Bureau International des Expositions

The BIE was established by the Convention Relating to International Exhibitions, signed in Paris on 22 November 1928, with the following goals:

• to oversee the calendar, the bidding, the selection and the organization of World Expositions; and
• to establish a regulatory framework under which Expo organizers and participants may work together under the best conditions.

The Convention stipulated that it would enter into effect one month after it was determined that at least seven countries had ratified it. This condition was met on 17 December 1930, and the first meeting of the Administrative Council of the BIE was held from 17–19 January 1931. At the meeting, it was agreed that the organization would have its headquarters in Paris.^[2]: 121

The BIE was inactive during World War II. It was revived with a conference held on 10 May 1948, at which a new protocol was adopted to amend the Convention Relating to International Exhibitions. Further amendments were made in 1966, 1972, 1982, and 1988.^{[2]: 122–130}

The BIE regulates two types of expositions: Registered Exhibitions (commonly called World Expos) and Recognized Exhibitions (commonly called Specialized Expositions). The rules for each category define the duration, the frequency, the size, and the construction attributes of each Expo.^[3]

Under the original protocol of the 1928 Paris Convention, the BIE recognised two types of Expos:

• General Exhibitions (also known as World Expos), which were divided into:
  • 1st category
  • 2nd category
• Special Exhibitions (also known as Specialised Expos)

The Protocol of 30 November 1972 revised the original Convention, entering into force in 1980. Under these new rules, two types of Expos were recognised:

• Universal Exhibitions (also known as World Expos)
• Specialised Exhibitions (also known as Specialised Expos)

A new amendment was adopted in 1988 and ratified in 1996, further distinguishing the two types of Expos:

• International Registered Exhibitions (commonly referred to as World Expos)
• International Recognised Exhibitions (commonly referred to as Specialised Expos)

Expo 2008 in Zaragoza was the first Specialised Expo to be organised under these new rules, which continue to be in force to this day.

The BIE may also grant recognition to A1 Horticultural Exhibitions approved by the International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH) since 1960, and to the Triennale di Milano since 1933.

Decisions, such as which city will host a future exposition, are made by the General Assembly of the BIE, which meets twice per year. Each member state has one vote in the General Assembly, and a quorum of two-thirds of the member states must be present for deliberations to begin. The General Assembly elects 12 members each to the Executive Committee, which examines applications from prospective Expo hosts and oversees the progress of Expos that are under construction, and the Rules Committee, which is responsible for establishing regulations that Expos must follow and examining the rules created by each Expo for itself. The BIE's other committees, which have nine members each and are not elected by the General Assembly, are the Administration and Budget Committee, responsible for the BIE's internal budget, and the Information and Communication Committee, which develops communication strategies for the BIE and advises Expo organisers on doing the same. Day-to-day management of the BIE's activities is conducted by the Secretariat, headed by the Secretary-General, who is chosen by the General Assembly.^[5]

As of 2026, 184 countries are member states of the BIE.^[29] Membership in the BIE is not required for a country to create a pavilion at an Expo, but only member states can vote to decide where Expos will be hosted, with each country receiving one vote. While membership is not technically required for a country to host an Expo, an event can only be awarded to a non-member state if there are no member states in the running and if the non-member state receives at least two-thirds of votes, making it unlikely in practice.^[30]

Before the competitive bidding process for Expo hosting sites was established, the BIE had only a few dozen members. Since then, candidate cities have encouraged most of the world's smaller countries to join the BIE in the hopes of getting their votes. In the weeks leading up to the June 1997 vote on the host city for Expo 2005, for instance, 31 countries joined the BIE for the first time and another four rejoined after previously allowing their memberships to lapse, bringing the total number of member states from 47 to 82.^[a][32][33] Another 36 countries joined between September and November 2007, in advance of the awarding of Expo 2012, and 12 more followed in March 2008 in the weeks before the Expo 2015 vote.

Various member states have left the BIE, usually so that they could stop paying the organization's membership dues, which scale with the country's economic performance. Most of these have since returned to the organization. UN member states which have never been members of the BIE are Bhutan, India, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Moldova, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, and Singapore.^[34]

List of member states

Below is a list of member states with the dates of their accessions; former members are highlighted in grey.^[29][35][36]

More information Member state, First accession ...

