paragraph_text: BRICS is the acronym for an association of five major emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Originally the first four were grouped as ``BRIC ''(or`` the BRICs''), before the induction of South Africa in 2010. The BRICS members are all leading developing or newly industrialized countries, but they are distinguished by their large, sometimes fast - growing economies and significant influence on regional affairs; all five are G - 20 members. Since 2009, the BRICS nations have met annually at formal summits. China hosted the 9th BRICS summit in Xiamen on September 3rd, 4th and 5th, 2017. The term does not include countries such as South Korea, Mexico and Turkey for which other acronyms and group associations were later created.

paragraph_text: Libya (; ; ), officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa, bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad to the south, Niger to the southwest, Algeria to the west, and Tunisia to the northwest. The sovereign state is made of three historical regions: Tripolitania, Fezzan and Cyrenaica. With an area of almost , Libya is the fourth largest country in Africa, and is the 16th largest country in the world. Libya has the 10th-largest proven oil reserves of any country in the world. The largest city and capital, Tripoli, is located in western Libya and contains over one million of Libya's six million people. The second-largest city is Benghazi, which is located in eastern Libya.

paragraph_text: The region's economy greatly depends on agriculture; rice and rubber have long been prominent exports. Manufacturing and services are becoming more important. An emerging market, Indonesia is the largest economy in this region. Newly industrialised countries include Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines, while Singapore and Brunei are affluent developed economies. The rest of Southeast Asia is still heavily dependent on agriculture, but Vietnam is notably making steady progress in developing its industrial sectors. The region notably manufactures textiles, electronic high-tech goods such as microprocessors and heavy industrial products such as automobiles. Oil reserves in Southeast Asia are plentiful.

paragraph_text: Swaziland is a developing country with a small economy. Its GDP per capita of $9,714 means it is classified as a country with a lower-middle income. As a member of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), its main local trading partner is South Africa. Swaziland's currency, the lilangeni, is pegged to the South African rand. Swaziland's major overseas trading partners are the United States and the European Union. The majority of the country's employment is provided by its agricultural and manufacturing sectors. Swaziland is a member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the African Union, the Commonwealth of Nations and the United Nations.

paragraph_text: Petroleum was discovered on 3 March 1938 and followed up by several other finds in the Eastern Province. Saudi Arabia has since become the world's second largest oil producer (behind the US) and the world's largest oil exporter, controlling the world's second largest oil reserves and the sixth largest gas reserves. The kingdom is categorized as a World Bank high-income economy with a high Human Development Index and is the only Arab country to be part of the G-20 major economies. The state has attracted criticism for a variety of reasons including: its archaic treatment of women, its excessive and often extrajudicial use of capital punishment, state-sponsored discrimination against religious minorities and atheists, its role in the Yemeni Civil War, sponsorship of Islamic terrorists, and its strict interpretation of Sharia law. The kingdom has the world's third-highest military expenditure and, according to SIPRI, was the world's second largest arms importer from 2010 to 2014. Saudi Arabia is considered a regional and middle power. In addition to the GCC, it is an active member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and OPEC.

paragraph_text: Because of oversupply and lack of agreements between oil - producing countries members of the OPEC (Saudi Arabia in particular, which pumped at world's records) and also because of lack of coordinated efforts between OPEC and Non-OPEC countries (Russian being a big player, refusing to reduce production) the price of oil fell rapidly in 2015 and continued to slide in 2016 causing the cost of WTI crude to fall to a 10 - year low of $26.55 on January 20. The average price of oil in January 2016 was well below $35. Oil did not recover until April 2016, when oil went above the $45 mark.

paragraph_text: On a total scale the region has approximately 34,700,201 inhabitants who are spread among 30,000 islands in the South Pacific bordered between Asia and the Americas. This region has a diverse mix of economies from the highly developed and globally competitive financial market of Australia to the much less developed economies that belong to many of its island neighbours. New Zealand is the only other developed country in the region, although the economy of Australia is by far the largest and most dominant economy in the region and one of the largest in the world.

paragraph_text: OFID played a significant role in the establishment of IFAD, channeling US$861.1 million in contributions from OPEC member countries towards the agency’s initial capital and first replenishment. Since IFAD's creation, OPEC member states have maintained their firm support of the agency, contributing to additional replenishments of its resources. In addition, OFID itself has given a further US$20 million as a special contribution from its own resources.

