Members Observers Dialogue Partners Observer applicants Disputed territoriesTheShanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is an international alliance that consists of 10 member states and 2 observers fromEurasia . It was established on 26 April 1996 as theShanghai Five .In addition to the 10member states and 2 observers, the SCO currently has 14 dialogue partners and 4 guest attendance entries.
Flag Country Capital Largest city Area(km2 ) Population (2024) Density (/km2 ) GDP per cap. [ 1] HDI [ 2] Currency Official languages Leaders Accession China [ a] Beijing Shanghai (metropolitan area)Chongqing (city proper)9,640,011[ b] a 1,374,820,000139.6 26,310 0.788 Renminbi (Chinese yuan,¥ )Standard Chinese [ 3] simplified characters [ 3] languages of China Paramount Leader andHead of State :Xi Jinping Head of Government :Li Qiang
1996-04-26 Kazakhstan Astana Almaty 2,724,900 d 17,670,9005.94 41,366 0.802 Kazakhstani tenge (₸)Kazakh (National)Russian Head of State :Kassym Jomart Tokayev Head of Government :Ojlas Bektenov
1996-04-26 Kyrgyzstan Bishkek 199,900 f 6,008,60027.4 7,773 0.701 Kyrgyzstani som (som)Kyrgyz (National)Russian Head of State and Government :Sadyr Japarov 1996-04-26 Russia Moscow 17,075,400 b 146,519,7598.3 47,299 0.821 Russian rouble (₽)Russian Languages of Russia Head of State :Vladimir Putin Head of Government :Mikhail Mishustin
1996-04-26 Tajikistan Dushanbe 143,100 e 8,352,00048.6 5,533 0.679 Tajikistani somoni (SM)Tajik Persian Head of State :Emomali Rahmon Prime Minister :Kokhir Rasulzoda
1996-04-26 Uzbekistan Tashkent 447,400 c 31,022,50061.4 11,596 0.727 Uzbekistani soum (soum)Uzbek Head of State :Shavkat Mirziyoyev Head of Government :Abdulla Aripov
2001-06-15 India New Delhi Mumbai 3,287,263[ 4] 1,450,936,000[ 5] 488[ 6] 11,158 [ 7] [ 8] 0.685 Indian rupee (₹ )Hindi (Devanagari script )&,English .Languages of India Head of State :Droupadi Murmu Head of Government :Narendra Modi
2017-06-09[ 9] Pakistan Islamabad Karachi 881,913 b 241,499,431273.8 $6,715 0.540 Pakistani rupee (Rs)Urdu (National)English Head of State :Asif Ali Zardari Head of Government :Shehbaz Sharif
2017-06-09[ 9] Iran Tehran 1,648,195 c 79,011,70048.0 19,607 0.780 Iranian rial (Rl)Persian Supreme Leader and Head of State :Ali Khamenei Head of Government :Masoud Pezeshkian
2023-07-04[ 10] Belarus Minsk 207,595 c 9,498,70045.8 32,098 0.801 Belarusian rubel (Rbl)Belarusian Russian Head of State and Government :Alexander Lukashenko Prime Minister :Roman Golovchenko
2024-07-04
The following list is sourced from the 2018 edition of "The Military Balance" published annually by theInternational Institute for Strategic Studies .
Country Active military Reserve military Paramilitary Total Per 1000 capita Per 1000 capita References China 2,035,000 510,000 1,500,000 4,045,000 2.9 1.5 [ 11] India 1,440,000 2,096,000 1,585,950 5,121,950 4 1.1 [ 12] Iran 610,000 350,000 40,000 1,000,000 11.4 7 [ 12] Kazakhstan 39,000 0 31,500 70,500 3.8 2.1 [ 13] Kyrgyzstan 10,900 0 9,500 20,400 3.5 1.9 [ 14] Pakistan 653,000 0 0 653,000 3.1 3.1 [ 15] Russian Federation 1,013,628 2,572,500 2,310,859 5,896,987 41.5 7.1 [ 16] [ Note 1] Tajikistan 8,800 0 7,500 16,300 1.9 1 [ 17] Uzbekistan 48,000 0 20,000 68,000 2.3 1.6 [ 18]
Notes ^ The potential reserve personnel of Russia may be as high as 20 million, depending on how the figures are counted. However, an est. 2 million have seen military service within the last 5 years. Dialogue partner entries [ edit ] Flag Country Capital Area(km2 ) Population (2016) Density (/km2 ) GDP per cap. [ 1] HDI [ 2] Currency Official languages Leaders Status gained Sri Lanka Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte (Administrative)Colombo (Commercial)65,610 c 20,966,000309.0 10,410 0.757 Sri Lankan rupee (Rs)Sinhalese Tamil Head of State and Government :Anura Kumara Dissanayake (Prime Minister :Harini Amarasuriya )
2009-06-16 Turkey Ankara 783,562 c 78,741,053102.0 19,698 0.761 Turkish lira (₺)Turkish Head of State and Government :Recep Tayyip Erdoğan 2012-06-07 Armenia Yerevan 29,743 c 2,998,600102.0 8,164 0.733 Armenian dram (֏)Armenian Head of State :Vahagn Khachaturyan Head of Government :Nikol Pashinyan 2015-07-10 Azerbaijan Baku 86,600 c 9,696,800109.0 17,761 0.751 Azerbaijani manat (₼)Azeri Head of State :Ilham Aliyev Head of Government :Ali Asadov 2015-07-10 Cambodia Phnom Penh 181,035 c 15,626,44484.0 3,276 0.555 Cambodian riel (CR)Khmer Head of State :Norodom Sihamoni Head of Government :Hun Manet 2015-07-10 Nepal Kathmandu 147,181 c 28,431,500180.0 2,388 0.548 Nepalese rupee (Rs)Nepali Head of State :Ram Chandra Poudel Head of Government :KP