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UN Membership

Current UN Member States

There are currently 193 UN Member States. Each of the Member States of the United Nations has one seat in the General Assembly.

Information about current members, growth of membership since 1945, and the procedure of how a country becomes a member is available on the UN website. Documents by and about members can be found in the UN Digital Library and other sources. 

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United Nations Membership

UN Charter, Chapter II, Articles 3-6 concern Membership in the UN. Only states can be members of the United Nations.

Membership in different organs of the UN varies.

Membership of the principal organs is determined by the Charter of the United Nations and the Statute of the International Court of Justice:

  • According to the UN Charter, Article 9, "The General Assembly shall consist of all the Members of the United Nations"
  • According to the UN Charter, Article 23, "The Security Council shall consist of fifteen Members of the United Nations"; there are 5 permanent members and 10 non-permanent members, 5 of which are elected each year by the General Assembly for a 2-year term
  • According to UN Charter, Article 61, "The Economic and Social Council shall consist of fifty-four Members of the United Nations elected by the General Assembly"; 18 Members are elected each year for a 3-year term
  • According to the Statute of the International Court of Justice, Chapter I, Articles 2-33, the ICJ is composed of 15 "independent judges, elected regardless of their nationality from among persons of high moral character, who possess the qualifications required in their respective countries for appointment to the highest judicial offices, or are jurisconsults of recognized competence in international law"; 5 members are elected every 3 years for 9-year terms. The General Assembly and Security Council independently elect the judges and candidates must obtain an absolute majority in both organs

In accordance with the Charter, the General Assembly (Article 22), Security Council (Article 29) and the Economic and Social Council (Article 68) may establish subsidiary organs. The decision to establish a subsidiary organ (also called the mandate) usually includes:

  • Type of members: e.g. states or individuals serving in personal capacity
  • Number of members
  • Distribution of seats according to equitable geographical distribution among the regional groups
  • Method of electing members
  • Length of term of membership

Additional Resources

UN Digital Library searches about membership

Related Research Guides

Additional Resources

Membership, Participation and Observer Status

In the context of the Charter, membership and participation in the UN are different.

UN Charter, Chapter II, Articles 3-6 concern Membership in the UN. Only states can be members of the United Nations.

Membership in different organs of the UN varies.

  • Articles 31-32 of the Charter concern participation in the Security Council by states.
  • Articles 69-71 of the Charter concern participation in the Economic and Social Council by states, specialized agencies and non-governmental organizations. 
  • In addition, the General Assembly has an established practice of granting observer status to non-member states and intergovernmental organizations, see decision 49/426 in A/49/49 (Vol. I), page 341. Entities with observer status receive "a standing invitation to participate as observers in the sessions and the work of the General Assembly" (A/INF/73/5).

To research these matters further, consult secondary sources about the organ or the article of the Charter. For example, the Repertoire of the Practice of the Security Council has a section on the Council's role in membership as well as section on participation in the Council

Regional Groups

Current regional groups and their members are listed on the UN Department of General Assembly and Conference Management website:

  • African States
  • Asia-Pacific States
  • Eastern European States
  • Latin American and Caribbean States
  • Western European and other States

Chairs of the regional groups rotate monthly and are listed in the General Information section of the Journal of the United Nations.

Excerpts from the UN legal opinion of 4 March 2003 (2003 UN Juridical Yearbook p. 529): 

  • "The regional group system is not mentioned or envisaged in the United Nations Charter. However, it has become an essential part of the whole working structure of the United Nations.... as the accepted mechanism for distribution of elected places according to the principle of equitable geographical distribution and as the forum for consultations and negotiations on important issues."
  • "It should be observed that although the General Assembly and other United Nations bodies have endorsed [the role of the regional groups], none of these decisions has ever defined the concept of a regional group or the criteria for membership of any regional group."
  • "discussions within regional groups are conducted in private and the United Nations Secretariat is not privy to these discussions"

General Assembly resolutions that set out the initial basis for the development of the regional groups include:

Please note that there are also additional types of groups of states for negotiations outside the UN, such as various Groups of Friends, the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), the Group of 77 (G77), etc. Regional group names may differ from those set out in the resolutions on Council membership.