Member countries of UNESCO

UNESCO is a specialized agency of the United Nations. The abbreviation stands for "United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization". It was founded in 1945 to promote peace and security through international cooperation in education, science, culture and communication. Its main goal is to contribute to building a culture of peace, eradicating poverty, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue through its programs and activities.

A total of 195 countries with a combined population of 7.93 billion currently belong to UNESCO.

Official website: https://www.unesco.org/en

Convert km² to square miles

Country	Commencement	Population	Area
Afghanistan	1948	41.13 M	653,000 km²
Albania	1958	2.78 M	29,000 km²
Algeria	1962	44.90 M	2,382,000 km²
Andorra	1993	0.08 M	470 km²
Angola	1977	35.59 M	1,247,000 km²
Antigua and Barbuda	1982	0.09 M	440 km²
Argentina	1948	46.23 M	2,780,000 km²
Armenia	1992	2.78 M	30,000 km²
Australia	1946	26.01 M	7,741,000 km²
Austria	1948	9.04 M	84,000 km²
Azerbaijan	1992	10.14 M	87,000 km²
Bahamas	1981	0.41 M	14,000 km²
Bahrain	1972	1.47 M	778 km²
Bangladesh	1972	171.19 M	148,000 km²
Barbados	1968	0.28 M	430 km²
Belarus	1954	9.23 M	208,000 km²
Belgium	1946	11.69 M	31,000 km²
Belize	1982	0.41 M	23,000 km²
Benin	1960	13.35 M	115,000 km²
Bhutan	1982	0.78 M	38,000 km²
Bolivia	1946	12.22 M	1,099,000 km²
Bosnia and Herzegovina	1993	3.23 M	51,000 km²
Botswana	1980	2.63 M	582,000 km²
Brazil	1946	215.31 M	8,516,000 km²
Brunei	2005	0.45 M	5,770 km²
Bulgaria	1956	6.47 M	111,000 km²
Burkina Faso	1960	22.67 M	274,000 km²
Burundi	1962	12.89 M	28,000 km²
Cambodia	1951	16.77 M	181,000 km²
Cameroon	1960	27.91 M	475,000 km²
Canada	1946	38.93 M	9,985,000 km²
Cape Verde	1978	0.59 M	4,030 km²
Central Africa	1960	5.58 M	623,000 km²
Chad	1960	17.72 M	1,284,000 km²
Chile	1953	19.60 M	757,000 km²
China	1971	1,425.67 M	9,563,000 km²
Colombia	1947	51.87 M	1,142,000 km²
Comoros	1977	0.84 M	1,861 km²
Congo	1960	5.97 M	342,000 km²
Congo (Dem. Republic)	1960	99.01 M	2,345,000 km²
Cook Islands	1989	0.02 M	242 km²
Costa Rica	1950	5.18 M	51,000 km²
Croatia	1992	3.86 M	57,000 km²
Cuba	1947	11.21 M	110,000 km²
Cyprus	1961	1.25 M	9,250 km²
Czechia	1993	10.67 M	79,000 km²
Denmark	1946	5.90 M	43,000 km²
Djibouti	1989	1.12 M	23,000 km²
Dominica	1979	0.07 M	750 km²
Dominican Republic	1946	11.23 M	49,000 km²
East Timor	2003	1.34 M	15,000 km²
Ecuador	1947	18.00 M	256,000 km²
Egypt	1946	110.99 M	1,001,000 km²
El Salvador	1948	6.34 M	21,000 km²
Equatorial Guinea	1979	1.67 M	28,000 km²
Eritrea	1993	3.68 M	118,000 km²
Estonia	1991	1.35 M	45,000 km²
Eswatini	1978	1.20 M	17,000 km²
Ethiopia	1995	123.38 M	1,104,000 km²
Fiji	1983	0.93 M	18,000 km²
Finland	1956	5.56 M	338,000 km²
France	1946	67.97 M	549,000 km²
