By the start of the First World War in 1914, there were 45 national relief societies throughout the world. The movement had grown beyond Europe and North America to Central and South America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Mexico, Peru, El Salvador, Uruguay, Venezuela), Asia (the Republic of China, Japan, Korea, Siam), and Africa (Republic of South Africa). The Geneva Convention had been changed to include fighting at sea as well as on land.