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The Charter ofthe United Nations is the foundational treaty ofthe international organization called the United Nations.It wassigned at the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing ArtsCenter in San Francisco, United States, on 26 June 1945, by 50 of the 51original member countries (Poland, the other original member, which was notrepresented at the conference, signed it two months later). It entered intoforce on 24 October 1945, after being ratified by the five permanentmembers of the Security Council—the Republic ofChina under Chapter II of the United Nations Charter (and currently bythe People's Republic of China), France, the Union of SovietSocialist Republics (later replaced by the Russian Federation), theUnited Kingdom, and the United States—and a majority of the other signatories.Today, 193 countries are members of the United Nations.

As a charter, it is a constituent treaty, and allmembers are bound by its articles. Furthermore, the Charter states thatobligations to the United Nations prevail over all other treatyobligations. Most countries in the world have now ratified theCharter. One notable exception is the Vatican City State, whichhas chosen to remain a permanent observer state and therefore is not a fullsignatory to the Charter.

(photo source:www.uniosil.org)