BRIC is an acronym used by economists to refer to the four largest nations deemed "emerging markets" - Brazil, Russia, India, and China. These four nations, combined, account for more than 1/4 of the Earth's land area, and more than 40% of its population. It is estimated that by 2050, these four economies will control more wealth than the rest of the world combined.
The term BRIC was first coined by Goldman Sachs analyst Jim O'Neill in a 2001 paper entitled "Building Better Global Economic BRICs," and subsequently entered widespread usage. The term is rendered either as "the BRIC nations" or simply as "the BRICs."
In recent years, anything related to the BRICs has drawn massive attention from investors, as these four nations have seemed to be doing better than the rest of the World, economically, since the current financial crisis began in 2008. However, all four of these nations face significant obstacles, going forward, and it is far from certain that they will be able to continue their recent runs of phenomenal GDP growth.