AN INTRODUCTION TO THE UNITED NATIONS 19
the United Nations. Switzerland became a Member State in 2002. By 2012, the Holy See (Vatican City) was the sole sovereign State with Permanent Observer status and Palestine was the sole entity with such status. Permanent Observers have free access to most meetings and relevant documentation. Many regional and international organizations are also observers of the work and annual sessions of the General Assembly.
Official languages The official languages used at the United Nations are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. The working languages at the United Nations S ecretariat are English and French. During meetings, delegates may speak in any of the official languages, and the speech is interpreted simultaneously in the other official languages. Most United Nations documents are also issued in all six official languages. At times, a delegate may choose to make a statement using a non-official language. In such cases, the delegation must provide either an interpretation or a written text of the statement in one of the official languages.
South Sudan’s national flag (fourth from left) flies at UN Headquarters following the admission of the country as the 193rd Member State.