List of member states

Member state	First accession	Withdrew from BIE	Second accession	Second withdrawal
Afghanistan	7 June 2012
Albania	17 December 1930	13 June 1949	1 July 2008
Algeria	2 June 1997
Andorra	3 December 2004
Angola	25 November 2011
Antigua and Barbuda[b]	15 May 1997
Argentina	7 December 1982
Armenia	25 March 2008
Australia	30 January 1935	18 August 1944	27 September 1973	2015
Austria	8 December 1947
Azerbaijan	19 March 2008
Bahamas[c]	21 May 1997
Bahrain	9 November 2007
Bangladesh	6 June 1997
Barbados[b]	26 May 1997
Belarus[d]	30 March 1960
Belgium	15 April 1931
Belize[b]	12 May 1997
Benin	18 September 2012
Bolivia	7 December 1982	Unknown
Bosnia and Herzegovina	25 March 2008
Botswana	17 April 2023
Brazil	5 November 1970	24 July 1980	17 May 1999
Brunei[b]	20 April 2023
Bulgaria	31 March 1960
Burkina Faso	25 March 2008
Burundi	21 March 2008
Cambodia	9 April 1997
Cameroon	8 October 2013
Canada	22 May 1934	1 August 1944	21 December 1957	2012
Cape Verde	5 October 2022
Central African Republic	26 March 2008
Chad	24 May 2013
Chile	7 December 1982	17 December 1987	22 November 2007
China	3 May 1993
Colombia	6 June 1997
Comoros	12 October 2007
Cook Islands	3 April 2023
Costa Rica	23 November 1982
Croatia	14 March 2003
Cuba	17 November 1982
Cyprus[e]	4 November 1999
Czech Republic	19 June 1995
Czechoslovakia	9 January 1932	29 December 1950	1 April 1960	Unknown
Democratic Republic of the Congo	28 September 2007
Denmark	26 March 1932
Djibouti	11 October 2007
Dominica[b]	5 June 1997
Dominican Republic	22 November 2007
Ecuador	18 May 2007
Egypt	22 November 2007
El Salvador	7 December 1982	5 October 1987	20 May 1997
Equatorial Guinea	17 December 2004
Eritrea	12 March 2008
Estonia	15 May 2009
Eswatini	14 November 2007
Ethiopia	1 February 2023
Federated States of Micronesia	30 March 2023
Fiji[b]	8 November 2007
Finland	3 July 1937
France	17 December 1930
Gabon	17 September 2007
Gambia[b]	22 November 2007
Georgia	18 March 2008
Germany[f]	17 December 1930	Unknown	1 April 1956
East Germany	15 February 1974	Unknown
Ghana[b]	14 November 2007
Greece	21 January 1933
Grenada[b]	5 June 1997
Guatemala	18 October 2007	14 August 2020	25 April 2024
Guinea	5 November 2007
Guinea-Bissau	15 November 2007
Guyana[b]	26 May 1997
Haiti	17 June 1949
Honduras	9 November 2007
Hungary	1 April 1960
Iceland	22 January 1999
Indonesia	5 June 1997
Iran	14 November 2002
Iraq	11 January 2023
Israel	31 May 1952	18 February 1988	10 June 1997
Italy	19 January 1931
Ivory Coast	16 November 2007
Jamaica[e]	27 February 2023
Japan	8 January 1965
Jordan	10 December 2004
Kazakhstan	4 June 1997
Kenya	19 November 2007
Kiribati[b]	18 September 2007
Kosovo	10 December 2015
Kuwait	27 July 2007
Kyrgyzstan	4 June 1997
Laos	9 May 1997
Latvia	31 January 2024
Lebanon	15 September 1947
Lesotho	26 October 2011
Liberia	22 November 2007
Libya	11 March 2008
Lithuania	2 February 2009
Madagascar	4 June 1997
Malawi[b]	5 October 2011
Malaysia[b]	18 April 1995
Maldives	9 November 2007
Mali	13 November 2007
Malta[b]	15 March 2000
Marshall Islands	12 September 2007
Mauritania	24 April 2002
Mauritius[b]	26 May 2008
Mexico	7 December 1982	17 June 1994	7 April 1997
Monaco	29 April 1958
Mongolia	3 June 1997
Montenegro	16 July 2012
Morocco	14 January 1931
Mozambique	9 April 2013
Namibia	4 June 1997
Nauru	5 June 1997
Nepal	19 November 2007
Netherlands	24 December 1932	26 October 1944	6 January 1951
New Zealand	11 July 1950	1 October 1976	9 April 2013
Nicaragua	7 December 1982
Niger	5 October 2007
Nigeria[b]	2 January 1963
North Korea	19 November 2007
North Macedonia	26 May 2023
Norway	24 December 1936
Oman	4 February 1997
Pakistan	4 June 2007
Palau	3 June 1997
Palestine	17 January 2023
Panama	3 December 1982	19 October 1988	16 November 2007
Paraguay	14 November 2007
Peru	7 December 1982
Philippines	12 August 1993
Poland	18 July 1932	24 November 1950	1 April 1960
Portugal	11 January 1932
Qatar	9 April 1997
Republic of the Congo	22 November 2007
Romania	17 December 1930	Unknown	5 April 1960
Russia[g]	12 November 1935	25 November 1947	8 July 1959
Rwanda	20 March 2008
Saint Kitts and Nevis[b]	13 May 1997
Saint Lucia[b]	3 May 1997
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines[b]	25 April 1997
Samoa	6 November 2007
San Marino	5 October 2004
São Tomé and Príncipe	5 December 2022
Saudi Arabia	5 November 2007
Senegal	22 November 2004
Serbia	8 January 2010
Seychelles[b]	5 June 1997
Sierra Leone[b]	25 March 2008
Slovakia	25 June 1993
Slovenia	2 November 2004
Solomon Islands[b]	Provisional member	7 August 1981	8 November 2007
Somalia[b]	9 April 2013
South Africa	1 September 1993
South Korea	15 May 1987
South Sudan	28 May 2013
Spain	17 December 1930	17 March 1941	3 December 1971
Sri Lanka	13 November 2007
Sudan	3 March 2008
Suriname	16 May 1997
Sweden	17 December 1930
Switzerland	17 December 1930
Syria	2 July 2007
Tajikistan	19 November 2007
Tanzania[b]	26 March 1963	19 August 1977	3 June 1997
Thailand	24 March 1993
Timor-Leste	19 November 2007
Togo	10 June 1997
Tonga[b]	19 November 2007
Trinidad and Tobago[b]	6 June 1997	22 June 2011	26 May 2023
Tunisia	17 December 1930
Turkey	5 October 2004
Turkmenistan	16 September 2012
Tuvalu[b]	12 September 2007
Uganda[b]	11 June 1997
Ukraine[h]	30 March 1960
United Arab Emirates	6 June 1997
United Kingdom	17 December 1930	16 June 1944	2 September 1949
United States	24 May 1968	27 April 2001	10 May 2017
Uruguay	10 June 1983
Uzbekistan	2 June 1997
Vanuatu[b]	16 November 2007
Venezuela	23 November 1982
Vietnam	11 April 2003
Yemen	5 June 1997
Zambia[b]	7 April 2015
Zimbabwe	5 July 2021

