1975 - Rambouillet, France

First G6 meeting, attended by France, the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Germany and Italy.

1976 - San Juan, Puerto Rico

Canada joins the G6 and it becomes the G7.

1977 - London, U.K.

The European Community gets a seat at the G7 table.

1978 - Bonn, Germany.

1979 - Tokyo, Japan

1980 - Venice, Italy

1981 - Ottawa and Montebello, Que.

Canada hosts its first G7 Summit.

1982 - Versailles, France

Trade ministers join the discussions.

1983 - Williamsburg, Virginia

1984 - London, U.K.

Foreign ministers join the discussions.

1985 - Bonn, Germany

1986 - Tokyo, Japan

Finance ministers join the discussions.

1987 - Venice, Italy

1988 - Toronto

Canada hosts its second G7 Summit.

1989 - Paris

Fifteen developing countries meet with G7 leaders prior to the summit.

1990 - Houston, Texas

1991 - London, U.K.

1992 - Munich, Germany

Environment ministers join the discussions.

1993 - Tokyo, Japan

1994 - Naples, Italy

The G7 meetings are followed by "P-8" (Political 8) meetings, with Russia at the table. Employment ministers join the discussions.

1995 - Canada hosts the G7 in Halifax

Terrorism becomes an item on the G7 agenda.

1996 - Moscow, Russian Federation

("The G7+") concentrates on nuclear safety and security.

1997 - Denver, Colorado

The "Summit of Eight," Russia becomes a full participant in political discussions but is only an observer in financial discussions.

1998 - Birmingham, U.K.

Russia becomes a full participant and the G7 becomes the G8. The summit downsizes, by limiting the meeting to "leaders only." Ministerial meetings are scheduled in the weeks leading up to the summit. (The G7 continues to have some meetings without Russia).

1999 - Cologne, Germany

The summit agrees on the Cologne Debt Initiative to help poor countries with debt relief.

2000 - Okinawa, Japan

The G8 discusses infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS and bridging the digital divide.

2001 - Genoa, Italy

In a summit marred by anti-globalization rioting, the leaders discuss aid to Africa, a global fund to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

2002 - Kananaskis and Calgary, Alberta

Former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien makes African aid a central issue of this summit. The G8 agrees on a deal offering economic aid to Africa. African governments agree to deal with corruption, bad management and human rights abuses. Protestors are kept well away from the remote meeting location.

2003 - Evian-les-Bains, France

Iraq tops the agenda at a meeting where more than half the G8 members opposed the recent war there. The leaders wrap their summit expressing their wish for a fully sovereign, stable and democratic Iraq. They also said the U.S. and Britain will continue to play the leading role in determining the political future of Iraq. The leaders also release a statement on non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, singling out Iran and North Korea for criticism. Tens of thousands of protestors are kept 30 kilometres away from the site of the summit, a resort on the shores of Lake Geneva.

2004 – Sea Island, Georgia

G8 leaders meet at an exclusive American resort and deal with a wide range of issues including Middle East peace, bringing democracy to Iraq and issues relating to Africa. The leaders of South Africa, Nigeria, Uganda, Ghana and Senegal joined the summit on its last day to discuss economic development, AIDS and boosting peacekeeping efforts in regional crises.

The G8 leaders agreed to speed the development of a vaccine for AIDS and to help train and equip up to 50,000 peacekeepers for regional crises.

Protesters were unable to get anywhere near the site of the summit.

2005 - Gleneagles, Scotland

G8 leaders meet at the Gleneagles Hotel to discuss climate change, effects of farm subsidies on global trade, and aid to Africa. The leaders were expected to agree on a plan to give billions of dollars in new aid and investment money to Africa, and cancel billions in debt owed by the world's 18 poorest countries, 14 of which are in Africa. A global musical event known as Live 8 – a series of concerts in G8 countries four days before the start of the summit – was designed to put pressure on leaders to meet the goal of contributing 0.7 per cent of total gross domestic product to African relief by 2015.

Protesters, many wearing white, march in Edinburgh before the summit to draw attention to a "Make Poverty History" campaign. They want the G8 leaders to tackle global poverty.

2006 - St. Petersburg, Russia

As G8 leaders meet at the Palace of Congresses, St. Petersburg airport and port are closed and a sports stadium 25km away from the summit venue is set-aside for anti-globalization protestors. This is the only location in which they are allowed to rally.

Even before the summit begins, Russian President Vladimir Putin is accused of intimidating people within his jurisdiction and curbing their civil rights, in the name of providing security for the event.

According to anti-globalization protestors, two female activists handing out anti-globalization leaflets in St. Petersburg were sentenced to 10 days in prison for hooliganism and Russian authorities have been using legal technicalities to prevent certain people from traveling to the host city by rail or air. They also say activists living in St. Petersburg who sympathize with their cause have been called up by the draft board for military duty. In addition, they say police and other government officials threaten local activists in their homes.

In defense of the government’s tactics, Russia’s Deputy Interior Minister Alexander Chekalin said "The police's actions are commensurate with the situation at hand.”

[an error occurred while processing this directive]