observers - (3) the Sami (Lapp) local parliaments of Finland, Norway, and Sweden

Nordic Investment Bank (NIB): established - 4 December 1975; effective - 1 June 1976

aim - to promote economic cooperation and development

members - (5) Denmark (including Faroe Islands and Greenland), Finland (including Aland Islands), Iceland, Norway, Sweden

North: a popular term for the rich industrialized countries generally located in the northern portion of the Northern Hemisphere; the counterpart of the South; see developed countries (DCs)

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO): established - 4 April 1949

aim - to promote mutual defense and cooperation

members - (19) Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, UK, US

Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA): note - also known as OECD Nuclear Energy
Agency

established - 1 February 1958