The G20 leaders

The G20 leaders heading to Toronto in June (with some stopping first in Huntsville, Ont., for the G8 summit) are a varied lot. Some are heads of state; others are heads of government. Some lead democracies, others aren't elected at all. Some have a great deal of summit experience; others are rookies.

G8 and G20 summits also attract many more leaders than the numbers would suggest. For instance, Canada has exercised its right as host to extend summit invitations to the leaders of a number of countries that are not formal members of either the G8 or the G20. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has formally asked Ethiopia, Malawi, the Netherlands, Spain and Vietnam to attend the G20 summit.

The European Union gets to send two leaders the president of the European Commission as well as the leader of the country holding the rotating presidency of the European Council.

A number of international bodies also get to send their leaders. The G20 summit will play host to the heads of the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization, the International Labour Organization, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the Financial Stability Forum.

Throw in entourages of senior ministers, officials, and aides from each member delegation and summit attendance numbers grow dramatically. And we're not even counting the thousands of journalists, security folks and protesters who will be a constant presence.

Still, it will bea handful of world leaders who'll snag the spotlight.

Here's a brief look at who they are:

Canada (host)

G8 member: Yes

G20 member: Yes

Leader: Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada

In office since: Feb. 6, 2006

# of G8 summits attended: 4

# of G20 summits attended: 3

Age: 51, married, 2 children

Noteworthy: First Canadian prime minister since Lester Pearson not to have a law degree; like many G20 leaders, he's got an economics background

Argentina

G8 member: No

G20 member: Yes

Leader: Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, President of Argentina

In office since: Dec. 10, 2007

# of G8 summits attended: 0

# of G20 summits attended: 3

Age: 56, married, 2 children

Noteworthy: Argentina's first elected female president

Australia

G8 member:No

G20 member: Yes

Leader: Wayne Swan, deputy prime minister, attending for new Prime Minister Julia Gillard. Former leader Kevin Rudd was dropped by the Labour Party on June 23.

Brazil

G8 member: No

G20 member: Yes

Leader: Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil

In office since: Jan. 1, 2003

# of G8 summits attended: 6

# of G20 summits attended: 3

Age: 64, married, 5 children

Noteworthy: Received no formal education; began working in copper factory at age 14

China

G8 member: No

G20 member: Yes

Leader: Hu Jintao, President of the People's Republic of China

In office since: March 15, 2003

# of G8 summits attended: 6

# of G20 summits attended: 3

Age: 67, married, two children

Noteworthy: Has an engineering degree from Tsinghua University

France

G8 member: Yes

G20 member: Yes

Leader: Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France

In office since: May 16, 2007

# of G8 summits attended: 3

# of G20 summits attended: 3

Age: 55, married, three children

Noteworthy: Was mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine, one of the wealthiest suburbs of Paris, for 19 years beginning in 1983

Germany

G8 member: Yes

G20 member: Yes

Leader: Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany

In office since: Nov. 22, 2005

# of G8 summits attended: 4

# of G20 summits attended: 3

Age: 53, married, no children

Noteworthy: Germany's first female chancellor; received a doctorate in physics in 1978

India

G8 member: No

G20 member: Yes

Leader: Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India

In office since: May 22, 2004

#of G8 summits attended: 5

# of G20 summits attended: 3

Age: 77, married, three children

Noteworthy: An economist by training, Singh launched sweeping economic reforms when he was finance minister in 1991

Indonesia

G8 member: No

G20 member: Yes

Leader: Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President of Indonesia

In office since: Oct. 20, 2004

# of G8 summits attended: 2

# of G20 summits attended: 3

Age: 60, married, 2 children

Noteworthy: Has a doctorate in agricultural economics.

Italy

G8 member: Yes

G20 member: Yes

Leader: Sylvio Berlusconi, Prime Minister of Italy

In office since: May 8, 2008 (also served as PM 1994-95 and 2001-06)

# of G8 summits attended: 12

# of G20 summits attended: 3

Age: 73, married, 5 children

Noteworthy: Controversial entrepreneur Berlusconi is a self-made billionaire; no leader has more summit experience

Japan

G8 member:Yes

G20 member: Yes

Leader: Naoto Kan, Prime Minister of Japan

Chosen: June 4, 2010

Age:63, married, 2 children

Noteworthy: Was finance minister before becoming PM; was awarded a patent on a mahjong calculator he invented in the 1970s

Korea

G8 member: No

G20 member: Yes

Leader: Lee Myung-bak, President of Korea

In office since: Feb. 25, 2008

# of G8 summits attended: 2

# of G20 summits attended: 3

Age: 68, married, 4 children

Noteworthy: Was CEO of Hyundai Group before entering politics

Mexico

G8 member: No

G20 member: Yes

Leader: Felipe Calderon Hinojosa, President of Mexico

In office since: Dec. 1, 2006

# of G8 summits attended: 3

# of G20 summits attended: 3

Age: 47, married, 3 children

Noteworthy: Won 2006 election by just 0.56% of the popular vote

Russia

G8 member: Yes

G20 member: Yes

Leader: Dmitry Medvedev, President of Russia

In office since: May 7, 2008

# of G8 summits attended: 2

# of G20 summits attended: 3

Age: 44, married, 1 child

Noteworthy: Was former president Vladimir Putin's chief of staff; appointed Putin as prime minister

Saudi Arabia

G8 member: No

G20 member: Yes

Leader: King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, Head of state and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia

In office since: Aug. 3, 2005

# of G8 summits attended: 0

# of G20 summits attended: 3

Age: 85, several wives and children

Noteworthy: The head of the House of Saud is worth an estimated $17 billion US, according to Forbes magazine

South Africa

G8 member: No

G20 member: Yes

Leader: Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa

In office since: May 9, 2009

# of G8 summits attended: 1

# of G20 summits attended: 1

Age: 68, three wives, several children

Noteworthy: Served 10 years on Robben Island alongside Nelson Mandela for conspiring to overthrow the apartheid government

Turkey

G8 member: No

G20 member: Yes

Leader: Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister of Turkey

In office since: March 14, 2003

# of G8 summits attended: 1

# of G20 summits attended: 1

Age: 56, married, 2 children

Noteworthy: Was mayor of Istanbul from 1994-98; once served 4 months in jail for reading an Islamist poem

United Kingdom

G8 member: Yes

G20 member: Yes

Leader: David Cameron, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

In office since: May 11, 2010

# of G8 summits attended: 0

# of G20 summits attended: 0

Age: 43, married, 2 children

Noteworthy: Is the leader of Britain's first coalition government in 65years; youngest of G20 leaders

United States

G8 member: Yes

G20 member: Yes

Leader: Barack Obama, President of the United States

In office since: Jan. 20, 2009

# of G8 summits attended: 1

# of G20 summits attended: 2

Age: 48, married, 2 children

Noteworthy: Is the only G20 leader to have won a Nobel Prize

European Union

G8 member: No (but attends and has privileges of membership)

G20 member: Yes

Leader: Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission

In office since: Nov. 23, 2004

# of G8 summits attended: 5

# of G20 summits attended: 3

Age: 53, married, 3 children

Noteworthy: Was Prime Minister of Portugal from 2002-04

European Union

G8 member: No (but attends and has privileges of membership)

G20 member: Yes

Leader: Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, President of the European Council

In office since: Jan. 1, 2010

Age: 49, married, 2 children

Noteworthy: Zapatero, the Prime Minister of Spain, is attending because Spain holds the current presidency of the European Council

Sources: G8/G20 Research Group at the University of Toronto, CBC, The Associated Press and Forbes.