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The member states of the United Nations comprise 193 sovereign states. The United Nations (UN) is the world's largest intergovernmental organization. All members have equal representation in the UN General Assembly.[3]
The Charter of the United Nations defines the rules for admission of member states. Membership is open to all states which accept certain terms of the charter and are able to carry them out. New members must be recommended by the United Nations Security Council. In addition to the member states, the UN also invites non-member states to be observer states at the UN General Assembly. A member state that has persistently violated the principles of the United Nations Charter can be expelled from the United Nations.[4]
Membership
The criteria for admission of new members to the UN are established in Chapter II, Article 4 of the UN Charter:[5]
- Membership in the United Nations is open to all states which accept the obligations contained in the present Charter and, in the judgement of the Organization, are able and willing to carry out these obligations.
- The admission of any such state to membership in the United Nations will be effected by a decision of the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.
A recommendation for admission from the Security Council requires affirmative votes from at least nine of the council's fifteen members, with none of the five permanent members using their veto power. The Security Council's recommendation must then be approved in the General Assembly by a two-thirds majority vote.[6]
In principle, only sovereign states can become UN members,[citation needed] and currently, all UN members are sovereign states. Although five members were not sovereign when they joined the UN, they all subsequently became fully independent between 1946 and 1991. Because a state can only be admitted to membership in the UN by the approval of the Security Council and the General Assembly, a number of states that are considered sovereign according to the Montevideo Convention are not members of the UN. This is because the UN does not consider them to possess sovereignty, mainly due to the lack of international recognition or due to opposition from one of the permanent members.
In addition to the member states, the UN also invites non-member states to become observer states at the UN General Assembly,[7] allowing them to participate and speak in General Assembly meetings, but not vote. Observers are generally intergovernmental organizations and international organizations and entities whose statehood or sovereignty is not precisely defined.
Original members
The UN officially came into existence on 24 October 1945, after ratification of the United Nations Charter by the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (the Republic of China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States) and a majority of the other signatories.[8] A total of 51 original members (or founding members) joined that year; 50 of them signed the Charter at the United Nations Conference on International Organization in San Francisco on 26 June 1945, while Poland, which was not represented at the conference, signed it on 15 October 1945.[9][10]
The original members of the United Nations were: France (then the Provisional Government), Russia (then the Soviet Union), China (then Republic of China), the United Kingdom, the United States — these first five forming the Security Council — Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil (then the Vargas Era Brazil), Belarus (then the Byelorussian SSR), Canada, Chile (then the 1925–73 Presidential Republic), Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba (then the 1902–59 Republic), Czechoslovakia (then the Third Republic), Denmark, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt (then the Kingdom of Egypt), El Salvador, Ethiopia (then the Ethiopian Empire), Greece (then the Kingdom of Greece), Guatemala, Haiti (then the 1859–1957 Republic), Honduras, India (then the British Raj), Iran (then the Pahlavi dynasty), Iraq (then the Kingdom of Iraq), Lebanon, Liberia, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand (then the Dominion of New Zealand), Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines (then the Commonwealth), Poland (then the Provisional Government of National Unity), Saudi Arabia, South Africa (then the Union of South Africa), Syria (then the Mandatory Republic), Turkey, Ukraine (then the Ukrainian SSR), Uruguay, Venezuela and Yugoslavia (then the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia).[10]
Among the original members, 49 are either still UN members or had their memberships in the UN continued by a successor state (see table below); for example, the membership of the Soviet Union was continued by the Russian Federation after its dissolution (see the section Former members: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics). The other two original members, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia (i.e., the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia), had been dissolved and their memberships in the UN not continued from 1992 by any one successor state (see the sections Former members: Czechoslovakia and Former members: Yugoslavia).[10]
At the time of UN's founding, the seat of China in the UN was held by the Republic of China, but as a result of United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 in 1971, it is now held by the People's Republic of China (see the section Former members: Republic of China (Taiwan)).
A number of the original members were not sovereign when they joined the UN, and only gained full independence later:[11]
- Belarus (then the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic) and Ukraine (then the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic) were both constituent republics of the Soviet Union, until gaining full independence in 1991.
- India (whose territory at that time, before the Partition of India, also included the present-day territories of Pakistan and Bangladesh) was under British colonial rule, until gaining full independence in 1947.
- The Philippines (then the Philippine Commonwealth) was a commonwealth with the United States, until gaining full independence in 1946.