paragraph_text: 2017 Rank Country Nominal GDP ($billions) Nominal GDP per capita (US $) Notes Nigeria 376.284 1,994.235 South Africa 349.299 6,179.870 Egypt 237.037 2,500.772 Algeria 178.287 4,292.272 Angola 124.209 4,407.657 6 Sudan 119.00 1,428.000 7 Morocco 109.824 3,151.145 8 Ethiopia 80.874 872.840 9 Kenya 79.511 1,701.550 10 Tanzania 51.725 1,033.567 11 Ghana 47.032 1,663.190 12 Democratic Republic of the Congo 41.441 478.237 13 Ivory Coast 40.360 1,616.981 14 Tunisia 40.275 3,496.286 15 Cameroon 34.006 1,400.743 16 Libya 31.331 4,858.672 17 Uganda 26.349 699.410 18 Zambia 25.504 1,479.542 19 Zimbabwe 17.491 1,175.723 20 Botswana 17.168 7,876.997 21 Senegal 16.463 1,038.094 22 Mali 15.318 810.771 23 Gabon 15.206 7,971.589 24 Namibia 12.687 5,413.508 25 Mozambique 12.681 429.296 26 Burkina Faso 12.569 663.806 27 Mauritius 12.428 9,794.102 28 Madagascar 11.463 447.558 29 Equatorial Guinea 10.725 12,726.956 30 Chad 9.872 810.163 31 Guinea 9.721 749.463 32 Benin 9.238 830.404 33 Rwanda 9.137 771.702 34 Congo 8.513 1,958.174 35 Niger 8.253 439.997 36 Somalia 7.382 547.32 37 Malawi 6.206 323.740 38 Eritrea 5.813 979.692 39 Mauritania 5.116 1,317.938 40 Togo 4.767 611.133 41 Swaziland 4.491 3,914.821 42 Sierra Leone 3.641 491.448 43 Burundi 3.396 312.463 44 Liberia 3.285 729.292 45 South Sudan 2.870 228.034 46 Lesotho 2.768 1,425.310 47 Djibouti 2.029 1,988.765 48 Central African Republic 1.928 386.806 49 Cape Verde 1.741 3,237.597 50 Seychelles 1.482 15,685.955 51 Guinea - Bissau 1.350 794.107 52 The Gambia 1.009 480.040 53 Comoros 0.652 787.831 54 São Tomé and Príncipe 0.379 1,785.280 -- Total 2,191.104

paragraph_text: Country Region Membership Years Population (2016 est.) Area (km) Oil Production (bbl / day, 2016) Proven Reserves (bbl, 2016) Algeria North Africa 1969 -- 40,606,052 2,381,740 1,348,361 12,200,000,000 Angola Southern Africa 2007 -- 28,813,463 1,246,700 1,769,615 8,423,000,000 Ecuador Americas 1973 -- 1992, 2007 -- 16,385,068 283,560 548,421 8,273,000,000 Equatorial Guinea Western Africa 2017 -- 1,221,490 28,051 227,000 1,100,000,000 Gabon Western Africa 1975 -- 1995, 2016 -- 1,979,786 267,667 210,820 2,000,000,000 Iran Middle East 1960 -- 80,277,428 1,648,000 3,990,956 157,530,000,000 Iraq Middle East 1960 -- 37,202,572 437,072 4,451,516 143,069,000,000 Kuwait Middle East 1960 -- 4,052,584 17,820 2,923,825 101,500,000,000 Libya North Africa 1962 -- 6,293,253 1,759,540 384,686 48,363,000,000 Nigeria Western Africa 1971 -- 185,989,640 923,768 1,999,885 37,070,000,000 Qatar Middle East 1961 -- 2,569,804 11,437 1,522,902 25,244,000,000 Saudi Arabia Middle East 1960 -- 32,275,687 2,149,690 10,460,710 266,578,000,000 United Arab Emirates Middle East 1967 -- 9,269,612 83,600 3,106,077 97,800,000,000 Venezuela Americas 1960 -- 31,568,179 912,050 2,276,967 299,953,000,000 OPEC Total 478,498,000 12,150,695 35,221,740 1,209,103,000,000 World Total 7,588,065,000 510,072,000 80,622,287 1,650,585,000,000 OPEC Percent 6% 2% 44% 73%

paragraph_text: OPEC's stated mission is ``to coordinate and unify the petroleum policies of its member countries and ensure the stabilization of oil markets, in order to secure an efficient, economic and regular supply of petroleum to consumers, a steady income to producers, and a fair return on capital for those investing in the petroleum industry. ''The organization is also a significant provider of information about the international oil market. As of May 2017, OPEC's members are Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia (the de facto leader), United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela, while Indonesia is a former member. Two - thirds of OPEC's oil production and reserves are in its six Middle Eastern countries that surround the oil - rich Persian Gulf.

