Hydrographic office

As of August 2019, the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) comprises 91 member states, three of which are suspended because of their lapsed annual financial contribution. 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—the UK and France, among others—the hydrographic offices are sub-organisations of the country's Ministry of Defence or the navy, in others they are civilian organisations.