Union of South American Nations

The Union of South American Nations, known by its acronym UNASUR (based on the Spanish Union de Naciones Suramericanas), was formally constituted on May 23, 2008 through the South American Union of Nations Constitutive Treaty. It includes all South American countries except French Guiana. In 2009, the combined population of UNASUR countries (389 million) was less than but comparable to that of the countries in NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement (458 million). However, the combined Gross Domestic Product of the UNASUR countries, at $2.9 trillion, was considerably smaller than the $16.3 trillion gross domestic product (GDP) of the NAFTA countries. (Compiled from United Nations 2011.)