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United Nations member states
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This article lists the member states of the United Nations (UN). There are currently 192 UN member states, and each of them is a member of the United Nations General Assembly.
According to the United Nations Charter, Chapter 2, Article 4:
In principle, only sovereign states can become UN members, and today all UN members are fully sovereign states. However, four of the original members 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 may be considered sovereign states according to the Montevideo Convention are not members due to the fact that the UN do not consider them to be sovereign states, the lack of international recognition or opposition from certain members.
International organizations, non-governmental organizations, and entities whose statehood or sovereignty are not precisely defined, can only become United Nations General Assembly observers by invitation, allowing them to speak, but not vote, in General Assembly meetings.
Former membersCzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia 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.
East Germany and West GermanyBoth the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) and the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) were admitted on 18 September 1973. Germany was reunified when the German Democratic Republic acceded to the Federal Republic of Germany on 3 October 1990.
North Yemen and South YemenYemen (North Yemen) was admitted on 30 September 1947, and Democratic Yemen (South Yemen) was originally admitted as Southern Yemen on 14 December 1967, before changing its name in 1970. Yemen was unified when the Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen) and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (South Yemen) merged to form the Republic of Yemen on 22 May 1990.
Tanganyika and ZanzibarTanganyika was admitted on 14 December 1961, and Zanzibar was admitted on 16 December 1963. Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar on 26 April 1964, which later changed its name to the United Republic of Tanzania on 1 November 1964.
United Arab RepublicBoth Egypt and Syria joined the UN as original members on 24 October 1945. The United Arab Republic was formed by a union of Egypt and Syria following a plebiscite on 21 February 1958, and continued as a single member in the UN until 13 October 1961, when Syria, having resumed its status as an independent state, resumed its separate membership in the UN. Egypt continued as a UN member under the name United Arab Republic until 2 September 1971, when it changed its name to the Arab Republic of Egypt.
USSRThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, and joined the UN as an original member on 24 October 1945. On 24 December 1991, upon the imminent dissolution of the USSR, Boris Yeltsin, the President of Russia, informed the United Nations Secretary-General that the membership of the USSR in the UN (including its permanent seat on the Security Council) was being continued by the Russian Federation with the support of the 11 member countries 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 Soviet Socialist Republic and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic 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.
YugoslaviaYugoslavia joined the UN as an original member on 24 October 1945. By 1992, the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia had been formally dissolved, and a new state, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, was formed on 28 April 1992 by the former Yugoslav Republics of Serbia and Montenegro. By United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/RES/47/1 on 22 September 1992, the UN "considers that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) cannot continue automatically the membership of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the United Nations, and therefore decides that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) should apply for membership in the United Nations and that it shall not participate in the work of the General Assembly."
The former Yugoslav Republics are currently all UN members:
(Kosovo, which unilaterally declared independence from Serbia on 17 February 2008, is not expected to be admitted to the UN in the near future due to Russia's and China's resistance to recognize Kosovo, as admission to the UN requires approval from the Security Council, and Russia and China, being two of the five permanent members of the Security Council, have veto power. As of June 2008, Kosovo is recognised by 43 UN member states.)
Seat of ChinaChina is one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, and joined the UN as an original member on 24 October 1945, represented by the government of the Republic of China (ROC). However, as a result of the Chinese Civil War, the Kuomintang-led ROC government relocated to Taiwan in 1949, with the Communist Party-led government of the People's Republic of China (PRC), declared on 1 October 1949, taking control of mainland China. Representatives of the ROC government continued to represent China at the UN, despite the small size of the ROC's jurisdiction of Taiwan and a number of smaller islands compared to the PRC's jurisdiction of mainland China, until 25 October 1971, when United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 was passed, recognizing that "the representatives of the People's Republic of China are the only lawful representatives of China to the United Nations", and expelling "the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek from the place which they unlawfully occupy at the United Nations and in all the organizations related to it". This effectively transferred the seat of China in the UN (including its permanent seat on the Security Council) from the ROC to the PRC.
Bids for membership by TaiwanWith democratic reforms in Taiwan having changed the nature of the Republic of China (ROC) government, the ROC has repeatedly petitioned to rejoin the UN since 1991, as the representative of the people of Taiwan only, instead of all of China, using the designation "Republic of China on Taiwan", "Republic of China (Taiwan)", or just "Taiwan" (as proposed by the Democratic Progressive Party-led government). However, all attempts have been denied, either because the petition failed to get sufficient votes to get on the formal agenda, or because the application was rejected by the UN, due primarily to the opposition of the People's Republic of China. The ROC has also been denied participation in the UN as an "observer state", a position held by the Holy See, or as a "non-member entity", a title currently granted to Palestine (see Observers and non-members).
In July 2007, the Chen Shui-bian-led ROC government submitted the ROC's 15th application to join the UN, and its first under the name "Taiwan", but its application was rejected by the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs, citing General Assembly Resolution 2758. Responding to the application, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon stated that:
Responding to the UN's rejection of its application, the ROC government has stated that Taiwan is not now nor has it ever been under the jurisdiction of the PRC, and that since General Assembly Resolution 2758 did not clarify the issue of Taiwan's representation in the UN, it does not prevent Taiwan's participation in the UN as an independent sovereign nation. The ROC government, as well as several international newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal, also criticized Ban for returning the application without passing it to the Security Council or the General Assembly, contrary to UN's standard procedure (Provisional Rules of Procedure of the Security Council, Chapter X, Rule 59), and for asserting that Taiwan is part of China. On the other hand, the PRC government, which has stated that Taiwan is part of China, praised that UN's decision "was made in accordance with the UN Charter and Resolution 2758 of the UN General Assembly, and showed the UN and its member states' universal adherence to the one-China principle." While the PRC government firmly opposes the application of any Taiwan authorities to join the UN or any of its agencies, such as the World Health Organization, the ROC government continues to call on the international community to recognize the right of the island's 23 million citizens to participate in the meetings and activities of the UN and its affiliates. Currently, 22 UN member states and the Holy See maintain diplomatic relations with the ROC.
Observers and non-membersIn addition to the member states listed 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 state since 6 April 1964, and gained all the rights of full membership except voting on 1 July 2004. Non-member observer states are recognized as sovereign entities, and are free to submit a petition to join as a full member at their discretion. For example, Switzerland was also a permanent observer state from 1948 to 2002, until becoming a full member on 10 September 2002.
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was granted observer status 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 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 neither a member nor an observer of the UN, and Western Sahara is listed by the UN as a "non-self-governing territory".
The Cook Islands and Niue, which are both associated states of New Zealand, are neither members nor observers of the UN, but are members of UN agencies such as WHO and UNESCO, and signatories of international treaties such as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. While self-governing in their domestic affairs, most of their foreign affairs are represented by New Zealand on their behalf. They are recognized by the UN as "non-member states".
See also
External links
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