Chapter-14

National Institutions and

International Organisations
1*. Which of the following is the headquarters of UNEP (United
Nations Environment Programme)?
a) The Hague b) New York c) Nairobi d) Vienna
2*. Which of the following is not a member of SAARC?
a) Myanmar b) Bhutan c) India d) Maldives
3. The International Institute for Population Sciences is located
i n
a) Mumbai b) Kolkata
c) Delhi d) Thiruvanantapuram
4. Which, among the following United Nations Agencies, is
responsible for the promotion of food production in the World?
a) ILO b) FAO c) WHO d) UNICEF
5. The Rashtriya Indian Military College is located at
a) Agra b) Dehradun c) Khadakvasla d) Cochin
6*. Which one of the UN agencies existed prior to the establishment
of the UNO?
a) WHO b) ILO c) UNHCR d) UNESCO
7. The name UNO was suggested by
a) Winston Churchill b) Josef Stalin
c) Charles de Gaulle d) Franklin D Roosevelt
8. In which of the following places was the 50th Anniversary of
the UN Charter celebrated?
a) New York b) San Francisco
c) Washington d) Dumbarton Oaks
9. Where is the headquarters of the Research Designs and Standards
Organisation of the Indian Railways located?
a) Chennai b) Lucknow c) Mumbai d) Kolkata
10*. In 1863, a Swiss businessman and writer founded the Red Cross
in Geneva. What is his name?
a) John Calvin b) Carl G Jung
c) Paul Klee d) Jean Henri Dunant
11. The European headquarters of the UN is
a) Paris b) Geneva c) Rome d) Zurich
12*. Which, among the following is not a member of the CIS?
a) Armenia b) Byelorussia c) Georgia d) Russia
13. The Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration is
situated at
a) Dehradun b) New Delhi
c) Secunderabad d) Mussoorie
14*. Which among the following is not an official language of the
United Nations?
a) English b) French c) German d) Russian
15. Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology is located at
a) Darjeeling b) Mussoorie
c) Dehradun d) Leh
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16. The Third Window is a term associated with
a) IMF b) OAE
c) ECAFE d) World Bank
17*. The headquarters of UNESCO is in
a) New York b) Washington
c) Paris d) Amsterdam
18*. Which is the headquarters of the Asian Development Bank?
a) Bangkok b) Manila
c) Kuala Lumpur d) Jakarta
19. The first SAARC summit was held in
a) Bengaluru b) Colombo
c) Dhaka d) Kathmandu
20. The headquarters of SAARC is in
a) Kathmandu b) New Delhi c) Islamabad
d) Dhaka e) Colombo
21*. The seat of International Court of Justice is established at
a) Geneva b) The Hague c) Chicago
d) Switzerland e) Washington
22. India is not a member of which of the following organisations?
a) SAARC b) WTO c) BRICS
d) UNO e) OPEC
23*. Which of the following countries is NOT the member of IBSA?
a) India b) Bangladesh
c) South Africa d) Brazil
e) All are members
24*. The Head Office of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
is situated in ________
a) London b) New York c) Vienna
d) Taipei e) Seoul
25. SAARC is the association of
a) European countries b) Oil Exporting Nations
c) South Asian countries d) South American Nations
e) None of these
26. The headquarters of the United Nations Organisation is located
i n
a) Moscow b) New York
c) Washington DC d) Geneva
e) Brussels
27*. Amnesty International is associated closely with which of the
following?
a) To promote inclusive growth worldwide
b) To make earth a better abode for future generations
c) To protect human rights
d) To protect the world from the dangers of any nuclear war
e) None of these
28*. What is the full form of the abbreviation ASEAN?
a) Association of South East Agro Nations
b) Association of South East Asian Nations
c) Alliance of South East Asian Nations
d) Alliance of South East Asian Neighbours
e) None of these
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29*. The World Health Organisation has urged that advertisements
of which of the following should be banned to protect the youth
from bad effects of the same?
