Composition of geographical and economic groupings

WTO members are frequently referred to as “countries”, although some members are not countries in the usual sense of the word but are officially “customs territories”. The definition of geographical and other groupings in this report does not imply an expression of opinion by the Secretariat concerning the status of any country or territory, the delimitation of its frontiers, nor the rights and obligations of any WTO member in respect of WTO agreements. The colours, boundaries, denominations, and classifications in the maps of this publication do not imply, on the part of the WTO, any judgement on the legal or other status of any territory, or any endorsement or acceptance of any boundary. Throughout this report, South and Central America and the Caribbean is referred to as South and Central America; Aruba, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China, Macao Special Administrative Region of China, the Republic of Korea and the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu are referenced as Aruba (the Netherlands with respect to), Venezuela, Bolivarian Rep. of; Hong Kong, China; Macao, China; Korea, Republic of; and Chinese Taipei respectively.