BRICS is an interstate association of countries that was founded in 2006 at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum. At first it was called BRIC: the acronym was formed by the first letters of the names of the joining countries — Brazil, Russia, India and China. In 2011, South Africa joined the group. On 1 January 2024, the following countries accepted the invitation to join the BRICS union: Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.