34th G8 summit

34th G8 Summit
34th G8 Summit official logo
Host country	Japan
Dates	July 7–9, 2008
Follows	33rd G8 summit
Precedes	35th G8 summit

The 34th G8 summit was held in Tōyako (洞爺湖, Tōya-ko^?, Lake Toya) on the northern island of Hokkaido, Japan, on July 7–9, 2008. The locations of previous summits to have been hosted by Japan include: Tokyo (1979, 1986, 1993); and Nago, Okinawa (2000). The G8 Summit has evolved beyond being a gathering of world political leaders. The event has become an occasion for a wide variety of non-governmental organizations, activists and civic groups to congregate and discuss a multitude of issues.

The Group of Seven (G7) was an unofficial forum which brought together the heads of the richest industrialized countries: France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada starting in 1976. The G8, meeting for the first time in 1997, was formed with the addition of Russia. In addition, the President of the European Commission has been formally included in summits since 1981. The summits were not meant to be linked formally with wider international institutions; and in fact, a mild rebellion against the stiff formality of other international meetings was a part of the genesis of cooperation between France's President Giscard d'Estaing and West Germany's Chancellor Helmut Schmidt as they conceived the initial summit of the Group of Six (G6) in 1975.