a) Tobacco
b) Alcoholic drinks
c) Junk food
d) Soft drinks with chemical preservatives
e) None of these
30. India s first fully dedicated university for Humanities is
established in
a) Lucknow b) Delhi c) Jaipur
d) Mumbai e) Hyderabad
31*. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is a wing/agency
of the
a) World Bank
b) United Nations Organisation
c) Asian Development Bank
d) Ministry of Agriculture, Govt of India
e) None of these
32*. The head office of the World Trade Organisation is located in
a) Nepal b) India c) Japan
d) Australia e) None of these
33*. Which of the following countries is a member of BRICS?
a) Bhutan b) Iran c) Romania
d) Sudan e) South Africa
34. Which of the following countries is NOT a member of ASEAN?
a) Thailand b) Myanmar c) Singapore
d) Vietnam e) Brazil
35. Which of the following nations is NOT the member of OPEC?
a) Algeria b) Iran c) Libya
d) Qatar e) France
36*. Which was the latest country to be admitted as a new member
State of UNO?
a) Switzerland b) East Timor
c) South Sudan d) Montenegro
37*. Where is the headquarters of INTERPOL?
a) Paris b) London c) Lyons d) Geneva
38*. Which of the following countries is not a member of the Nuclear
Suppliers Group (NSG)?
a) France b) Russia c) USA d) Iran
39*. Non-Alignment (Non-Aligned Movement) basically implies
a) choosing its own policy
b) neutrality towards power blocks
c) bringing peace and unity to the world
d) being a third-world power
40*. Where was the first regular session of UN General Assembly
held?
a) San Francisco b) New York
c) London d) Paris
41*. The Secretary-General of the UNO is appointed by the
a) General Assembly b) Security Council
c) Trusteeship Council d) World Bank
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42. Who were made the permanent members of the UN Security
Council?
a) One representative from each continent
b) Five major powers of the allied forces in the scond world war
c) Five members elected by the UN General Assembly at the initial
constitution
d) Funding members of the UN
43. The UN Secretary-General holds office for a period of
a) 3 years b) 4 years c) 5 years d) 6 years
44*. In which year did the UN General Assembly adopt the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights?
a) 1945 b) 1948 c) 1952 d) 1955
45*. The UN flag was adopted by the General Assembly on
a) October 20, 1947 b) January 1, 1952
c) June 24, 1973 d) August 15, 1982
46*. The Security Council of UN consists of
a) 5 permanent and 10 non-permanent members
b) 10 permanent members and 15 non-permanent members
c) 15 permanent members and 15 non-permanent members
d) 15 permanent members
47. How many permanent members are there in the Security Council?
a) Three b) Five c) Six d) Four
48. Permanent members of UN Security Council are
a) the USA, the UK, Russia, Germany, China
b) the USA, Russia, the UK, France, China
c) Canada, China, the UK, the USA, Russia
d) the USA, Russia, the UK, China, Japan
49*. Which of these countries is not a member of the UNO?
a) Turkey b) Sweden c) Switzerland d) Kosovo
50*. Decision of the Security Council on procedural matters shall be
made by an affirmative votes of ________ members.
a) Eleven b) Ten c) Eight d) Nine
51*. The United Nations officially came into existence on
a) January 1, 1942 b) October 3, 1944
c) October 24, 1945 d) June 26, 1945
52*. When did India join the United Nations?
a) 1945 b) 1947 c) 1950 d) 1954
53. The member states of the UNO have delegated the primary
responsibility for maintaining world peace and security to the
a) General Assembly
b) Economic and Social Council
c) Security Council
d) International Court of Justice
54. UN emblem is in
a) white centred on a light blue background
b) green centred on a bright yellow background
c) black centred on a light blue background
d) blue centred on a light white background
55*. When was the current Emblem of the United Nations approved
by the General Assembly?
a) October 24, 1945 b) June 26, 1945
c) December 7, 1946 d) October 24, 1946
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56*. The first African National to become Secretary-General of UNO
was
a) Kofi Annan b) Boutros Ghali
c) Nelson Mandela d) Winni Mandela
57. When was the League of Nations formed?
a) February 10, 1920 b) December 10, 1919
c) January 10, 1920 d) January 1, 1920
58*. IBRD is also known as
a) International Bank b) World Bank
c) Asian Development Bank d) Bank of America
59*. G-15 is a group of
a) Developed Countries
b) Developing Countries
c) Companies
d) Non-Aligned Developing Countries
60*. Earth Summit (Save Earth) was sponsered by
a) UNESCO b) UNCED c) WHO d) UNICEF
61. According to the resolution adopted by the United Nations
General Assembly, International Day of Peace is observed every
year on
a) September 1 b) September 14
c) September 21 d) September 30
62*. Under the rules of the IMF, each member is required to declare
the par value of its legal tender money in terms of US dollars
and _________.