Sharma Oli 2015-07-10 Egypt Cairo 1,010,408 c 94,798,827103.56 16,980 0.731 Egyptian pound (LE)Arabic Head of State :Abdel Fattah el-Sisi Head of Government :Moustafa Madbouly 2022-09-14 Qatar Doha 11,581 c 1,699,435176 113,675 0.855 Qatari riyal (QAR)Arabic Head of State :Tamim bin Hamad Head of Government :Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani 2022-09-14 Saudi Arabia Riyadh 2,149,690 c 38,401,00015 67,019 0.875 Saudi riyal (SR) (SAR)Arabic Head of State :Salman Head of Government :Mohammed bin Salman 2022-09-14 Kuwait Kuwait City 17,818 c 4,294,621200.2 38,123 0.831 Kuwaiti dinar Arabic Head of State :Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Head of Government :Ahmad Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah 2023-05-06 Maldives Malé 300 c 515,1221,102.5 36,358 0.747 Maldivian rufiyaa (MVR)Maldivian Head of State and Government :Ibrahim Mohamed Solih 2023-05-06 Myanmar Naypyidaw 261,227 c 57,526,449196.8 5,132 0.585 Myanmar Kyat (K) (MMK)Burmese Head of State :Myint Swe (acting)Head of Government :Min Aung Hlaing 2023-05-06 United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi 83,600 4,106,427 121 78,255 0.911 UAE dirham (AED)Arabic Head of State :Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan Head of Government :Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum 2023-05-06 Bahrain Manama 780 1,504,365 1,864 60,596 0.875 Bahraini dinar (BHD)Arabic Head of State :Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa Head of Government :Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa 2023-07-15[ 19] [ 20]
Future participation [ edit ] The following countries have applied for a position in the organization:
Flag Country Capital Area(km2 ) Population (2016) Density (/km2 ) GDP per cap. [ 1] HDI [ 2] Currency Official languages Leaders Status applied for Year applied Bangladesh Dhaka 148,460 c 169,828,9111,305 2,470 0.661 Bangladeshi taka (BDT)Bengali Head of State :Mohammed Shahabuddin Chief Adviser :Muhammad Yunus
Observer 2012[ 21] Syria Damascus 185,180 c 22,933,531118.3 2,900 0.577 Syrian pound (SYP)Arabic Head of State :Ahmed al-Sharaa (Prime Minister :Mohammad al-Bashar )
Dialogue Partner 2015[ c] [ 22] Israel Jerusalem [ d] 20,770 c 9,766,400442 54,997 0.919 Israeli new shekel (ILS)Hebrew Head of State :Isaac Herzog Head of Government :Benjamin Netanyahu
Dialogue Partner 2016[ 22] Iraq Baghdad 438,317 c 43,500,00082.7 12,141 0.686 Iraqi dinar (IQD)Arabic Head of State :Abdul Latif Rashid Head of Government :Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani Dialogue Partner 2019[ 23] Algeria Algiers 2,381,741 c 44,700,00017.7 13,324 0.745 Algerian dinar (DZD)Arabic Head of State :Abdelmadjid Tebboune Head of Government :Aymen Benabderrahmane Observer 2023[ 24] [ 25] Laos Vientiane 236,800 7,749,595 26.7 9,787 0.620 Lao kip (LAK)Lao Supreme Leader andHead of State :Thongloun Sisoulith Head of Government :Sonexay Siphandone Dialogue Partner 2024[ 26]
In 2012,Ukraine expressed interest in obtaining observer status. However, since the deposition of PresidentViktor Yanukovych and increased tensions with Russia, no application has been submitted and there are no current plans to incorporate Ukraine into the organization.[ 27] [ 28]
In 2011,Vietnam expressed interest in obtaining observer or dialogue partner status. However, it is unknown whether or not, Vietnam has submitted an application.[ 29]
Guest attendance entries [ edit ] Membership declined [ edit ] TheUnited States applied for observer status in the SCO, but was rejected in 2005.[ 31]
^ The sovereignty of China is disputed. Since the conclusion of theChinese Civil War , theRepublic of China (ROC) , which was formally established on 1 January 1912 following theXinhai Revolution , which succeeded the formerQing dynasty 's territories onmainland China , while theislands of Taiwan and Penghu were under Japanese rule at the time. The ROC gained control over the latter after thesurrender of Japan in 1945, but soon lost its control of mainland to the communists due to theChinese Civil War . The ROC government was relocated toTaipei in 7 December 1949 as itsprovisional capital and retains actual rule over the islands ofTaiwan ,Penghu ,Kinmen , theMatsu , andother minor islands , all of which are collectively known as"Free Area" or Taiwan Area in contrast toMainland China being under communist rule, thus making it ade facto island nation, and has become known colloquially as simply "Taiwan" due to the island of Taiwan forming the majority of the ROC-controlled territories; nonetheless, the ROC has not officially renounced its constitutional-defined