Founding of the United Nations

Delegates of fifty nations met in San Francisco, California, USA, between 25 April and 26 June 1945 at the United Nations Conference on International Organization. Working on the Dumbarton Oaks proposals, the Yalta Agreement, and amendments proposed by various governments, the Conference agreed upon the Charter of the United Nations and the Statute of the new International Court of Justice. 

There were 850 delegates at the Conference, and their advisers and staff together with the conference secretariat brought the total to 3,500. In addition, there were more than 2,500 press, radio and newsreel representatives and observers from many societies and organizations. In all, the San Francisco Conference was not only one of the most important in history but, perhaps, the largest international gathering ever to take place up until that time. 

The United Nations did not come into existence at the signing of the Charter. In many countries the Charter had to be approved by their congresses or parliaments. It had therefore been provided that the Charter would come into force when the Governments of China, France, Great Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States and a majority of the other signatory states had ratified it and deposited notification to this effect with the State Department of the United States. On 24 October 1945 (now observed annually as United Nations Day) this condition was fulfilled and the United Nations came into existence.