a) Silver b) Gold
c) Pound Sterling d) Diamond
63*. Which institution is known as soft loan window of the World
Bank?
a) International Finance Corporation
b) International Development Association
c) International Monetary Fund
d) Indian Development Forum
64. Where is the headquarters of Botanical Survey of India located?
a) Lucknow b) Darjeeling
c) Kolkata d) Ootacmund
65*. IMF was established to meet which of the following objectives?
(A) Promoting international monetary cooperation
(B) Expanding international trade
(C) Lessening the disequilibrium in balance of trade
(D) Avoiding competitive exchange depreciation
a) (A), (B) and (C) b) (A), (C) and (D)
c) (B) and (C) d) (A), (B), (C) and (C)
66*. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) came into existence
wi t h
a) Berlin Conference b) London Conference
c) Bretton Woods Conference d) Rome Conference
67. Special Drawing Rights (SDR) facility is available at
a) International Monetary Fund (IMF)
b) World Bank
c) International Development Association (IDA)
d) Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
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68*. What is the full form of NATO?
a) North African Treaty Organisation
b) North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
c) North Asian Treaty Organisation
d) North American Treaty Organisation
69*. Which of the following countries is not a member of the
European Union?
a) Norway b) Sweden c) Finland d) Lithuania
70. Where is the headquarters of European Union located?
a) London b) Paris c) Brussels d) Bonn
Answers
1. c 2. a 3. a 4. b 5. b
6. b 7. d 8. b 9. b 10. d
11. b 12. c 13. d 14. c 15. c
16. d 17. c 18. b 19. c 20. a
21. b 22. e 23. b 24. c 25. c
26. b 27. b 28. b 29. a 30. b
31. b 32. e 33. e 34. e 35. e
36. c 37. c 38. d 39. b 40. c
41. a 42. b 43. c 44. b 45. a
46. a 47. b 48. b 49. d 50. d
51. c 52. a 53. c 54. a 55. c
56. b 57. c 58. b 59. d 60. b
61. c 62. b 63. b 64. c 65. a
66. c 67. a 68. b 69. c 70. c
Explanatory Notes
1. UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) was formed in the
year 1972. Its headquarters is in Nairobi. Its main purpose is to promote
international cooperation regarding matters related to the environment.
2. SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) is an
organisation of eight South Asian countries, founded on December 8,
1985. The original member states are India, Pakistan, Bangladesh,
Sri Lanka, Nepal, the Maldives and Bhutan. Afghanistan joined
the organisation on November 13, 2005, becoming the eighth country,
at its fourteenth summit. Its headquarters is at Kathmandu, Nepal. It
is headed by a Secretary-General appointed by the Council of Ministers
from member countries in alphabetical order for a three-year term.
Nine members, namely, Australia, China, European Union, Iran, Japan,
Mauritious, Myanmar, South Korea and United States of America are
granted observer status.
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6. International Labour Organisation (ILO) is formed in 1919 for
promoting social justice and improving conditions and living standards
of workers. Its headquarters is in Geneva.
10. The International Committee of Red Cross was founded by Jean Henri
Durrant in 1863. 8 May is celebrated as World Red Cross Day and Red
Crescent Day (in Muslim countries), which is the birthday of its founder
JH Durrant. Its objective is to provide worldwide humanitarian aid
and prevent or alleviate human suffering, without any discrimination
on the basis of nationality, race, religious beliefs, class or political
opinions. Its headquarters is at Geneva, Switzerland. The Red Cross
was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1917, 1944 and 1963.
12. Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was established in
December 1991. It comprises 12 out of 15 f ormer Soviet Uni on
republics. Presently, the members of CIS are:
(1) Armenia (2) Azerbaijan (3) Belarus (4) Georgia (5) Kazakhastan
(6) Kyrgyzstan ( 7) Moldova ( 8) Russia ( 9) Tajikistan
(10) Turkmenistan (11) Ukrain and (12) Uzbekistan. Its objective is to
provide a mechanism for orderly dissolution of the Soviet Union. Its
headquarters is located at Minsk, Belarus.
14. The official languages of the United Nations are 6 in number namely,
Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
17. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organisation (UNESCO) was founded on November 16, 1945. Its
headquarters is in Paris. Its objective is to promote collaboration among
nations through education, science and culture.
18. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank
established in August 22, 1966 to facilitate the economic development
of countries in Asia. It consists of 67 members 48 are from Asia and
19 are from outside the region. Its objective is to reduce poverty through
inclusive economic growth and improve the quality of life among the
people in the member countries. The headquarters of the ADB are
located at Manila, Philippines.
21. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is located in the Peace
Place in the Hague, Netherlands. The International Court of Justice
has 15 Judges, elected by both the General Assembly and the Security
Council for nine-year term. Elections take place every three years,
with one-third of the judges retiring each time in order to ensure
continuity within the court. Its official languages are English and
French.
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22. Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries ( OPEC) , a
permanent inter-governmental organisation was created on September
1960 at the Baghdad Conference. The five founding members were
Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. OPEC was later
joined by nine other members: Qatar (1961), Libya (1962), United Arab
Emirates (1967), Algeria (1969), Nigeria (1971), Angola (2007), Ecuador
(2007), Indonesia (1962) and Gabon (1975). But Indonesia and Gabon
suspended their memberships. Hence, OPEC currently has 12 member
states. Their objectives is to co-ordinate and unify petroleum policies
among member countries in order to secure fair and stable prices for
petroleum producers; an efficient, economic and regular supply of
petroleum to consuming nations; and a fair return on capital to those
investing in the industry. The headquarters of OPEC is located at
Vienna, Austria.
23. IBSA is a trilateral, developmental initiative between India, Brazil and
South Africa to promote South-South cooperation and exchange. The
forum provides the three countries with a platform to engage in
discussions for cooperation in the field of agriculture, trade, culture
and defence among others.
24. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was established in 1957.
Its head office is in Vienna. Its objective is to advocate peaceful use of
atomic energy.
27. Amnesty International (AI) was initiated in London in July, 1961 by
the English labour lawyer Peter Benenson. Amnesty International is
an International non-governemental organisation (NGO). There are
five key areas which AI deals with (i) Womens Rights (ii) Children
Rights (iii) Ending Torture and Execution (iv) Rights of refugees (v)
Rights of prisoners of conscience. Its objective is to generate action to
prevent abuses of human rights and to demand justice for those whose
rights have been violated. Its General Secretariat is in London, UK.
AI was awarded the 1977 Nobel Peace Prize for its campaign against
torture and the United Nations Prize in the field of Human Rights in
1978.
28. The Association of South-East Asian Nations ( ASEAN) was
established on August 8, 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, with the signing
of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration). Founding countries
of ASEAN were Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and
Thailand. Presently it has 10 members: Brunei, Darussalam, Cambodia,
Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, The Philippines, Singapore,
Thailand and Vietnam. Its objective is to accelerate economic growth,
social progress and cultural development and maintain economic
stability of South-East Asia. The first ASEAN Summit was held on 23-
24 February 1976 in Bali, Indonesia. Its headquarters is located at
Jakarta, Indonesia. The Secretary General is elected for a three-year
term on rotation of the English alphabetical order.
29. World Health Organisation (WHO) was formed in the year 1948. Its
main purpose is to promote health care, provide technical support
and monitor health trends. Its headquarters is in Geneva, Switzerland.
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31. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO): The need for a permanent
international body to deal with the problem of food and agriculture
was voiced at the UN conference on Food and Agriculture, held in
1943 at Hot Spring in Virginia, USA. It became as specialised agency
of the UNO on December 14, 1946. Its headquarters is at Rome, Italy.
