Pacific Community was founded in 1947 as the South Pacific Commission under the Canberra Agreement
Background
The organisation now called the Pacific Community was founded in Australia in 1947 and was originally called the South Pacific Commission.
The founders were the six participating governments of the day: Australia, New Zealand, France, the Netherlands, the United States of America and the United Kingdom.
They established it under the Canberra Agreement, to help restore stability after the Second World War and to benefit the people of the Pacific.
In 1962 Samoa became the first island nation to reach independence, and in 1965 it was the first to become a full member.
The 23rd South Pacific Conference in Saipan, in 1983, recognised all 22 Pacific Island member countries and territories as full voting and contributing members.
The 50th anniversary conference in 1997 changed the name from South Pacific Commission to the Pacific Community, so that it reflected a Pacific-wide membership.
The 27-strong membership now covers 22 Pacific Island countries and territories plus five of the original founders, the Netherlands having withdrawn in 1962.
In plain words
SPC The Pacific Community — The abbreviation kept for the Pacific Community because of its wide use in the region.
Canberra Agreement Canberra Agreement — The 1947 agreement under which the organisation was established.
South Pacific Commission South Pacific Commission — The organisation's original name, used until 1997.
Participating governments The six participating governments — The six founders that then administered territories in the Pacific Islands region.