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| 1976 |
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| Southern Africa. International actions regarding white regimes in Rhodesia and South Africa continued. U.S. secretary of state Henry Kissinger attempted to mediate, and a conference of Rhodesian leaders in Geneva (Oct.–Dec.) failed to produce agreements. Riots in Soweto (June) spread to other black townships in South Africa, drawing international attention. Transkei became the first independent black homeland in South Africa (Oct.), but it did not receive international recognition. | 1 |
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| Jan |
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| International monetary reform. Finance ministers from countries belonging to the IMF met in Jamaica and agreed on an arrangement in which values of currencies would “float” in the world market according to supply and demand. | 2 |
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| June |
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| ECONOMIC SUMMIT of the leaders of the seven major industrial countries (United States, Japan, West Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy, and Canada) met in Puerto Rico to coordinate policies. This was the first meeting of what was to become the GROUP OF SEVEN (See Evolution of International Economic Structures). | 3 |
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| July |
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| Indonesia launched a communications satellite, Palapa, into permanent orbit over the country. Indonesia joined the United States, Canada, and the Soviet Union as the only countries with domestic satellite systems for coordination of national communications systems. The summer Olympic Games were held in Montreal. Thirty-one countries did not participate, in protest against apartheid in South Africa, and the Canadian government excluded athletes from Taiwan. | 4 |
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| Aug |
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| Fifth Conference of the Non-Aligned Nations was held in Colombo. The major emphasis was on the economic world order, demanding better economic terms for developing countries. | 5 |
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| Oct |
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| Arab League summit conference in Cairo approved the establishment of an Arab peacekeeping force to assist in implementing a cease-fire in the growing civil war in Lebanon. | 6 |
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| Dec |
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| OPEC, meeting in Qatar, was divided over the prices to be set for oil for the first half of 1977. The deliberations showed that the producing countries, rather than the major companies, set global oil prices. | 7 |
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