rs - (2) Turkey, Yugoslavia

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European Space Agency (ESA)

established - 31 July 1973

effective - 1 May 1975

aim - to promote peaceful cooperation in space research and
technology

members - (13) Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany,
Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,
UK

associate member - (1) Finland

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First World

Note - another term for countries with advanced, industrialized
economies; this term is fading from use; see developed countries
(DCs)

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Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

established - 16 October 1945

aim - UN specialized agency to raise living standards and
increase availability of agricultural products

members - (157) all UN members except Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Belarus, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Brunei, Croatia, Estonia,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania,
Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Moldova,
Russia, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan; other members are
Cook Islands, Switzerland, Tonga

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Former USSR/Eastern Europe (former USSR/EE)

Note - the middle group in the comprehensive but mutually
exclusive hierarchy of developed countries (DCs), former
USSR/Eastern Europe (former USSR/EE), and less developed
countries (LDCs); these countries are in political and economic
transition and may well be grouped differently in the near
future; this includes Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus,
Bosnia and Hercegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czecholovakia,
Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia,
Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovenia,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Yugoslavia

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Four Dragons

Note - the four small Asian less developed countries (LDCs) that
have experienced unusually rapid economic growth; also known as
the Four Tigers; this group includes Hong Kong, South Korea,
Singapore, Taiwan

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Four Tigers

Note - another term for the Four Dragons; see Four Dragons

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Franc Zone (FZ)

established - NA

aim - monetary union among countries whose currencies are linked
to the French franc

members - (15) Benin, Burkina, Cameroon, Central African
Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, France, Gabon,
Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo; note - France includes
metropolitan France, the four overseas depart