Gabon	1960	2.39 M	268,000 km²
Gambia	1973	2.71 M	11,000 km²
Georgia	1992	3.71 M	70,000 km²
Germany	1951	83.80 M	358,000 km²
Ghana	1958	33.48 M	239,000 km²
Greece	1946	10.43 M	132,000 km²
Grenada	1975	0.13 M	340 km²
Guatemala	1950	17.36 M	109,000 km²
Guinea	1960	13.86 M	246,000 km²
Guinea-Bissau	1974	2.11 M	36,000 km²
Guyana	1967	0.81 M	215,000 km²
Haiti	1946	11.58 M	28,000 km²
Honduras	1947	10.43 M	112,000 km²
Hungary	1948	9.64 M	93,000 km²
Iceland	1964	0.38 M	103,000 km²
India	1946	1,425.78 M	3,287,000 km²
Indonesia	1950	275.50 M	1,914,000 km²
Iran	1948	88.55 M	1,648,000 km²
Iraq	1948	44.50 M	435,000 km²
Ireland	1961	5.13 M	70,000 km²
Israel	1949	9.56 M	22,000 km²
Italy	1948	58.94 M	301,000 km²
Ivory Coast	1960	28.16 M	322,000 km²
Jamaica	1962	2.83 M	11,000 km²
Japan	1951	125.12 M	378,000 km²
Jordan	1950	11.29 M	89,000 km²
Kazakhstan	1992	19.62 M	2,725,000 km²
Kenya	1964	54.03 M	580,000 km²
Kiribati	1989	0.13 M	810 km²
Kuwait	1960	4.27 M	18,000 km²
Kyrgyzstan	1992	6.97 M	200,000 km²
Laos	1951	7.53 M	237,000 km²
Latvia	1991	1.88 M	64,000 km²
Lebanon	1946	5.49 M	10,000 km²
Lesotho	1967	2.31 M	30,000 km²
Liberia	1947	5.30 M	111,000 km²
Libya	1953	6.81 M	1,760,000 km²
Lithuania	1991	2.83 M	65,000 km²
Luxembourg	1947	0.65 M	2,590 km²
Madagascar	1960	29.61 M	587,000 km²
Malawi	1964	20.41 M	118,000 km²
Malaysia	1958	33.94 M	330,000 km²
Maldives	1980	0.52 M	300 km²
Mali	1960	22.59 M	1,240,000 km²
Malta	1965	0.53 M	320 km²
Marshall Islands	1995	0.04 M	181 km²
Mauritania	1962	4.74 M	1,031,000 km²
Mauritius	1968	1.26 M	2,040 km²
Mexico	1946	127.50 M	1,964,000 km²
Micronesia	1999	0.11 M	700 km²
Moldova	1992	2.54 M	34,000 km²
Monaco	1949	0.04 M	2 km²
Mongolia	1962	3.40 M	1,564,000 km²
Montenegro	2007	0.62 M	14,000 km²
Morocco	1956	37.46 M	447,000 km²
Mozambique	1976	32.97 M	786,000 km²
Myanmar	1949	54.18 M	677,000 km²
Namibia	1978	2.57 M	824,000 km²
Nauru	1996	0.01 M	21 km²
Nepal	1953	30.55 M	147,000 km²
Netherlands	1947	17.70 M	42,000 km²
New Zealand	1946	5.12 M	268,000 km²
Nicaragua	1952	6.95 M	130,000 km²
Niger	1960	26.21 M	1,267,000 km²
Nigeria	1960	218.54 M	924,000 km²
Niue	1963	0.00 M	261 km²
North Korea	1974	26.07 M	121,000 km²
North Macedonia	1993	2.06 M	26,000 km²
Norway	1946	5.46 M	385,000 km²
Oman	1972	4.58 M	310,000 km²
Pakistan	1949	235.82 M	796,000 km²
Palau	1999	0.02 M	460 km²
Palestine	2011	5.04 M	6,020 km²
Panama	1950	4.41 M	75,000 km²
Papua New Guinea	1976	10.14 M	463,000 km²
Paraguay	1955	6.78 M	407,000 km²
Peru	1946	34.05 M	1,285,000 km²
Philippines	1946	115.56 M	300,000 km²
Poland	1946	36.82 M	313,000 km²
Portugal	1965	10.41 M	92,000 km²
Qatar	1972	2.70 M	12,000 km²
Romania	1956	19.05 M	238,000 km²
Russia	1954	144.24 M	17,098,000 km²
Rwanda	1962	13.78 M	26,000 km²
Saint Kitts and Nevis	1983	0.05 M	260 km²
Saint Lucia	1980	0.18 M	620 km²
