United Nations member states
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As of 2007, there are 192 United Nations (UN) member states. Each member state is a member of the United Nations General Assembly.
According to the UN Charter, Chapter 2, Article 4, the admission of any state to membership in the UN "will be effected by a decision of the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council." [1] In principle, only sovereign states can become UN members, and today all UN members are fully sovereign states. However, four of the original members (Belarus, India, the Philippines, and Ukraine) were not independent at the time of their admission. Moreover, because a state can only be admitted by the approval of the Security Council and the General Assembly, some entities which can be considered sovereign states according to the Montevideo Convention are not members due to the facts that the UN do not consider them to be sovereign states, the lack of international recognition or opposition from certain members.
Other intergovernmental or legal entities can only be General Assembly observers, allowing them to speak, but not vote in Assembly meetings.
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[edit] Current members
The members are listed below by alphabetical order in their short-form English names, with their respective dates of admission. There were 51 original members of the United Nations which were admitted in 1945, of which 49 are either still in the organization or had their seats taken by a successor state (e.g. the USSR's seat was succeeded by Russia). The other two original members were Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, as both had dissolved and their seats were not succeeded by any state. For China's seat in the UN, the Republic of China was replaced by the People's Republic of China on 25 October 1971, even though the governments of both have existed well before and after this date (see Seat of China).
Indicates original member
[edit] Former members
[edit] Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia joined the UN as an original member on 24 October 1945. On 10 December 1992, Czechoslovakia informed the United Nations Secretary-General that it would cease to exist after 31 December 1992, and that both its successor states, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, would apply for UN membership. They were admitted on 19 January 1993.
[edit] East Germany and West Germany
Both the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) and the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) were admitted on 18 September 1973. The two countries were reunified on 3 October 1990, through the accession of the German Democratic Republic to the Federal Republic of Germany, and have since been represented as one member under the name Germany.
[edit] Tanganyika and Zanzibar
Tanganyika was admitted on 14 December 1961, and Zanzibar was admitted on 16 December 1963. The two countries were unified to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar on 26 April 1964, later changing its name to the United Republic of Tanzania on 1 November 1964, and have since been represented as one member.
[edit] United Arab Republic
Both Egypt and Syria joined the UN as original members on 24 October 1945. The two countries were unified to form the United Arab Republic following a plebiscite on 21 February 1958, and had been represented as one member until 13 October 1961, when Syria resumed its status as an independent state and a separate UN member. Egypt continued as a UN member under the name United Arab Republic until 2 September 1971, when it changed its name back to Egypt.
[edit] USSR
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was one of the five original founders of the UN in 1945 and joined the UN as an original member on 24 October 1945. On 24 December 1991, Boris Yeltsin, the President of Russia, informed the United Nations Secretary-General that the membership of the USSR in the United Nations Security Council and all other UN organs was being continued by the Russian Federation following the dissolution of the USSR, with the support of the 11 members of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The remaining former Soviet Republics are currently all UN members:
- Belarus and Ukraine had already joined the UN as original members on 24 October 1945, represented by the Byelorussian SSR and the Ukrainian SSR respectively until their independence in 1991.
- Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania were admitted on 17 September 1991.
- Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan were admitted on 2 March 1992.
- Georgia was admitted on 31 July 1992.
[edit] North Yemen and South Yemen
Yemen (North Yemen) was admitted on 30 September 1947, first represented by the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen, then by the Yemen Arab Republic. Democratic Yemen (South Yemen) was originally admitted as "Southern Yemen" on 14 December 1967, represented by the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen. The two countries were unified to form the Republic of Yemen on 22 May 1990, and have since been represented as one member under the name Yemen.
[edit] Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia joined the UN as an original member on 24 October 1945, represented by the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia, which later changed its name to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). After the dissolution of the SFRY, the UN refused to allow the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), formed on 28 April 1992 by the former Yugoslav Republics of Serbia and Montenegro, to continue automatically the membership of the former SFRY, and decided that the FRY had to apply for UN membership and was not allowed to participate in the work of the General Assembly (General Assembly resolution A/RES/47/1 on 22 September 1992). The former Yugoslav Republics are currently all UN members:
- Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Slovenia were admitted on 22 May 1992.
- Macedonia was admitted on 8 April 1993, provisionally under the name "The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia", pending settlement over the difference that had arisen over its name.
- The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was admitted on 1 November 2000, replacing, instead of succeeding, the seat of Yugoslavia held by the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (officially the SFRY remained a UN member until that day). The FRY changed its name to Serbia and Montenegro on 4 February 2003. After the declaration of independence by Montenegro on 3 June 2006, the membership of Serbia and Montenegro in the UN, including all organs and organizations of the UN system, has been continued by Serbia on the basis of Article 60 of the Constitutional Charter of Serbia and Montenegro.
- Montenegro was admitted on 28 June 2006.
[edit] Seat of China
China, represented by the government of the Republic of China (ROC), was one of the five original founders of the UN in 1945 and joined the UN as an original member on 24 October 1945. However, as a result of the Chinese Civil War, the Kuomintang-controlled ROC government fled to Taiwan in 1949, with the Communist government of the People's Republic of China (PRC), declared on 1 October 1949, taking control of most of the territory of China. Representatives of the ROC government continued to represent China at the UN, despite the size of the ROC's jurisdiction of Taiwan (and other islands not considered part of Taiwan Province) compared to the PRC's jurisdiction of the Chinese mainland. On 25 October 1971, Resolution 2758 was passed by the United Nations General Assembly, withdrawing recognition of the ROC as the legitimate government of China, and recognising the PRC as the sole legitimate government of China. This effectively expelled the ROC from all UN organs and replaced the seat of China in the United Nations (including the seat on the Security Council) with the PRC government.
