This edition of over 60 000 entries, including significantly more than 20% new or revised material, not only updates its predecessor but also continues the policy of extending coverage to areas dealt with only sparsely in previous editions. Special attention has been paid to the Far East, Australasia and Latin America in general, and to the People's Republic of China in particular. The cross-referencing between a defunct organization and its successor (indicated by ex and now) introduced into the last edition, has been extended. Otherwise the policies adopted in previous editions have been retained. All kinds of organizations are included - international, national, governmental, individual, large or small - but strictly local organizations have been omitted. The subject scope includes activities of all kinds, in the fields of commerce and industry, education, law, politics, public administration, religion, recreation, medicine, science and technology. The country of origin of a national organization is given in brackets, unless it is the home country of the title language or can be deduced readily from the title itself. Acronyms of parent bodies of subsidiary organizations are also added in brackets. Equivalences are used to link acronyms in different languages for the same organization. A select bibliography guides the reader to specialist works providing more detailed information.