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Member states of the United Nations

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A map of UN member states and their dependencies as recognized by the UN. Regions excluded : Antarctica, Palestinian territories, Vatican City, and Western Sahara. The UN considers Taiwan as "Taiwan, Province of China" and also considers the PRC as the sole representative of all China.

As of 2006, there are 191 United Nations (UN) member states. 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, three of the founding members (India, Belarus, and the Ukraine) were not independent at the time of UN's creation. Moreover, because a state can only be admitted by the approval of the Security Council and the General Assembly, some sovereign states are not members due to lack of international recognition or opposition from certain members.

Any other intergovernmental or legal entities can only be General Assembly observers, allowing them to speak, but not vote in Assembly meetings.

Current members

Dates which member countries joined

The members are listed below by alphabetical order in their short-form English names, with the date of joining. There were 51 original members of the United Nations (shown in bold) which were admitted in 1945, of which 49 are either still in the organization or had their seat taken by a successor state (e.g. India for British India or Russia for the USSR). The other two original members were Czechoslovakia Template:Mn and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Template:Mn. For the seat of China, the Republic of China was replaced by the People's Republic of China (as its successor state) on October 25, 1971, even though the governments of both have existed well before and after this date (see below.)

Seat of China

Main article: China and the United Nations

China, represented by the government of the Republic of China (ROC), 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 (PRC) taking control of most of the territory of China. Representatives of the ROC 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. On October 25, 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," 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.

The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic of Western Sahara maintains diplomatic ties with dozens of states and is a full member of the African Union. It administers a minority of the territory of Western Sahara, with a government-in-exile headquartered in the refugee camps of Tindouf, Algeria. The rest of the area is under military occupation by Morocco. The UN has attempted to administer a referendum for the Sahrawis right to self-determination.

The island nations of 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/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

Template:MnbCzechoslovakia joined the UN as an original member on October 24, 1945, until its dissolution on December 31, 1992. Both its successor states, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, re-applied for UN membership afterwards, and were admitted on January 19, 1993.

Template:MnbBoth the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) and the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) were admitted on September 18, 1973. The two countries were reunified on October 3, 1990, through the accession of the German Democratic Republic to the Federal Republic of Germany, and have since been represented as one member with the name Germany.

Template:MnbTanganyika was admitted on December 14, 1961, and Zanzibar was admitted on December 16, 1963. The two countries were unified to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar on April 26, 1964, later changing its name to the United Republic of Tanzania on November 1, 1964, and have since been represented as one member.

Template:MnbBoth Egypt and Syria joined the UN as original members on October 24, 1945. The two countries were unified to form the United Arab Republic on February 21, 1958, and had been represented as one member until October 13, 1961, when Syria resumed its status as an independent state and a separate UN member. Egypt continued its status as a UN member under the name of the United Arab Republic until September 2, 1971, when it changed its name to the Arab Republic of Egypt.

Template:MnbThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Soviet Union) joined the UN as an original member on October 24, 1945. On December 24, 1991, Boris Yeltsin, the President of the Russia, informed the United Nations Secretary-General that the membership of the Soviet Union in the United Nations Security Council and all other UN organs was being continued by the Russian Federation with the support of the 11 member countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States. As for the remaining former Soviet Republics:

Template:MnbYemen was admitted on September 30, 1947, first represented by the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen, then by the Yemen Arab Republic (both often designated as North Yemen). Democratic Yemen was admitted on December 14, 1967, represented by the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (often desginated as South Yemen). The two countries were unified on May 22, 1990, and have since been represented as one member with the name Yemen.

Template:MnbYugoslavia joined the UN as an original member on October 24, 1945, represented by the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It remained as a member until November 10, 2000, even though the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia had already completely dissolved by 1992. As for the former Yugoslav Republics:

  • Croatia and Slovenia were admitted by General Assembly Resolution A/RES/46/238 on May 22, 1992.
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina was admitted by General Assembly Resolution A/RES/46/237 on May 22, 1992.
  • Macedonia was admitted by General Assembly Resolution A/RES/47/225 on April 8, 1993, provisionally under the name the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, pending settlement over the difference that had arisen over its name.
  • The remaining two republics, Serbia and Montenegro, formed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1992. It tried to retain the seat of Yugoslavia in the UN as its successor state, but was denied, and had to re-apply for UN membership. It was admitted by the General Assembly resolution A/RES/55/12 on November 1, 2000. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia changed its name to Serbia and Montenegro on February 4, 2003. Following the success of the Montenegrin independence referendum on May 21, 2006, Montenegro declared independence on June 3, 2006, while Serbia declared itself as the successor state to Serbia and Montenegro on June 5, 2006, as stipulated in the agreement that created the union. Serbia legally inherited the state union of Serbia-Montenegro and therefore does not need to formally establish international ties with states and bodies it previously had ties with. As a legal successor it inherited the seat at the UN as well. Montenegro will have to re-apply for UN membership after it will has been recognized by other countries.

Naming conventions and notes

Template:MnbBelarus 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.
Template:MnbBrunei takes its seat under the name "Brunei Darussalam."
Template:MnbThe Democratic Republic of the Congo changed its name to "Zaire" on October 27, 1971, and reverted to "The Democratic Republic of the Congo" on May 17, 1997.
Template:MnbThe Republic of the Congo takes its seat under the name "Congo."
Template:MnbCyprus as an entire island is represented by the Republic of Cyprus, including the area administered by the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus but excluding the British Sovereign Base Areas.
Template:MnbIndonesia 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.
Template:MnbIran takes its seat under the name the "Islamic Republic of Iran."
Template:MnbLaos takes its seat under the name the "Lao People's Democratic Republic."
Template:MnbLibya takes its seat under the name "Libyan Arab Jamahiriya."
Template:MnbMacedonia takes its seat under the name the "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia," due to objections from Greece.
Template:MnbMalaysia was originally admitted as the "Federation of Malaya" on September 17, 1957. On September 16, 1963, its name was changed to Malaysia, following the admission to the new federation of Singapore, Sabah (North Borneo) and Sarawak. Singapore became an independent state on August 9, 1965 and a UN member on September 21, 1965.
Template:MnbMicronesia takes its seat under the name "Federated States of Micronesia."
Template:MnbMoldova takes its seat under the name the "Republic of Moldova."
Template:MnbMyanmar was originally admitted as "Burma" on April 19, 1948.
Template:MnbThe Netherlands takes its seat as the "Kingdom of the Netherlands."
Template:MnbRussia takes its seat as the "Russian Federation."
Template:MnbSyria takes its seat as the "Syrian Arab Republic."
Template:MnbTanzania takes its seat under the name the "United Republic of Tanzania."
Template:MnbUkraine was originally admitted as the "Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic" on October 24 1945.
Template:MnbUnited Kingdom takes its seat under the name the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland."
Template:MnbUnited States takes its seat under the name the "United States of America."
Template:MnbVenezuela takes its seat under the name the "Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela."
Template:MnbVietnam takes its seat under the name "Viet Nam."

See also

References

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