THE WORLD ATLAS

Law · 1945

The United Nations is founded

San Francisco, USA (where the UN Charter was signed)

Delegates of 50 countries met in San Francisco from 25 April to 26 June 1945 to draft the Charter of the United Nations, which they signed on 26 June; it came into force on 24 October 1945 after ratification by China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and a majority of the other signatories. Succeeding the League of Nations, the UN was built around a General Assembly of all members, a Security Council in which those five powers hold permanent seats, and an International Court of Justice.

See it on the map

The Canadian delegation in session at the United Nations Conference on International Organization, San Francisco, May 1945
The Canadian delegation in session at the United Nations Conference on International Organization, San Francisco, May 1945 Nicholas Morant / National Film Board of Canada · Public domain

Why it mattered

With 193 member states today it is the world's largest international organisation, and in 1948 its General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Related

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