United Nations member states

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As of 2005, there are 191 United Nations member states. By definition, only sovereign states can be members of the United Nations General Assembly, the universal decision-making body of the United Nations. Any other intergovernmental or legal entities can only be observers, allowing them to speak, but not vote in Assembly meetings.

Contents

Current members

The members are listed below by alphabetical order in their short-form English names, with the date of joining. There were 51 founding members of the United Nations (shown in bold), of which 49 are either still in the organization or had their seat taken by a successor state (e.g. Russia for the USSR). In the case of Czechoslovakia, the UN granted neither of its two successor states rights to the original seat. After the dissolution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia tried to take the seat of Yugoslavia as the successor state, but was denied, and had to reapply as a new member (it changed its name to Serbia and Montenegro in 2003). For the seat of China, the Republic of China was replaced by the People's Republic of China (as its successor state) in 1971 though the governments of both have existed well before and after the date of transfer (see below).

Seat of China

Main article: China and the United Nations

The Republic of China was one of the five original founders of the UN in 1945. However, at the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, the Kuomintang-controlled ROC government fled to Taiwan, with the Communist government of the newly-declared People's Republic of China taking control of most of the territory of China. Representatives of the Nationalist government continued to represent China at the UN, though it was often alleged that this was somewhat unfair, given the size of the ROC's jurisdiction of Taiwan (and other outlying islands) compared to the PRC's jurisdiction of mainland China. In October 1971, Resolution 2758 was passed by the General Assembly, effectively expelling the ROC from all UN organs and replacing the China seat on the Security Council with the PRC. Multiple attempts by the Republic of China to re-join the UN, no longer to represent "China" as a whole but the "twenty-three million people of Taiwan," have not made it past committee.

Observer states and non-members

In addition to the member states discussed above, there is one non-member observer state, the Holy See (Vatican City State), which maintains a permanent observer mission at the UN headquarters. For several years, Switzerland was also an observer state, but it became a full member on September 10, 2002 after a national referendum.

Western Sahara maintains diplomatic ties with 70-some states and is a full member of the African Union as the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic. It has no effective sovereignty, administering a minority of the land in the territory of Western Sahara, with a government-in-exile headquartered in the refugee camps of Tindouf, Algeria.

Some international organizations, non-governmental organizations, or entities whose statehood/sovereignty has not been precisely defined, such as the European Union, the Palestinian National Authority (called simply "Palestine" in UN literature), the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, have a similar observer status but not as "non-member states." See United Nations General Assembly observers for more information.

Former members

1. ^ Czechoslovakia was a member from October 24, 1945 until December 31, 1992. Its seat has been taken by the Czech Republic and Slovakia. There is no single successor state to Czechoslovakia, and both the Czech Republic and Slovakia had to apply for membership.
2. ^ East Germany was originally admitted as the "German Democratic Republic" on September 18, 1973. After the reunification of Germany, its seat was taken on October 3, 1990.
3. ^ West Germany was originally admitted as the "Federal Republic of Germany" on September 18, 1973. After the reunification of Germany, its seat was taken on October 3, 1990.
4. ^ North Yemen (the Yemen Arab Republic) was admitted on September 30, 1947, under the name "North Yemen." Starting May 22, 1992, it also represented South Yemen (the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen).
5. ^ South Yemen (the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen) was admitted on 14 December 1967. Starting May 22, 1992, its seat was taken by Yemen.
6. ^ Tanganyika was a member from December 14, 1961 until April 26, 1964, when its seat was taken by Tanzania.
7. ^ The United Arab Republic was a member from February 21, 1958 through September 2, 1971, when Egypt changed its long-form name to the "Arab Republic of Egypt."
8. ^ The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a member from October 24, 1945 through December 23, 1991. Its seat was taken by Russia on December 24, 1991. Belarus and Ukraine had prior membership. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania were admitted September 17, 1991. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan were admitted March 2, 1992. Georgia was admitted July 31, 1992.
9. ^ Yugoslavia (the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) was a member from October 19, 1945 through November 10, 2000. After its dissolution, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia tried to take its seat as the successor state, but was denied, and had to reapply as a new member. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia changed its name to Serbia and Montenegro. Bosnia and Herzegovina was admitted by General Assembly Resolution A/RES/46/237 on May 22, 1992. Croatia was admitted by General Assembly Resolution A/RES/46/238 on May 22, 1992. Macedonia was admitted by General Assembly Resolution A/RES/47/225 on April 8, 1993, with this provision "pending settlement over the difference that had arisen over its name." Slovenia was admitted by General Assembly Resolution A/RES/46/238 on May 22, 1992.
10. ^ Zanzibar was a member from December 16, 1963 until April 26, 1964, when its seat was taken by Tanzania.
11. ^ The Republic of China (Taiwan) was a member from October 24, 1945 until October 25, 1971, when its seat was taken by the People's Republic of China (see above).

Naming conventions and notes

1. ^ Belarus was originally admitted as the "Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic" on October 24, 1945. It informed the United Nations of the change on September 19, 1991.
2. ^ Brunei takes its seat under the name "Brunei Darussalam."
3. ^ The Democratic Republic of the Congo was originally admitted as "Zaire" on September 20, 1960. It changed its name on May 17, 1997.
4. ^ The Republic of the Congo takes its seat under the name "Congo."
5. ^ Cyprus as an entire island is represented by the Republic of Cyprus, including the area administered by the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
6. ^ Indonesia was admitted on September 28, 1950 and temporarily withdrew from January 20, 1965 through September 27, 1966 (inclusive), due to the upheaval of Sukarno by Suharto's coup, and the annexation of western New Guinea. It announced its intention to rejoin on September 19, 1966.
7. ^ Iran takes its seat under the name the "Islamic Republic of Iran."
8. ^ Ireland takes its seat under the name the "Republic of Ireland."
9. ^ Laos takes its seat under the name the "Lao People's Democratic Republic."
10. ^ Libya takes its seat under the name "Libyan Arab Jamahiriya."
11. ^ Macedonia takes its seat under the name the "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia," due to objections from Greece.
12. ^ Malaysia was originally admitted as the "Federation of Malaya" on September 17, 1957.
13. ^ Micronesia takes its seat under the name "Federated States of Micronesia."
14. ^ Moldova takes its seat under the name the "Republic of Moldova."
15. ^ Myanmar was originally admitted as "Burma" on April 19, 1948.
16. ^ The Netherlands takes its seat as the "Kingdom of the Netherlands."
17. ^ Russia takes its seat as the "Russian Federation."
18. ^ Syria takes its seat as the "Syrian Arab Republic."
19. ^ Tanzania takes its seat under the name the "United Republic of Tanzania."
20. ^ Ukraine was originally admitted as the "Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic" on October 24 1945.
21. ^ United Kingdom takes its seat under the name the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland."
22. ^ United States takes its seat under the name the "United States of America."
23. ^ Venezuela takes its seat under the name the "Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela."

See also

References


The United Nations Image:UN flag.png

UN System
General Assembly | Security Council | Economic and Social Council |
Trusteeship Council | Secretariat | International Court of Justice


United Nations Resolutions
General Assembly Resolutions | Security Council Resolutions

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