ICANN Montréal Meeting Topic: Review of ICANN's Geographic Regions

Posted: 5 June 2003

Introduction

One of the core values underlying ICANN's structure and operations is support for broad and informed participation reflecting the geographic diversity of the Internet at all levels of policy development and decision-making. This support is implemented by numerous requirements for geographic diversity reflected in ICANN's bylaws, in the operating procedures of ICANN entities, and in its culture. These requirements are framed in terms of Geographic Regions, as provided in Article VI, Section 5 of the bylaws:

Section 5. INTERNATIONAL REPRESENTATION

. . . As used in these Bylaws, each of the following is considered to be a "Geographic Region": Europe; Asia/Australia/Pacific; Latin America/Caribbean islands; Africa; and North America. The specific countries included in each Geographic Region shall be determined by the Board, and this Section shall be reviewed by the Board from time to time (but at least every three years) to determine whether any change is appropriate, taking account of the evolution of the Internet.

At its July 2000 meeting in Yokohama, the ICANN Board adopted resolution 00.64 instructing the ICANN staff to assign countries to geographic regions on the basis of two documents of the United Nations Statistics Division, as revised through 16 February 2000.

Nearly three years have passed since the July 2000 review was completed. At its Montréal meeting, therefore, the ICANN Board will review the definition of ICANN's Geographic Regions. It is proposed that the basic definition of the Geographic Regions remain in effect, based on reference to the current versions of the United Nations Statistics Division documents.

Current Allocation Methodology

In advance of the July 2000 Yokohama meeting, ICANN posted a topic paper on "Definition of ICANN's Geographic Regions" and specifically requested the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) to give its "views on the proper allocation of countries, territories, and distinct economies as recognized in international fora among the five geographic regions defined by the ICANN Bylaws."

The GAC recommended that ICANN make reference to existing international norms for regional distribution of countries. After this recommendation and comments made at the ICANN Public Forum on 15 July 2000, the Board discussed the appropriate means for allocating countries and territories to the ICANN Geographic Regions. In the discussion, the Board expressed concern about itself deciding how to allocate countries to Regions, but noted that it was necessary to do so and that it was best to refer to some independently prepared and authoritative list for this purpose. The ICANN staff proposed use of the February 2000 version of two lists prepared by the United Nations Statistics Division, and also recommended (based on GAC comment) that dependent territories be grouped together with the country of citizenship for the territory. Thus, a resident of New Caledonia (overseas territory of France located in the Pacific Ocean) would be grouped with Europe rather than Asia/Australia/Pacific.

The Board adopted the following resolution:

Whereas, Article V, Sec. 6, of the ICANN Bylaws calls upon the Board to determine a specific allocation of countries among five general geographic regions (Europe; Asia/Australia/Pacific; Latin America/Caribbean islands; Africa; North America); and

Whereas, this year's At Large membership elections will entail the selection of one Director from each of ICANN's five geographic regions; and

Whereas, the Governmental Advisory Committee, upon the ICANN staff's request for advice, recommended that "With regard to the definition of ICANN's Geographic Regions, ICANN should make reference to existing international norms for regional distribution of countries," it is

Resolved [00.64] that the staff is directed to assign countries to geographic regions on the basis of the United Nations Statistics Division's current classifications of "Countries or areas, codes and abbreviations," as revised 16 February 2000, and "Composition of macro geographic (continental) regions and component geographical regions," as revised 16 February 2000.

The above methodology – employing the lists prepared by the United Nations Statistics Division and recognizing the grouping of dependencies with their mother countries – was then implemented.

Proposal to Update Allocation

The allocation methodology adopted by the Board in July 2000 has worked without significant problems in the last three years. The 2002 ICANN reforms, which emphasized the importance of ensuring geographic and other types of diversity within ICANN, make the definition of the Geographic Regions relevant not only for the membership of the Board, but also for the GNSO Council and the ALAC. This important reliance on the Geographic Regions, without significant controversy, indicates that the basic methodology for allocating countries and territories to the five ICANN Geographic Regions is basically sound.

The United Nations Statistics Division last updated the relevant lists in March 2003. The most relevant list is "Composition of macro geographical (continental) regions, geographical sub-regions, and selected economic and other groupings", which assigns countries and territories to various regions that are easily identified with the five ICANN Regions (Europe; Asia/Australia/Pacific; Latin America/Caribbean islands; Africa; and North America) established in Article VI, Section 5 of ICANN's bylaws.

Based on this list, and making adjustments to group territories with the countries of citizenship of their inhabitants, the following list of countries/territories, ISO 3166-1 codes, and ICANN regions would be as follows:

Key

AF = Africa
AP = Asia/Australia/Pacific
AQ = Antarctica
EU = Europe
LAC = Latin America/Caribbean islands
NA = North America

Note:

* Not on UNSD list; assigned to Physical Region based on other reasons.

Totals within ICANN Region:

Africa - 54
Asia/Australia/Pacific - 73
Europe - 75
Latin America/Caribbean islands - 33
North America - 8
Total - 243

Public Comments Invited

Comments areinvited on the above proposal to update the allocation of countries and territories to the ICANN Geographic Regions. Comments may be submitted by e-mail to <geo-regions-comments@icann.org> (Forum closed 18 August 2003) on or before 20 June 2003. In-person comments may be made at the ICANN Public Forum on 25 June 2003 in Montréal.

Page Updated 20-Aug-2003
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