
 |
Vietnam Socialist Republic of Vietnam |
Hanoi | 331,344.82 | 100,300,000 | 298 | 15,470 | 0.726 | Vietnamese đồng (VND) | Vietnamese | Head of State: Lương Cường Head of Government: Phạm Minh Chính |
Countries that have applied for membership
[edit]Saudi Arabia was invited to join at the 15th BRICS summit, but has not yet formalised its approval to become a BRICS member.[10]
While Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates were not admitted as members during the 15th BRICS summit, they were among 22 countries applying for membership. South African Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana said “There is a second batch of countries that are going to be added [to] BRICS." This means that there are plans for further BRICS expansion and the following countries are possible candidates due to their applications for membership.[11]
| Flag | Country |
Capital |
Area (km2) |
Population (2016) |
Density (/km2) |
GDP per cap. (PPP) |
HDI | Currency |
Official languages | Leaders | Application submitted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Azerbaijan Republic of Azerbaijan |
Baku | 86,600 | 9,976,248 | 117 | 19,328 | 0.760 | Azerbaijani manat (AZN) | Azerbaijani | Head of State: Ilham Aliyev Head of Government: Ali Asadov |
2024 |
 |
Bangladesh People's Republic of Bangladesh |
Dhaka | 148,460 | 169,828,911 | 1,305 | 8,673 | 0.661 | Bangladeshi taka (BDT) | Bengali | Head of State: Mohammed Shahabuddin Head of Government: Muhammad Yunus |
2023 |
 |
Myanmar Republic of the Union of Myanmar |
Naypyidaw | 676,578 | 53,662,135 | 79.22 | 7,682 | 0.582 | Burmese kyat (MMK) | Burmese | Head of State: Min Aung Hlaing Head of Government: Min Aung Hlaing |
2024 |
 |
Pakistan Islamic Republic of Pakistan |
Islamabad | 881,913 | 241,499,431 | 273.8 | 6,955 | 0.540 | Pakistani rupee (PKR) | Urdu English |
Head of State: Asif Ali Zardari Head of Government: Shehbaz Sharif |
2024[12] |
 |
Senegal Republic of Senegal |
Dakar | 196,722 | 18,847,519 | 90 | 4,324 | 0.517 | West African CFA franc (XOF) | French Wolof Pulaar |
Head of State: Bassirou Diomaye Faye Head of Government: Ousmane Sonko |
2023[13] |
|
Sri Lanka Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka |
Kotte | 65,610.2 | 22,037,000 | 337.7 | 14,234 | 0.780 | Sri Lankan rupee (LKR) | Sinhala Tamil |
Head of State: Anura Kumara Dissanayake Head of Government: Harini Amarasuriya |
2024[14] |
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|
Syria Syrian Arab Republic |
Damascus | 185,180 | 23,865,423 | 118.33 | 2,900 | 0.557 | Syrian pound (SYP) | Arabic | Head of State: vacant | 2024[b] |
 |
Venezuela Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela |
Caracas | 916,445 | 30,518,260 | 33.74 | 3,474 | 0.699 | Venezuelan bolívar (VED) | Spanish Piapoco Baniwa Locono Other indigenous languages |
Head of State and Government: Nicolás Maduro |
2024[c] |
Previous applicants
[edit]In 2011, Indonesia considered the possibility of joining BRICS. In 2022, the country formally submitted an application, but Indonesian president Joko Widodo decided not to join the group and to withdraw the application because it was considered a rushed decision. Widodo said that in future he would probably reapply, but Indonesia is out for now. Widodo never reapplied before he stepped down as president in 2024.[15] However, the consideration of Indonesia joining BRICS is said to be decided by President Prabowo Subianto according to Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi.[16] Indonesia has restarted the application process as announced by Foreign Minister Sugiono after the 16th BRICS summit.[17]
In 2022, Argentina formally submitted an application for BRICS membership under Alberto Fernández's government. Argentina was invited to join at the subsequent 2023 summit, but the country declined the offer to join the bloc in the aftermath of pro-Western Javier Milei's victory in that year's presidential election.[18]
Algeria had previously applied for membership in 2023,[19] but later rejected it in September 2024, making Algeria the second country after Argentina to decline and stop its application.[20]
Following the 2024 BRICS summit, Brazil blocked Venezuela's application to the bloc, largely due to the disputed 2024 Venezuelan elections and the ongoing Venezuelan crisis. Venezuela recalled its ambassador from Brazil in response.[21]
Notes
[edit]- ^ The actual area under PRC control is 9,596,960.[citation needed]
- ^ It is unclear if this country can join following the fall of the Assad regime (see Fall of the Assad regime).[citation needed]
- ^ Application has been blocked by Brazil because of the disputed 2024 Venezuelan elections in addition to the ongoing Venezuelan crisis.[citation needed]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects: October 2024". imf.org. International Monetary Fund.
- ^ "Human Development Report 2023/2024" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 13 March 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 March 2024. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
- ^ a b "Law of the People's Republic of China on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language (Order of the President No.37)". Archived from the original on 2013-07-24. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
- ^ "New era as South Africa joins BRICS" Archived 18 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine . SouthAfrica.info. 11 April 2010. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
- ^ "S. Africa Joins; BRIC Now BRICS, 13 de abril de 2011". Archived from the original on 24 February 2011. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
- ^ "BRICS Gain Global Influence as South Africa Joins, Medvedev Says". Bloomberg.com. 2011-04-12. Retrieved 2021-03-27.
- ^ Fletcher, Owen (2011-04-13). "China Seeks Heft for 'BRICS'". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-03-27.
- ^ a b Ben Norton, BRICS grows, inviting 13 new ‘partner countries’ at historic summit in Kazan, Russia. Published 2024-10-26; Updated 2024-12-24.
- ^ "Kazakhstan to Become a BRICS Partner on January 1, 2025". The Times Of Central Asia. 24 December 2024. Retrieved 2025-01-26.
- ^ Magid, Pesha (16 January 2024). "Saudi Arabia has not yet joined BRICs - minister". Reuters.
- ^ "MSN". MSN.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)[permanent dead link] - ^ Hussain, Abid. "Pakistan seeks BRICS membership, despite India roadblock". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2024-10-25.
- ^ Ndiaye, Juliette (2023-08-21). "EMERGING COUNTRIES – Senegal wants to integrate the Brics". Ze-AfricaNews. Retrieved 2024-10-25.
- ^ "Sri Lanka set to officially apply for BRICS membership".
- ^ "Why Indonesia chose autonomy over BRICS membership". East Asia Forum. 2023-10-25. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
- ^ Rahmawati, Dwi. "Menlu Sebut Keputusan Indonesia Gabung BRICS Ada di Tangan Prabowo". detiknews (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2024-10-25.
- ^ Ihsan, Nabil (October 25, 2024). "RI nyatakan keinginan gabung ke BRICS, wujudkan diplomasi bebas aktif". Antara News (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2024-10-25.
- ^ "El gobierno de Javier Milei oficializó que la Argentina no entrará a los Brics". LA NACIÓN (in Spanish). 2023-12-29. Archived from the original on 29 December 2023. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
- ^ "Algeria president: 'Country applied to join BRICS, offered $1.5bn'". July 2023.
- ^ "Algeria no longer express interest in joining according to Algerian news agency". Aps.
- ^ "Angered over BRICS veto, Venezuela recalls ambassador to Brazil". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2024-10-30.
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