Since the 1990s, 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", using the designation "Republic of China on Taiwan", "Republic of China (Taiwan)", or just "Taiwan" (as proposed by the current Democratic Progressive Party government), have not made it past committee, mainly due to the opposition of the People's Republic of China which has veto power in the Security Council. Currently, 23 UN member states and the Holy See (which holds sovereignty over the state of Vatican City) maintain diplomatic relations with the ROC.
[edit] Observers and non-members
In addition to the member states discussed above, there is one non-member observer state, the Holy See (which holds sovereignty over the state of Vatican City). It has been a permanent observer since 6 April 1964. Non-member observer states are recognized as sovereign entities, and are free to submit a petition to join the General Assembly at their discretion. For example, Switzerland was also a permanent observer state from 1948 to 2002, but became a full member on 10 September 2002 after a national referendum.
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was granted observer status by General Assembly resolution 3237 on 22 November 1974. After the proclaimed declaration of the State of Palestine by the PLO, its designation in the UN was changed to Palestine by General Assembly resolution A/RES/43/177 on 15 December 1988. Palestine's status in the UN is "a non-member entity".
The sovereignty status of Western Sahara is in dispute between Morocco and the Polisario Front. Most of the territory is administered by Morocco, the remainder (the Free Zone) by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), proclaimed by the Polisario Front. The SADR is a full member of the African Union, but is neither a member nor observer of the UN. Currently, 43 UN member states maintain diplomatic relations with the SADR.
The associated states of New Zealand, the Cook Islands and Niue, while self-governing in their domestic affairs, have their foreign affairs represented by New Zealand, and therefore do not have UN membership.
Some international organizations, non-governmental organizations, or entities whose statehood or sovereignty has not been precisely defined, such as the European Union, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, are also UN observers.
Two thirds of the United Nations members are also members of the Non-Aligned Movement.
[edit] Naming conventions and notes
- ^ Belarus was originally admitted as the "Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic". It informed the UN that it had changed its name from "Byelorussia" to its current name on 19 September 1991.
- ^ Benin was originally admitted as "Dahomey".
- ^ Brunei currently takes its seat under the name "Brunei Darussalam".
- ^ Burkina Faso was originally admitted as "Upper Volta".
- ^ Cameroon was originally admitted as "Cameroun".
- ^ The Democratic Republic of the Congo was originally admitted as "Congo (Leopoldville)". It later changed its name to the "Democratic Republic of the Congo", and then to "Zaire", and back to its current name on 17 May 1997.
- ^ The Republic of the Congo currently takes its seat under the name "Congo". It was originally admitted as "Congo (Brazzaville)".
- ^ Côte d'Ivoire was originally admitted as "Ivory Coast".
- ^ Indonesia temporarily withdrew from the UN on 20 January 1965 in response to the fact that Malaysia was elected as a non-permanent member of the Security Council. It announced its intention to "resume full cooperation with the United Nations and to resume participation in its activities" on 19 September 1966, and was invited to re-join the UN on 28 September 1966.
- ^ Iran currently takes its seat under the name "Iran (Islamic Republic of)".
- ^ Laos currently takes its seat under the name "Lao People's Democratic Republic".
- ^ Libya currently takes its seat under the name "Libyan Arab Jamahiriya".
- ^ Macedonia currently takes its seat under the name "The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia", due to objections from Greece.
- ^ Malaysia was originally admitted as the "Federation of Malaya". On 16 September 1963, its name was changed to "Malaysia", following the admission of Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak to the federation. Singapore became an independent state on 9 August 1965.
- ^ Micronesia currently takes its seat under the name "Micronesia (Federated States of)".
- ^ Moldova currently takes its seat under the name "Republic of Moldova".
- ^ Myanmar was originally admitted as "Burma".
- ^ The Philippines was originally admitted as the "Philippine Commonwealth".
- ^ Russia currently takes its seat under the name "Russian Federation".
- ^ Samoa was originally admitted as "Western Samoa".
- ^ South Africa was originally admitted as the "Union of South Africa".
- ^ Sri Lanka was originally admitted as "Ceylon".
- ^ Syria currently takes its seat under the name "Syrian Arab Republic".
- ^ Tanzania currently takes its seat under the name "United Republic of Tanzania".
- ^ Thailand was originally admitted as "Siam".
- ^ Ukraine was originally admitted as the "Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic".
- ^ The United Kingdom currently takes its seat under the name the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".
- ^ The United States currently takes its seat under the name the "United States of America".
- ^ Venezuela currently takes its seat under the name the "Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)".
- ^ Vietnam currently takes its seat under the name "Viet Nam".
[edit] See also
- Enlargement of the United Nations
- League of Nations members
- List of ambassadors to the United Nations contains a list of all ambassadors from these member states.
- List of sovereign states
[edit] External links
- Official list of member states, including membership history
- Growth in United Nations Membership, 1945-2006
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