United Nations member states
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There are currently 191 member states in the
United Nations.
The Seat of China
\nMain article: China and the United Nations
The Republic of China was one of the five original founders of the UN in 1945. However, the Kuomintang-controlled ROC government was deposed in 1949, with the new Communist government of the People's Republic of China taking control of most of the country. Representatives of the nationalist 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 juridiction of mainland China. In October 1971, Resolution 2758 was passed by the General Assembly, effectively expelling the ROC from all UN organs and replacing the China seat on the Security Council with the PRC. 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 the Republic of China on Taiwan," have not made it past committee.
Observer States
In addition to the member states discussed above, there is also a non-member observer state: the Holy See (Vatican City State), which maintains a permanent observer mission at the UN headquarters. The Vatican is the smallest sovereign country in the world.
Some international organizations have a similar observer status; see UN General Assembly for a list.
External link
\n* Official list of member states, including membership history
Category:Lists of countries\nCategory:United Nations\nCategory:United Nations