paragraph_text: The top reserve currency is generally selected by the banking community for the strength and stability of the economy in which it is used. Thus, as a currency becomes less stable, or its economy becomes less dominant, bankers may over time abandon it for a currency issued by a larger or more stable economy. This can take a relatively long time, as recognition is important in determining a reserve currency. For example, it took many years after the United States overtook the United Kingdom as the world's largest economy before the dollar overtook the pound sterling as the dominant global reserve currency. In 1944, when the US dollar was chosen as the world reference currency at Bretton Woods, it was only the second currency in global reserves.

paragraph_text: Japan is a member of the ASEAN Plus mechanism, UN, the OECD, the G7, the G8, and the G20, and is considered a great power. Its economy is the world's third-largest by nominal GDP and the fourth-largest by purchasing power parity. It is also the world's fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer.

paragraph_text: South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded on the south by 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) of coastline of Southern Africa stretching along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; on the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and on the east and northeast by Mozambique and Swaziland; and surrounds the kingdom of Lesotho. South Africa is the largest country in Southern Africa and the 25th - largest country in the world by land area and, with close to 56 million people, is the world's 24th-most populous nation. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World or the Eastern Hemisphere. About 80 percent of South Africans are of Sub-Saharan African ancestry, divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different African languages, nine of which have official status. The remaining population consists of Africa's largest communities of African (black), European (white), Asian (Indian), and multiracial (coloured) ancestry.

paragraph_text: As of 2015[update], Nigeria is the world's 20th largest economy, worth more than $500 billion and $1 trillion in terms of nominal GDP and purchasing power parity respectively. It overtook South Africa to become Africa's largest economy in 2014. Also, the debt-to-GDP ratio is only 11 percent, which is 8 percent below the 2012 ratio. Nigeria is considered to be an emerging market by the World Bank; It has been identified as a regional power on the African continent, a middle power in international affairs, and has also been identified as an emerging global power. Nigeria is a member of the MINT group of countries, which are widely seen as the globe's next "BRIC-like" economies. It is also listed among the "Next Eleven" economies set to become among the biggest in the world. Nigeria is a founding member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the African Union, OPEC, and the United Nations amongst other international organisations.

paragraph_text: Greece is a democratic and developed country with an advanced high-income economy, a high quality of life and a very high standard of living. A founding member of the United Nations, Greece was the tenth member to join the European Communities (precursor to the European Union) and has been part of the Eurozone since 2001. It is also a member of numerous other international institutions, including the Council of Europe, NATO,[a] OECD, OIF, OSCE and the WTO. Greece, which is one of the world's largest shipping powers, middle powers and top tourist destinations, has the largest economy in the Balkans, where it is an important regional investor.

paragraph_text: Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC, / ˈoʊpɛk / OH - pek, or OPEP in several other languages) is an intergovernmental organization of 14 nations as of May 2017, founded in 1960 in Baghdad by the first five members (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela), and headquartered since 1965 in Vienna. As of 2016, the 14 countries accounted for an estimated 44 percent of global oil production and 73 percent of the world's ``proven ''oil reserves, giving OPEC a major influence on global oil prices that were previously determined by American - dominated multinational oil companies.

paragraph_text: As a sovereign country (2016), Texas would be the 10th largest economy in the world by GDP (ahead of South Korea and Canada). Texas's household income was $48,259 in 2010 ranking 25th in the nation. The state debt in 2012 was calculated to be $121.7 billion, or $7,400 per taxpayer. Texas has the second largest population in the country after California.

paragraph_text: Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali (), is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali is the eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of just over . The population of Mali is /1e6 round 1 million. 67% of its population was estimated to be under the age of 25 in 2017. Its capital is Bamako. The sovereign state of Mali consists of eight regions and its borders on the north reach deep into the middle of the Sahara Desert, while the country's southern part, where the majority of inhabitants live, features the Niger and Senegal rivers. The country's economy centers on agriculture and mining. Some of Mali's prominent natural resources include gold, being the third largest producer of gold in the African continent, and salt.

paragraph_text: South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) of coastline of Southern Africa stretching along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Swaziland (Eswatini); and it surrounds the kingdom of Lesotho. South Africa is the largest country in Southern Africa and the 25th - largest country in the world by land area and, with close to 56 million people, is the world's 24th-most populous nation. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World or the Eastern Hemisphere. About 80 percent of South Africans are of Sub-Saharan African ancestry, divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different African languages, nine of which have official status. The remaining population consists of Africa's largest communities of European (white), Asian (Indian), and multiracial (Coloured) ancestry.

Question: When did the country that has the largest economy in Africa become a member of OPEC?
Answer: 1971