Official languages of the United Nations

The official languages of the United Nations are the six languages used in United Nations (UN) meetings and in which the UN writes all its official documents.[1]

For the United Nations to select a language to be official, a majority of the 193 members need to vote in favor of it. Afterward, it is up to the respective country (or countries) of the new language to help financially support the translation and interpretation services.[2] Of the six languages, four are the official language or national language of permanent members in the Security Council:

The remaining two languages are official due to the large number of their speakers:

  1. ^ "Union Nation Official Languages". Archived from the original on 18 May 2018. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  2. ^ Careers, Human Rights (21 September 2019). "What Are The Official UN Languages?". Human Rights Careers. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  3. ^ Universal Declaration of Human Rights: translation into Chinese. Title Universal Declaration of Human Rights: translation into Chinese {...} Language(s) 中文 (Chinese){...}Alternate names: Beifang Fangyan, Guanhua, Guoyu, Hanyu, Huayu, Mandarin, Northern Chinese, Putonghua, Standard Chinese, Zhongguohua, Zhongwen
  4. ^ "Spelling (United Nations Editorial Manual Online)". Department for General Assembly and Conference Management. Retrieved 29 July 2023. The Concise Oxford English Dictionary, twelfth edition, is the current authority for spelling in the United Nations.