International Hydrographic Organization
The IHO was established in 1921 as the International Hydrographic Bureau (IHB). The present name was adopted in 1970 as part of a new international Convention on the IHO adopted by the then member nations. The former name International Hydrographic Bureau was retained to describe the IHO secretariat until 8 November 2016, when a revision to the Convention on the IHO entered into force. Thereafter the IHB became known as the "IHO Secretariat", comprising an elected Secretary-General and two supporting Directors, together with a small staff of 17, at the Organization's headquarters in Monaco.
List of Members of the International Hydrographic Organization
The International Hydrographic Organization comprises (as of June 2018) 89 Member States, three of these are suspended because of their lapsed annual financial contributions The IHO identifies its representative member organisations as the respective national hydrographic offices, although the member organisations of some countries are part of wider maritime or other administrations covering a larger range of tasks (for example, oceanography, transport, maritime regulation).
In some nations (for example, the UK and France) the hydrographic offices are sub-organisations of the country's Ministry of Defence or the navy, in others they are civilian organisations.