The European Community was granted full membership in 1991, and
it thus became the first regional organisation to join a UN specialised
agency. The aim of the FAO is to eliminate hunger and promote
sustainable agriculture, rural development and develop a strategy for
the conservation of natural resources, sustainable utilisation of marine
and inland fisheries and forest resources. It also works to maintain
global biodiversity.
32. World Trade Organisation (WTO) was established on January 1,
1995, replacing General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). It
was founded by 85 members, including India. Its headquarters is in
Geneva, Switzerland. It is the only international organisation dealing
with the rules of trade between nations. The goal of WTO is to help
producers of goods and services, exporters and importers conduct
their business.
33. BRICS is a grouping acronym of leading emerging economies: Brazil,
Russia, India and China. South Africa was included into the BRIC
group in 2010. The acronym was coined by Jim O Neill in a 2001
paper entitled Building Better Global Economic BRICs. The BRIC
countri es met their f irst of f ici al summi t on June 16, 2009 i n
Yekaterinburg, Russia.
36. New member states in the UNO are admitted by the General Assembly,
on the recommendation of the Security Council. Two-thirds of the
majority should vote in favour and also expel or suspend any member
state in the same way. Fifty members have signed the UN Charter
with Poland signing later, therefore, there were originally 51 member
states. In 1994, the total membership rose to 185. In September 2000,
Tuvalu was admitted as 189th member state. In September 2000,
East Timor was admitted as a member of the UN. On July 14, 2011,
South Sudan became a member of the UN (the last one so far). The
Vatican City/The Holy See and Palestine has been given the permanent
observer status in the UN. Presently there are 193 member-states in
the United Nations.
37. International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) was
established in September 7, 1923. It is the largest police organisation
in the world. The headquarters of INTERPOL is at Lyons, France
(earlier its headquarters was in Paris). It has 190 member-states. It
facilitates cross border police cooperation; supports and assists all
organisations, authorities and services whose aim is to prevent or
combat international crime.
38. Established in 1975, the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is comprised
of 45 nuclear supplier states, including China, Russia and the United
States, that have voluntarily agreed to coordinate their export controls
governing transfers of civilian nuclear material and nuclear related
equipment and technology to non-nuclear-weapon states.
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39. The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a group of countries considering
themselves not aligned formally with or against any major power block.
NAM was instituted in April 1955. It was founded in Belgrade in
1961 and was largely the brain child of Yugoslavias President Josip
Broz Tito, Indias first Prime Minister Jwaharlal Nehru, Egypts second
President, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Ghanas Fi rst President Kwame
NKurma and Indonesias first President, Sukarno. The principles of
NAM were defined in Bandung (Indonesia) Declaration of 1955 and
Broni (Yugoslavia) Declaration of 1956, which is popularly known as
Panchsheel Declaration. The existing practice is to hold the Summit
conference every three years. The basic objective of the association
was in favour of peace, disarmament, economic and social development,
eradication of poverty and illiteracy.
40. The f irst sessi on was convened on January 10, 1946 i n the
Westminster Central Hall in London and included representatives of
51 nations.
41. The Secretary-General is appointed by the General Assembly on the
recommendation of the Security Council for a term of five years and
can be reappointed when his term expires. The Secretary-General
coordinates and supervises the various activities of the UN.
44. In December, 1948.
45. The flag of the United Nations was adopted on October 20, 1947 by
the General Assembly. The UN Emblem is superimposed on the flag
in white centred on a light blue background. The United Nations flag
is not to be subordinated to any other flag in the world.
46. The Security Council has 15 members out of which five are permanent
members (China, France, Russia, the UK and the USA) and 10 non-
permanent members. The non-permanent members are elected for two
years by two-thirds majority of the General Assembly. Retiring members
are not eligible to immediate re-election. The Security Council is located
in New York, USA. Each of the 15 members has one vote each,
however, the permanent members have the power of veto to stop
discussion on any subject or action (negative vote).
49. Presently, three countries are not members of the United Nations,
namely Kosovo, Taiwan and Vatican City/The Holy See.
50. Article 27 of the United Nations Charter states: Each member of the
Security Council shall have one vote. Decisions of the Security Council
on all other matters shall be made by an affirmative vote of nine
members including the concurring votes of the permanent members,
provided that, in decisions under chapter VI, and under paragraph 3
of Article 52, a party to a dispute shall abstain from voting.