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	1983	0.10 M	390 km²
Samoa	1981	0.22 M	2,840 km²
San Marino	1974	0.03 M	61 km²
Sao Tome and Principe	1980	0.23 M	960 km²
Saudi Arabia	1946	36.41 M	2,150,000 km²
Senegal	1960	17.32 M	197,000 km²
Serbia	2000	6.66 M	88,000 km²
Seychelles	1976	0.12 M	460 km²
Sierra Leone	1962	8.61 M	72,000 km²
Singapore	1965	5.64 M	719 km²
Slovakia	1993	5.43 M	49,000 km²
Slovenia	1992	2.11 M	21,000 km²
Solomon Islands	1993	0.72 M	29,000 km²
Somalia	1960	17.60 M	638,000 km²
South Africa	1946	59.89 M	1,219,000 km²
South Korea	1950	51.63 M	100,000 km²
South Sudan	2011	10.91 M	644,000 km²
Spain	1953	47.78 M	506,000 km²
Sri Lanka	1949	22.18 M	66,000 km²
Sudan	1956	46.87 M	1,879,000 km²
Suriname	1976	0.62 M	164,000 km²
Sweden	1950	10.49 M	447,000 km²
Switzerland	1949	8.78 M	41,000 km²
Syria	1946	22.13 M	185,000 km²
Tajikistan	1993	9.95 M	141,000 km²
Tanzania	1962	65.50 M	947,000 km²
Thailand	1949	71.70 M	513,000 km²
Togo	1960	8.85 M	57,000 km²
Tonga	1980	0.11 M	750 km²
Trinidad and Tobago	1962	1.53 M	5,130 km²
Tunisia	1956	12.36 M	164,000 km²
Turkey	1946	84.98 M	785,000 km²
Turkmenistan	1993	6.43 M	488,000 km²
Tuvalu	1991	0.01 M	26 km²
Uganda	1962	47.25 M	242,000 km²
Ukraine	1954	38.00 M	604,000 km²
United Arab Emirates	1972	9.44 M	84,000 km²
United Kingdom	1946	66.97 M	244,000 km²
United States	1946	333.29 M	9,525,000 km²
Uruguay	1947	3.42 M	176,000 km²
Uzbekistan	1993	35.65 M	447,000 km²
Vanuatu	1994	0.33 M	12,000 km²
Venezuela	1946	28.30 M	912,000 km²
Vietnam	1951	98.19 M	331,000 km²
Yemen	1962	33.70 M	528,000 km²
Zambia	1964	20.02 M	753,000 km²
Zimbabwe	1980	16.32 M	391,000 km²

Areas of Responsibility

UNESCO has a broad mandate, and its work covers a wide range of areas. Its main areas of focus include the promotion of education, the protection of cultural heritage and freedom of expression, the promotion of scientific research, and the support of free media. UNESCO also addresses issues of gender equality, social inclusion and the protection of human rights.

Preservation of the world cultural heritage

UNESCO's well-known mission is to identify and protect World Heritage Sites, which are sites of cultural or natural significance considered to be of universal value to humanity. The organization works with countries to identify and nominate sites that meet the criteria for World Heritage status and provides technical and financial assistance for their conservation and management. UNESCO also works to promote cultural diversity and to protect and promote cultural expressions throughout the world.

Management

UNESCO is governed by a General Conference, which meets every two years and is attended by representatives of all member states. The organization is headed by a Director-General, each elected for a four-year term.