What is the United Nations?
The nutshell
The United Nations, or UN, is a group of almost every country in the world. It was set up in 1945, just after the Second World War, to help countries keep the peace and work together.
Every fact on this page comes from the United Nations and non-partisan explainers. Each source tag — like UN — opens where a fact comes from.
The basics
What the United Nations is
The United Nations, or UN, is a group of almost every country in the world. It was set up in 1945, just after the Second World War, to help countries keep the peace and work together.HoC Today 193 countries are members, which is nearly every country there is.UN
What the UN is for
The main job of the UN is to keep international peace — peace between countries. The UN gives the world's countries one place to meet, discuss problems, and find shared solutions together.UN The UN is not a world government, so it cannot make laws for a country on its own.
The Security Council
Inside the UN is a smaller group called the Security Council. Its job is to deal with peace and safety between countries.HoC The Security Council has 15 members. Five of these members keep a permanent seat that never changes: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.HoC
The UK's place at the UN
The UK is one of those five permanent members.GOVEach permanent member has a power called a veto. A veto lets one permanent member block a Security Council decision, even if other countries want the decision to pass.UNSC
- The UN was set up in 1945 to keep international peace and to help countries settle problems by talking, according to the House of Commons Library
- Almost every country in the world is a member, 193 in total, so nearly all the world's governments have a seat, according to the United Nations
- The UK is one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council, the body that deals with peace and security, according to GOV.UK
- The five permanent members, China, France, Russia, the UK and the United States, can each block, or veto, a Security Council decision, according to the UN Security Council
- The Security Council has 15 members in total, but only five hold a permanent seat, while the other ten are elected for two-year terms, according to the House of Commons Library
- The UN describes itself as a place where the world's countries meet to find shared solutions, rather than a world government that makes laws, according to the United Nations
The deep end6 min
How the UN began
The United Nations Charter — the document that set up the UN — was signed in San Francisco on 26 June 1945. The UN officially came into being on 24 October 1945, once enough countries had approved the Charter, according to the House of Commons Library.HoC Fifty countries signed at San Francisco, and the total soon reached 51 founding members. Membership has grown ever since, and today the United Nations records 193 member states.UN
What the UN is set up to do
The United Nations describes itself as the one place where all the world's nations can gather, discuss shared problems, and find shared solutions, guided by the aims written into its founding Charter.UN The Charter's central aim is to maintain international peace and security. The UN is not a world government and does not pass laws that bind countries, so much of its work depends on member states choosing to agree and to act.
The Security Council and the veto
The Security Council is the UN body responsible for international peace and security. It has 15 members. Five are permanent — often called the P5 — and the other ten are elected for two-year terms, according to the House of Commons Library.HoC The five permanent members are China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Each of the five can veto, or block, a Security Council decision on any matter that is not simply procedural, according to the UN Security Council.UNSC
The UK's role, and the debate over reform
The UK has held a permanent seat on the Security Council since the UN began. GOV.UK states that the UK, as one of the five permanent members, plays a part in all aspects of the Council's work and represents the UK in negotiations at the United Nations.GOV The permanent seats, and the veto that comes with a permanent seat, are among the most debated features of the UN. GOV.UK says the UK Mission also takes part in efforts to reform the Security Council and strengthen the UN's work on peace and conflict.GOV