Saturday, October 24, 2009

国連の日(kokuren no hi): United Nations Day

They say October 24 is kokuren no hi(国連の日), United Nations Day, and a week from October 20 to 26 is United Nations Week.
The United Nations (UN) officially came into existence on October 24, 1945 upon ratification of the Charter by the five permanent members of the Security Council-France, the Republic of China, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States-and by a majority of the other 46 signatories.
Japan became a member on December 18, 1956 as the 80th country. There are 192 member states now. There are 6 official languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish.
The current operating budget is estimated at $4.19 billion for the 2-year period of 2008-2009. The top 10 contributors to the UN budget 2009 are United States (22.0%), Japan (16.624%), Germany (8.577%), United Kingdom (6.642%), France(6.301%), Italy(5.079%), Canada (2.977%), Spain (2.968%), China (2.667%), and Mexico (2.257%).
The Headquarters is in New York. Whenever I have a chance to go to NY, I visit the UN, wishing to work there someday!

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