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Legally speaking, an international organization must be established by a treaty providing it with legal recognition for it to be an international organization. International organizations so established are subjects of international law, capable of entering into agreements among themselves or with states. Thus international organizations in a legal sense are distinguished from mere groupings of states, such as the G-8 and the G-77, neither of which have been founded by treaty, though in non-legal contexts these are sometimes referred to as international organizations as well. International organizations must also be distinguished from treaties; while all international organizations are founded on a treaty, many treaties (e.g. NAFTA) do not establish an international organization and rely purely on the parties for their administration.

International organizations can be categorised in two main ways: by their membership, and by their function.

International organizations differ in who their members are and in who is permitted to join them. Membership of some organizations (global organizations) is open to all the nations of the world. This category includes the United Nations and its specialized agencies, as well as the World Trade Organization. Other organizations are only open to members from a particular region of the world. Finally, some organizations base their membership on other criteria: cultural or historical links ( the Commonwealth, La Francophonie), level of economic development or type of economy ( OECD, OPEC), or religion ( Organization of the Islamic Conference).

Were it to come about, the ultimate international organization would be a federal world government.

1 Examples of global organizations

• United Nations, its specialized agencies, and associated organizations
• International Hydrographic OrganizationThe International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) is an intergovernmental international organization established in 1921. The IHO was the outgrowth of international conferences and congresses held as early as 1889. The IHO is composed of its member states
• World Trade Organization
• Universal Postal UnionThe Universal Postal Union (UPU) a international organization that coordinates postal policies between member nations, and hence the world-wide postal system. Each member country agrees to the same set of terms for conducting international postal duties.

2 Examples of regional organizations

• Europe: EUFor other uses, see EU (disambiguation). The European Union or EU is a supranational organisation of 25 European states. It was established with that name by the Treaty on European Union (commonly known as the Maastricht Treaty) in 1992 but many aspects o, Council of EuropeThe Council of Europe is an international organisation of 46 member states in the European region. Membership is open to all European states which accept the principle of the rule of law and guarantee fundamental human rights and freedoms to their citizen, European Space AgencyThis article is about the European Space Agency. See Entertainment Software Association for another meaning of ESA. The European Space Agency ESA is an inter-governmental organisation dedicated to exploration of space and its exploitation. Its headquarter, European Free Trade AssociationThe European Free Trade Association EFTA was established on May 3, 1960 as an alternative for European states that did not wish to join the European Community (now the European Union). The treaty was signed on January 4, 1960 in Stockholm. Today only Icel, European Patent OrganisationThe European Patent Organisation EPO or EPOrg in order to distinguish it from the European Patent Office which is the main organ of the organisation) is an international organisation set up by the European Patent Convention. The European Patent Organisati, CIS
• America: OAS, MERCOSUR, CARICOM, OECS, Rio Group, Andean Community
• Africa: the African Union (formerly the OAU), Conseil de l'Entente, ECOWAS, SADC
• Trans-atlantic: NATO, OSCE
• Asia: ASEAN, APEC, SAARC