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United Nations: Quick Facts

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Last updated
Turkey's president calls the war in Gaza an 'ecocide' at the UN climate summit • Nov. 13, 2026, 2:36 PM ET (AP)
Iran tells UN nuclear agency that monitoring cannot proceed while it is under threat • Nov. 13, 2026, 5:22 AM ET (AP)
UN climate summit pushes electrification goal as groups call for mining safeguards • Nov. 12, 2026, 9:03 PM ET (AP)
Leaders of countries already hit hard by climate change tell UN summit that urgent action is needed • Nov. 12, 2026, 1:53 PM ET (AP)

Facts

Also Known As UN
Awards And Honors Nobel Prize
Date October 24, 1945 - present
Headquarters New York City
Areas Of Involvement human rights • trust territory • economic development • international relations • Today in History—October 12: Nikita Khrushchev’s Shoe Speech • equality
Related People Douglas Richard Hurd • Franklin D. Roosevelt • Benjamin Netanyahu • George H.W. Bush • Fridtjof Nansen • Michelle Bachelet • Eleanor Roosevelt • Samantha Power • Douglas MacArthur • Jens Stoltenberg • Kofi Annan • Haile Selassie I • Louise Arbour • Dag Hammarskjöld • Cindy McCain

Did You Know?

  • About 91 million people receive food and other assistance from the World Food Program, a branch of the UN.
  • The UN's annual Peacekeeping budget is approximately 1% of America's annual miltary expenditures.
  • Around 67 countries every year receive assistance with elections from the UN.
  • 45% of children worldwide receive vaccines, including the polio vaccine, from United Nations agencies.

Photos and Videos

Flag of the United Nations
The United Nations Office at Geneva, a large neoclassical building with the words United Nations Nations Unies above the entrance, is flanked by rows of international flags.
United Nations General Assembly
United Nations headquarters in Midtown Manhattan
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a suit and tie, posing in front of a blue United Nations flag at UN Headquarters in New York City.
Trygve Lie
Dag Hammarskjold in 1954, seated and wearing a light-colored suit and striped tie, with hands clasped in front of him and looking to the left.
U Thant, 1965
Kurt Waldheim
Javier Pérez de Cuéllar
Hear about the formation, functions, and limitations of the International Criminal Court
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