- New Zealand, while de facto sovereign at that time, "only gained full capacity to enter into relations with other states in 1947 when it passed the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act. This occurred 16 years after the British Parliament passed the Statute of Westminster Act in 1931 that recognised New Zealand's autonomy. If judged by the Montevideo Convention criteria, New Zealand did not achieve full de jure statehood until 1947."[12] However, the UN considers New Zealand to have been independent in 1945, at the time the UN was formed.[11]
Current members
| Member state | Date of admission | Notes |
|---|---|---|
 Afghanistan[b]
|
19 November 1946 | On 1 December 2021, the nine-nation Credentials Committee of the General Assembly voted to defer a decision to allow the Taliban to represent Afghanistan at the UN.[13] On 15 February 2022, the UN released an updated list of member state officials with the names of Ghani administration officials replaced with the placeholder string "..." and a blank space in place of the "Date of Appointment" field. The titles corresponding to these placeholder names continue to use the designation "Islamic Republic of Afghanistan".[14][15] On 12 December 2022, the Credentials Committee again deferred the decision.[16] On 6 December 2023, the Credentials Committee again deferred the decision.[17][18] |
 Albania
|
14 December 1955 | |
 Algeria
|
8 October 1962 | |
 Andorra
|
28 July 1993 | |
 Angola
|
1 December 1976 | |
 Antigua and Barbuda
|
11 November 1981 | |
 Argentina
|
24 October 1945 | |
 Armenia
|
2 March 1992 | Former member: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (original member) and Armenia and the United Nations |
 Australia
|
1 November 1945 | Australia and the United Nations |
 Austria
|
14 December 1955 | |
 Azerbaijan
|
2 March 1992 | Former member: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (original member), and Azerbaijan and the United Nations |
 Bahamas
|
18 September 1973 | |
 Bahrain
|
21 September 1971 | |
 Bangladesh
|
17 September 1974 | Bangladesh and the United Nations |
 Barbados
|
9 December 1966 | |
 Belarus
|
24 October 1945 | Former member: Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic |
 Belgium
|
27 December 1945 | |
 Belize
|
25 September 1981 | |
 Benin
|
20 September 1960 | Name was changed from Dahomey on 2 December 1975. |
 Bhutan
|
21 September 1971 | |
 Plurinational State of Bolivia
|
14 November 1945 | Previously referred to as Bolivia until 9 April 2009. |
 Bosnia and Herzegovina
|
22 May 1992 | Former member: Yugoslavia (original member) |
 Botswana
|
17 October 1966 | |
 Brazil
|
24 October 1945 | Brazil and the United Nations |
 Brunei Darussalam
|
21 September 1984 | |
 Bulgaria
|
14 December 1955 | |
 Burkina Faso
|
20 September 1960 | Name was changed from Upper Volta on 6 August 1984. |
 Burundi
|
18 September 1962 | |
 Cabo Verde
|
16 September 1975 | Previously referred to as Cape Verde. On 24 October 2013, Cabo Verde requested that its name no longer be translated into different languages.[19] |
 Cambodia
|
14 December 1955 | Name was changed to the Khmer Republic on 7 October 1970, and back to Cambodia on 30 April 1975. Name was changed again to Democratic Kampuchea on 6 April 1976, and back to Cambodia on 3 February 1990. |
 Cameroon
|
20 September 1960 | Previously referred to as Cameroun (before merging with Southern Cameroons in 1961). By a letter of 4 January 1974, the Secretary-General was informed that Cameroon had changed its name to the United Republic of Cameroon. Name was changed back to Cameroon on 4 February 1984. |
 Canada
|
9 November 1945 | Canada and the United Nations |
 Central African Republic
|
20 September 1960 | Country known as Central African Empire from 20 December 1976 to 20 September 1979. |
 Chad
|
20 September 1960 | |
 Chile
|
24 October 1945 | |
 China
|
24 October 1945 | Former member: Republic of China and China and the United Nations |
 Colombia
|
5 November 1945 | |
 Comoros
|
12 November 1975 | |
 Congo
|
20 September 1960 | Previously referred to as the People's Republic of the Congo. Name was changed to Congo on 15 November 1971. |
 Costa Rica
|
2 November 1945 | Costa Rica and the United Nations |
 Côte d'Ivoire
|
20 September 1960 | Until 31 December 1985 referred to as Ivory Coast. |
 Croatia
|
22 May 1992 | Former member: Yugoslavia (original member) |
 Cuba
|
24 October 1945 | |
 Cyprus
|
20 September 1960 | |
 Czechia
|
19 January 1993 | Former member: Czechoslovakia (original member)
Name was changed from Czech Republic on 17 May 2016. Its nameplate continued to display Czech Republic until sometime in 2022.[20][better source needed] |
 Democratic People's Republic of Korea
|
17 September 1991 | Korea and the United Nations |
 Democratic Republic of the Congo
|
20 September 1960 | Country used the name Zaire from 27 October 1971 to 16 May 1997. |
 Denmark[c]
|
24 October 1945 | |
 Djibouti
|
20 September 1977 | |
 Dominica
|
18 December 1978 | |
 Dominican Republic
|
24 October 1945 | |
 Ecuador
|
21 December 1945 | |
 Egypt
|
24 October 1945 | Former member: United Arab Republic |
 El Salvador
|
24 October 1945 | |
 Equatorial Guinea
|
12 November 1968 | |
 Eritrea
|
28 May 1993 | |
 Estonia
|
17 September 1991 | |
 Eswatini
|
24 September 1968 | Name was changed from Swaziland on 19 April 2018. |
 Ethiopia
|
13 November 1945 | Ethiopia and the United Nations |
 Fiji
|
13 October 1970 | Fiji and the United Nations |
 Finland
|
14 December 1955 | |
 France
|
24 October 1945 | France and the United Nations |
 Gabon
|
20 September 1960 | |
 Republic of The Gambia
|
21 September 1965 | |
 Georgia
|
31 July 1992 | Former member: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (original member) |
 Germany
|
18 September 1973 | Former member: German Democratic Republic and Germany and the United Nations
East Germany and West Germany were admitted separately on the same date; they unified in 1991. |
 Ghana
|
8 March 1957 | |
 Greece
|
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