United Nations General Assembly One of six principal compo¬ nents of the United Nations and the only one in which all UN members are represented. It meets annually or in special sessions. It acts primarily as a deliberative body; it may discuss and make recommendations about any issue within the scope of the UN charter. Its president is elected annually on a rotating basis from five geographic groups of members.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Office of the (UNHCR) Office established in 1951 to give legal, social, economic, and political aid to refugees. The UNHCR is the successor of the Inter¬ national Refugee Organization. Its first efforts focused on Europeans dis¬ placed by World War II; it has since assisted refugees in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Yugoslavia. It is based in Geneva and is financed by vol¬ untary government contributions. The office won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1954 and 1981.
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitar¬ ian Affairs (OCHA) formerly (1972-92) Office of the United Nations Disaster Relief Coordinator, (1992-98) United Nations Department of Humanitarian Affairs Agency of the United Nations Secretariat, established in 1972 to coordinate international relief to countries struck by natural or other disaster. Responding to requests from stricken states for disaster assistance, the OCHA directs UN
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1968 I United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration ► United States
assistance and mobilizes aid from nongovernmental organizations such as the International Red Cross. Since the 1980s it has emphasized disaster preparedness and prevention, and it has assisted in executing projects of the United Nations Development Programme.
United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
Administrative body (1943^47) for an extensive social-welfare program for war-ravaged nations. It distributed relief supplies and services, includ¬ ing shelter, food, and medicine, and helped with agricultural and economic rehabilitation. Its functions were later taken over by the International Refugee Organization, the World Health Organization, and UNICEF.
United Nations Resolution 242 Resolution of the United Nations Security Council that ended the 1967 Six-Day War. The Israelis supported the resolution because it called on the Arab states to accept Israel’s right “to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force.” All Arab states eventually accepted it (Egypt and Jordan accepted the resolution from the outset) because of its clause call¬ ing for Israel to withdraw from the territories conquered in 1967. The Pal¬ estine Liberation Organization rejected it until 1988 because it lacked explicit references to Palestinians. Though never fully implemented, it was the basis of diplomatic efforts to end Arab-Israeli conflicts until the Camp David Accords and remains an important touchstone in any negoti¬ ated resolution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.
United Nations Secretariat Administrative body that coordinates United Nations activities. Its staff, recruited on the basis of merit, is com¬ posed of several thousand permanent professional experts from member states, including translators, clerks, technicians, administrators, project directors, and negotiators, who carry out the UN’s day-to-day operations and administer the policies and programs set by the other divisions. They are required to swear an oath of loyalty to the UN and must not take instructions from their home governments.
United Nations Security Council Division of the United Nations whose primary purpose is to maintain international peace and security. The Security Council originally consisted of five permanent members— Taiwan (succeeded in 1971 by China), France, the United Kingdom, the U.S., and the Soviet Union (succeeded in 1991 by Russia)—and six rotat¬ ing members elected by the United Nations General Assembly for two-year terms. In 1965 the number of nonpermanent members was increased to 10. UN members agree to abide by the Security Council’s resolutions when they join. The Security Council investigates disputes that threaten international peace and advises on how to resolve them. To prevent or halt aggression, it may impose diplomatic or economic sanctions or autho¬ rize the use of military force. Each of the permanent members holds veto power in decisions on substantive matters, such as the application of sanctions. Decisions on both substantive and procedural matters require nine affirmative votes, including the affirmative vote of all five permanent members (though in practice a permanent member may abstain without impairing the validity of a decision).
United Nations Trusteeship Council One of the main organs of the UN, composed of the five permanent members of the Security Coun¬ cil. It supervised the administration of trust (non-self-governing) territo¬ ries, including former colonies in Africa and the Pacific. The council’s job was to send inspection missions to the territories, examine petitions, review reports, and make recommendations. It suspended operations after the last trust territory, Palau, gained its sovereignty in 1994.
United Netherlands, Republic of the See Dutch Republic United Provinces See Uttar Pradesh
United States officially United States of America Country, North America. It comprises 48 conterminous states occupying the mid¬ continent, Alaska at the northwestern extreme of North America, and the island state of Hawaii in the mid-Pacific Ocean. Area, including the U.S. share of the Great Lakes: 3,676,487 sq mi (9,522,058 sq km). Population (2005 est.): 296,748,000. Capitaclass="underline" Washington, D.C. The population includes people of European and Middle Eastern ancestry, African Ameri¬ cans, Hispanics, Asians, Pacific Islanders, American Indians (Native Americans), and Alaska Natives. Languages: English (predominant), Spanish. Religions: Christianity (Protestant, Roman Catholic, other Chris¬ tians, Eastern Orthodox); also Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism. Cur¬ rency: U.S. dollar. The country encompasses mountains, plains, lowlands, and deserts. Mountain ranges include the Appalachians, Ozarks, Rockies, Cascades, and Sierra Nevada. The lowest point is Death Valley, Calif. The
U.S. Presidents and Vice Presidents
President
Term
Vice president
Term
George Washington
1789-97
John Adams
1789-97
John Adams
1797-1801
Thomas Jefferson
1797-1801
Thomas Jefferson
1801-9
Aaron Burr
1801-5
George Clinton
1805-9
James Madison
1809-17
George Clinton
1809-12*
Elbridge Gerry
1813-14*
James Monroe
1817-25
Daniel D. Tompkins
1817-25
John Quincy Adams
1825-29
John C. Calhoun
1825-29
Andrew Jackson
1829-37
John C. Calhoun
1829-32**
Martin Van Buren
1833-37
Martin Van Buren
1837-41
Richard M. Johnson
1837-41
William Henry Harrison
1841*
John Tyler
1841
John Tyler
1841-45
James K. Polk
1845-49
George Mifflin Dallas
1845-49
Zachary Taylor
1849-50*
Millard Fillmore
1849-50
Millard Fillmore
1850-53
Franklin Pierce
1853-57
William Rufus de Vane King
1853*
James Buchanan
1857-61
John C. Breckinridge
1857-61
Abraham Lincoln
1861-65*
Hannibal Hamlin
1861-65
Andrew Johnson
1865
Andrew Johnson
1865-69
Ulysses S. Grant
1869-77
Schuyler Colfax
1869-73
Henry Wilson
1873-75*
Rutherford B. Hayes
1877-81
William A. Wheeler
1877-81
James A. Garfield
1881*
Chester A. Arthur
1881