territories which include areas effectively controlled by thePeople's Republic of China ,Mongolia ,Tuva (aRussian republic) etc. If claimed territories were taken into account, the ROC would not be a borderless country, nor a country centred around a major island. The ROC-controlled territories are also claimed by the People's Republic of China. Constitutionally, theROC on Taiwan still views itself as the continuation of former Chinese republic, with legitimate sovereignty over mainland China despite no actual control. See:Political status of Taiwan ,Retreat of the Republic of China to Taiwan ,Four-Stage Theory of the Republic of China ,Two Chinas ,One-China policy , andCross-strait relations . ^ The actual area under PRC control is 9,596,960. ^ Ba'athist Syria had initially applied for observer status in 2015, but "it was explained that first it is necessary to become a dialogue partner of the organization". The status is unclear after thefall of the Assad regime in 2024.[ 22] ^ Jerusalem is the capital under Israeli law with a number of governmental institutions located there and is only recognized by theUnited States ,Kosovo ,Guatemala andHonduras . While Israel has sovereignty ofWest Jerusalem , the international community considersEast Jerusalem as part of thePalestinian territories underIsraeli occupation since 1967. Consequently, most of the foreign embassies reside inTel Aviv . See thestatus of Jerusalem for further details. ^a b c d e "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects: October 2024" .imf.org .International Monetary Fund .^a b c d "Human Development Report 2023/2024" (PDF) .United Nations Development Programme . 13 March 2024.Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 March 2024. Retrieved29 December 2024 .^a b "Law of the People's Republic of China on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language (Order of the President No.37)" . Archived fromthe original on 24 July 2013. Retrieved11 July 2013 .^ "UNData app" .data.un.org . Retrieved3 September 2025 .^ "UNData app" .data.un.org . Retrieved3 September 2025 .^ "UNData app" .data.un.org . Retrieved3 September 2025 .^ "World Bank Open Data" .World Bank Open Data . Retrieved3 September 2025 .^ Nations, United.Country Insights (Report). United Nations. ^a b Bhattacherjee, Kallol (9 June 2017)."India, Pakistan become full members of SCO" .The Hindu . Retrieved19 September 2021 . ^ "Iran joins SCO, the China-founded regional security grouping" .Al Arabiya English . 4 July 2023. Retrieved4 July 2023 .^ IISS 2018 , pp. 249-250^a b IISS 2018 , pp. 260^ IISS 2018 , pp. 188^ IISS 2018 , pp. 190^ IISS 2018 , pp. 291^ IISS 2018 , pp. 192^ IISS 2018 , pp. 207^ IISS 2018 , pp. 214^ "Bahrain News Agency" .^ "The SCO signs a memorandum on granting the Kingdom of Bahrain the status of dialogue partner" . Archived fromthe original on 16 August 2023.^ Ishtiaq Ahmad (21 August 2022)."Why the Shanghai Cooperation Organization matters" .www.arabnews.com . ^a b c "Syria, Israel, Egypt willing to join SCO's activity – president's special envoy" .Interfax . 23 June 2016. Archived fromthe original on 16 August 2016. Retrieved23 June 2016 .^ " .TASS Archived from the original on 6 September 2019. Retrieved6 August 2022 .^ "Algeria Submits an Application to Join the SCO" .Echorouk . 21 June 2023.^ "L'Algérie veut intégrer le capital de la banque des BRICS et l'organisation de Shanghai" .L'Algérie Audjourd'hui . 21 June 2023.^ "African state applies to join Shanghai Cooperation Organization" . May 2024.^ "Yanukovych Tells Putin Kyiv Wants SCO Observer Status" .Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty . 25 August 2012. Retrieved6 August 2022 .^ Grigoryan, Gurgen (8 October 2012)."Why Ukraine wants to become SCO's partner" .InfoSCO . Retrieved6 August 2022 . ^ Radyuhin, Vladimir (2 December 2011)."Vietnam bids to join SCO" .The Hindu . Retrieved6 August 2022 . ^ Seiwert, Eva (30 September 2021)."The Shanghai Cooperation Organization Will Not Fill Any Vacuum in Afghanistan" .Foreign Policy Research Institute . Retrieved24 July 2022 . ^ Hiro, Dilip (16 June 2006)."Shanghai surprise: The summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation reveals how power is shifting in the world" .The Guardian .Archived from the original on 23 September 2014. Retrieved19 June 2019 .
Summits Member states Observer states Dialogue partners Guests Applicants See also
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China
India
Iran
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Pakistan
Russian Federation
Tajikistan
Uzbekistan
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