A non-governmental organization (NGO) is a legally constituted organization created by private persons or organizations with no participation or representation of any government. In the cases in which NGOs are funded totally or partially by governments, the NGO maintains its non-governmental status insofar as it excludes government representatives from membership in the organization.

Helmut Anheier et al, in the work Global Civil Society, place the number of internationally operating NGOs at 40,000. National numbers are even higher: Russia has 400,000 NGOs. India is estimated to have between 1 million and 2 million NGOs.