Established at the Commercial Bureau of the American Republics at the First International Conference of American States in 1890 to promote cooperation between the nations of the American continents.

Also known as:

• 1889: the Commercial Bureau of the American Republics
• 1902: the International Bureau of the American Republics
• 1910: Pan-American Union
• 1948: General Secretariat for the Organization of American States
• 1970: Organization of American States

Original Member Countries

• Argentina
• Bolivia
• Brazil
• Chile
• Colombia
• Costa Rica
• Cuba (membership revoked in 1962)
• Dominican Republic
• Ecuador
• El Salvador
• Guatemala
• Haiti
• Honduras
• Mexico
• Nicaragua
• Panama
• Paraguay
• Peru
• United States
• Uruguay
• Venezuela

Subsequent Members

• 1967: Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago
• 1969: Jamaica
• 1975: Grenada
• 1977: Suriname
• 1979: Dominica, Saint Lucia
• 1981: Antigua and Barbuda, St. Vincent and the Grenadines
• 1982: The Bahamas
• 1984: Saint Kitts and Nevis
• 1990: Canada
• 1991: Belize, Guyana

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references: http://www.britanica.com/, http://www.infoplease.com/, http://www.oas.org/