The United Nations has 193 member states, each listed with the date it joined. The UN also lists two non-member observer states. Here is how the lists work.
A date beside every name
The UN’s list of member states gives a join date for each one. The oldest date is 24 October 1945. Each entry is a country name with one date under it. The list runs from A to Z. Dates are written as day, month and year. That makes it easy to see who joined when.
Many joined on one day
Some dates repeat. Spain, Jordan, Libya and Nepal all joined on 14 December 1955. Many others share a single day in 1960 and in 1992.
The newest names
South Sudan has the latest date on the list: 14 July 2011. Switzerland came on 10 September 2002.
Names as the UN writes them
The UN spells some names its own way. The list has Türkiye, Eswatini and Naoero. Some names are long. One reads Netherlands (Kingdom of the). For any change of name or membership details, the page tells readers to follow the link on a member’s entry. Each member also has short codes, explained in how ISO country codes work.
Two observers
The UN now lists two non-member observer states: the Holy See and the State of Palestine. A General Assembly resolution says the Holy See became a Permanent Observer State on 6 April 1964. A resolution of 10 May 2024 concerns Palestine’s part in the Assembly’s sessions and work.
How observer status works
The UN Charter says nothing about granting observer status. Neither do the Assembly’s rules of procedure. The Assembly may still give it to non-member states and to other groups.
A decision of 19 December 1994 narrows this. It limits observer status to states and to groups of governments, if their work is of interest to the Assembly.
Observers who later joined
A 1952 listing names non-member nations with permanent observer offices. They were Austria, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea and Switzerland. All later became members. Germany was admitted on 18 September 1973, and Switzerland in 2002. The UN’s page on observer states has the details.