51. United Nation came into force on October 24, 1945, which is celebrated
each year as the United Nations Day. The headquarters of the United
Nations is located at First Avenue, UN Plaza, New York City, USA.
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52. India was a founding member of the United Nation, joining in October
1945, two years bef ore acquiring i ndependence from the United
Kingdom.
55. The current emblem of the United Nations was approved by the General
Assembly on December 7, 1946. The official emblem of the United
Nations consists of two bent olive branches opened at the top with
the map of the world in between.
The first regular session of the United Nations was held in January
1946 and Trygve Lie was elected as the first Secretary-General of the
UN.
The UN has a post office which generates its own stamps. Recently,
it released a stamp to mark the 140th birth anniversary of Mahatma
Gandhi.
56. Boutros Boutros Ghali is an Egyptian Politician and diplomat who
was the sixth Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) from January
1992 to December 1996. He was the first African National to hold the
post.
58. IBRD: International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)
lends to governments of middle-income and creditworthy low-income
countries. It has 187-member countries.
59. Group of Fifteen (G-15) was established by 15 developing countries
during the 9th Non-Aligned Summit in September 1989 in Belgrade,
Yugoslavia. Its objective is to promote economic cooperation among
developing countries. The membership of G-15 has expanded to 17
countries, but the name has remained unchanged. Present member
states are: Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, India, Indonesia,
Jamaica, Kenya, Nigeria, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Senegal, Sri
Lanka, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.
60. The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
(UNCED), also known as the Rio Summit, Rio conference. Earth
Summit was a major United Nations Conference held in Rio de Janerio
from 3rd June to 14th June 1992.
62. In 1945, the Bretton Woods Agreement Act was enacted. Under the
Article of Agreement of the IMF each member of the IMF was required
to establish a par value for its currency expressed in terms of gold,
and to take appropriate measures to permit within its territories
exchange transactions between its own currency and those of other
IMF members for the official settlement of international transactions.
63. The International Development Association (IDA) lends to countries
with the aim to finance projects that will develop infrastructure and
improve education, health care, access to clean water and sanitation
facilities, and environmental responsibility. It is considered to be the
soft lending window of the World Bank. Whereas the IBRD is
considered to be the hard lending window.
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65. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an organisation of 187
countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure
financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote employment
and sustainable economic growth and reduce poverty around the world.
66. The IMF was conceived in July 1944 during the United Nations
Monetary and Financi al Conf erence. The representati ves of 45
countries meeting in the town of Bretton Woods, New Hampshire,
United States, agreed on a framework for international economic
cooperation, to avoid the disastrous economic policies that had
contributed to the Great Depression. The IMF came into formal existence
in December 1945, when the first 29 member countries signed its
Articles of Agreement. It began operations on 1 March. Later in that
year, France became the first country to borrow from the IMF. The IMF
has currently 187-member countries. To become a member, a country
must apply and then be accepted by a majority of the existing member.
Upon joining, each member is assigned a quota, broadly based on its
relative size in the world economy. The quota largely determines the
members voting power in IMF decisions. Each IMF member has 250
basis votes plus one additional vote for Special Drawing Rights (SDR)
100000 of the quota. The headquarters of the IMF is in Washington
DC, USA.
68. The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), also called the
(North) Atlantic Alliance, is an inter-governmental military alliance
based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on April 4,
1949 at Brussels, Belgium. Originally formed by 12 members (the USA,
the UK, Canada, France, Denmark, Italy, Iceland, Norway, Portugal,
Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg) presently it has 28 member-
states. The fundamental role of NATO is to safeguard the sovereignty
of its member states by military and political means. It also plays a key
role in peace keeping and crisis resolution. Its official languages are
English and French.
69. The European Union (EU) is an economic and political union of 27
member-countries (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech
Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,
Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta,
the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia,
Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom) located in Europe. It was
known as the European Communi ty unti l 1994. The EU was
established by the Treaty of Maastricht on February 7, 1992 and
came into being on November 1, 1993. Euro is the currency of
17 EU-countri es: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland,
France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxemourg, Malta, the
Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. The
headquarters of the EU is located at Brussels, Belgium.