Close

Notes

1. [a]

   The list of new members in the cited sources includes Jamaica, whose delegation did not appear at the 1997 General Assembly to cast a vote,^[31] and the country is recognized by the BIE as officially joining for the first time in 2023.^[29]
2. [b]

   As part of the British Empire, the Convention Relating to International Exhibitions began applying to this former territory as of 15 December 1950, although it was not a member of the BIE in its own right.^[36]
3. [c]

   As part of the British Empire, the Convention Relating to International Exhibitions began applying to this territory as of 22 October 1951, although it was not a member of the BIE in its own right.^[36]
4. [d]

   Joined as Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic.
5. [e]

   As part of the British Empire, the Convention Relating to International Exhibitions began applying to this former territory as of 17 April 1951, although it was not a member of the BIE in its own right.^[36]
6. [f]

   As the Federal Republic of Germany from 1956 to 1990.
7. [g]

   Joined as the Soviet Union.
8. [h]

   Joined as the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.

Fictional characters serving as mascots have been used since 1984, starting with Seymore D. Fair as the official mascot of the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition (the name being a pun on "see more of the fair", stemming from the local New Orleans dialect). Seymore D. Fair was followed by many more character mascots over the years, including Curro in Seville Expo '92; Twipsy at Expo 2000 in Hanover; and Haibao at Expo 2010 in Shanghai. The names and designs of Expo mascots are often intended to reflect the exposition's host city in some way.

Dvořák Symphony No. 9, "From the New World", Movement IV: "Allegro con fuoco"

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The anthem of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) is the starting part of the 4th Movement of Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 in E Minor "From the New World".^{[citation needed]}

• List of world expositions – an annotated list of all Expos sanctioned by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE)
• List of world's fairs – comprehensive chronological list of world's fairs including fairs not sanctioned by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE)