Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
United Nations
Table of Contents
References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics
Images & Videos
United Nations General Assembly Antonio Guterres United Nations Trygve Lie Dag Hammarskjöld, 1954. U Thant, 1965 Kurt Waldheim Javier Pérez de Cuéllar Boutros Boutros-Ghali Kofi Annan
For Students
United Nations summary
Quizzes
Secretariat Building at United Nations Headquarters with Members States' flags flying in the foreground, United Nations Headquarters, New York City, New York. (photo dated 2017)
Global Governance Quiz
Encyclopaedia Britannica thistle graphic to be used with a Mendel/Consumer quiz in place of a photograph.
43 Questions About Politics (Mostly in the United States) Compiled from Britannica’s Quizzes
Related Questions
Read Next
Close up of a hand placing a ballot in a ballot box. Election vote voter voting
Have Any U.S. Presidents Decided Not to Run For a Second Term?
United States Presidential Election of 2012. Mitt Romney. Official portrait of President Barack Obama in the Oval Office, Dec. 6, 2012 after his reelection Nov. 6, 2012. Official portrait Obama
10 Democrats Who Made History
Explosion of the USS Shaw's forward magazine during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941. The Shaw was repaired and served in the Pacific through World War 2.
The Attack on Pearl Harbor
Korean War - U.S. Marines watch explosions of bombs dropped by Marine Vought F4U Corsair fighter bomber planes during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, Korea, in December 1950. soldiers
Korean War Timeline
J. Robert Oppenheimer (L) & Gen. Leslie R. Groves at ground zero examine remains of a base of the steel test tower at the Trinity Test site of a nuclear bomb; as part of the Manhattan Project in New Mexico, Sep. 1945. Los Alamos National Laboratory
Timeline of the Manhattan Project
Discover
Aphrodite. Greek mythology. Sculpture. Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love and beauty.
12 Greek Gods and Goddesses
A Factory Interior, watercolor, pen and gray ink, graphite, and white goache on wove paper by unknown artist, c. 1871-91; in the Yale Center for British Art. Industrial Revolution England
Inventors and Inventions of the Industrial Revolution
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Italian Renaissance painter from Florence. Engraving by Cosomo Colombini (d. 1812) after a Leonardo self portrait. Ca. 1500.
10 Famous Artworks by Leonardo da Vinci
The Colosseum, Rome, Italy. Giant amphitheatre built in Rome under the Flavian emperors. (ancient architecture; architectural ruins)
New Seven Wonders of the World
Shadow of a man holding large knife in his hand inside of some dark, spooky buiding
7 of History's Most Notorious Serial Killers
Town of Sisimiut located on the coast of the Davis Strait on Kangerluarsunnguaq Bay, Greenland
The Largest Islands in the World
Cathedrale St.Jean in Lyon, France has a 14th-century astronomical clock that shows religious feast days till the year 2019; Perpetual Calendar
Ten Days That Vanished: The Switch to the Gregorian Calendar

United Nations secretaries-general

inUnited Nations
print Print
Please select which sections you would like to print:
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Share
Share to social media
URL
https://flykep.top/topic/United-Nations
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
Britannica Websites
Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
Also known as: UN
Written by
Cecelia M. Lynch
Associate Professor of Political Science, University of California at Irvine. Author of Beyond Appeasement: Interpreting Interwar Peace Movements in World Politics and others.
Cecelia M. Lynch,
Karen Mingst
Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of Kentucky, Lexington. Author of Essentials of International Relations. Coauthor of The United Nations in the Post-Cold War Era.
Karen Mingst•All
Fact-checked by
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last Updated: • Article History
Quick Facts
Awards And Honors:
Nobel Prize
Date:
October 24, 1945 - present
Headquarters:
New York City
Middle East latest: Dozens of patients and wounded evacuated from Gaza for treatment • Dec. 31, 2024, 1:18 PM ET (AP)
Jimmy Carter is being mourned in his tiny hometown and around the world • Dec. 31, 2024, 9:46 AM ET (AP)
Middle East latest: Israel intercepts Houthi missile fired from Yemen • Dec. 30, 2024, 9:20 PM ET (AP)
The Latest: State funeral for Jimmy Carter will be Jan. 9 • Dec. 29, 2024, 10:53 PM ET (AP)

The table provides a chronological list of the secretaries-general of the UN.

Secretaries-general of the United Nations
name country of origin period of service
*Acting secretary-general from Nov. 3, 1961.
Trygve Lie
 Trygve Lie Norway Feb. 1, 1946–April 10, 1953
Dag Hammarskjöld, 1954.
 Dag Hammarskjöld Sweden April 10, 1953–Sept. 18, 1961
U Thant, 1965
 U Thant* Myanmar (Burma) Nov. 30, 1962–Dec. 31, 1971
Kurt Waldheim
 Kurt Waldheim Austria Jan. 1, 1972–Dec. 31, 1981
Javier Pérez de Cuéllar
 Javier Pérez de Cuellar Peru Jan. 1, 1982–Dec. 31, 1991
Boutros Boutros-Ghali
 Boutros Boutros-Ghali Egypt Jan. 1, 1992–Dec. 31, 1996
Kofi Annan
 Kofi Annan Ghana Jan. 1, 1997–Dec. 31, 2006
Ban Ki-Moon
 Ban Ki-Moon South Korea Jan. 1, 2007–Dec. 31, 2016
Guterres, António
 António Guterres Portugal Jan. 1, 2017–