ons under the Charter, similar to withdrawals that weakened the UN's predecessor, the League of Nations), or on whether a request for readmission by a withdrawn member should be treated the same as an application for membership, i.e., requiring Security Council as well as General Assembly approval. Indonesia's return to the UN would suggest that this is not required; however, scholars have argued that the course of action taken by the General Assembly was not in accordance with the Charter from a legal point of view.
Observers and non-members
In addition to the member states, there is one non-member permanent observer state: the Holy See (which holds sovereignty over the state of Vatican City and maintains diplomatic relations with other states). It has been an observer state since 6 April 1964, and gained all the rights of full membership except voting on 1 July 2004. A number of states were also granted observer status before being admitted to the UN as full members, such as:
- Switzerland: 1948–2002
- Republic of Korea: 1953–1991
- Federal Republic of Germany: 1955–1973
- German Democratic Republic: 1972–1973
- Democratic People's Republic of Korea: 1973–1991
The Palestine Liberation Organization was granted observer status on 22 November 1974. Acknowledging the proclamation of the State of Palestine by the Palestine National Council on 15 November 1988, the United Nations General Assembly decided that, effective as of 15 December 1988, the designation "Palestine" should be used in place of the designation "Palestine Liberation Organization" in the United Nations System. The current status of Palestine in the UN is a "non-member entity". The Palestinian territories of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, occupied by Israel with parts of them governed by the Palestinian National Authority, are referred to by the UN as "Occupied Palestinian Territory". On 23 September 2011, Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas submitted the Palestinian application for UN membership to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The application has yet to be voted on by the Security Council.
A European Union institution, the European Commission, was granted observer status at the UNGA through Resolution 3208 in 1974. The Lisbon Treaty in 2009 resulted in the delegates being accredited directly to the EU. It was accorded full rights in the General Assembly, bar the right to vote and put forward candidates, via UNGA Resolution A/RES/65/276 on 10 May 2011. It is the only non-state party to over 50 multilateral conventions, and has participated as a full member in every way except for having a vote in a number of UN conferences.
The sovereignty status of Western Sahara is in dispute between Morocco and the Polisario Front. Most of the territory is controlled by Morocco, the remainder (the Free Zone) by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, proclaimed by the Polisario Front. 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 not members of the UN, but are members of specialized agencies of the UN such as WHO and UNESCO, and signatories of international treaties such as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and are treated as non-member states.
- Enlargement of the United Nations
- League of Nations members
- List of Permanent Representatives to the United Nations
- United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories
- ^ "The World". United Nations. http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/world.pdf.
- ^ "What are Member States?". United Nations. http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/unms/whatisms.shtml.
- ^ a b c "Charter of the United Nations, Chapter II: Membership". United Nations. http://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/chapter2.shtml.
- ^ "About UN Membership". United Nations. http://www.un.org/en/members/about.shtml.
- ^ "Growth in United Nations membership, 1945–present". United Nations. http://www.un.org/en/members/growth.shtml.
- ^ "History of the United Nations". United Nations