ICANN Yokohama Meeting Topic:

At its Yokohama meeting, the ICANN Board of Directors will be required to determine the specific definition of ICANN's five geographic regions, in connection with this year's At Large membership election. This page provides some background information, and asks for public review and comment. The deadline for public comments is July 10, 2000.

Background

The ICANN Bylaws emphasize the importance of geographic diversity for ICANN's Board of Directors. In particular, the Bylaws state the following requirements:

Section 6. INTERNATIONAL REPRESENTATION

In order to ensure broad international representation on the Board: (1) at least one citizen of a country located in each of the geographic regions listed in this Section 6 shall serve as an At Large Director on the Board (other than the Initial Board) at all times; and (2) no more than one-half (1/2) of the total number of At Large Directors serving at any given time shall be citizens of countries located in any one Geographic Region.
....
As used herein, each of the following shall be a "Geographic Region": Europe; Asia/Australia/Pacific; Latin America/Caribbean islands; Africa; 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.

(ICANN Bylaws, Art. V, Sec. 6). The Board must therefore place each country, territory, and distinct economy into one of these five regions:

• Europe;
• Asia/Australia/Pacific;
• Latin America/Caribbean islands;
• Africa;
• North America.

The Board may also consider whether the names of the regions need to be adjusted to accurately reflect their geographic areas of coverage.

Because of the relevance of this issue to the interests of governments, the ICANN staff asked for the advice of the Governmental Advisory Committee via email on 9 June, 2000.

Highlighted Questions

(1) The Middle East.

Should the Middle East be grouped with Africa, or with Asia/Australia/Pacific? For IP address allocation purposes, the Middle East countries are currently served by the same regional Internet registry as North Africa (RIPE NCC).

(2) The Caucasus.

Should the nations of the Caucasus (i.e., Azerbeijan, Armenia, and Georgia) be grouped with Europe or with Asia/Australia/Pacific? For IP address allocation purposes, the Caucasus countries are currently served by the same regional Internet registry as Europe (RIPE NCC).

Click here to enter the Public Comment Forum on the definition of ICANN's geographic regions.