The permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (also known as the Permanent Five, Big Five, or P5) are the five sovereign states to whom the UN Charter of 1945 grants a permanent seat on the UN Security Council: China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, and United States.
The permanent members were all Allies in World War II (and the victors of that war), and are the five states with the first and most nuclear weapons. All have the power of veto, which enables any one of them to prevent the adoption of any "substantive" draft Council resolution, regardless of its level of international support.
The remaining 10 members of the UN Security Council are elected by the General Assembly, giving a total of 15 UN member states on the Security Council, which convenes meetings at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York City.
There have been various proposals to reform the UNSC, including the introduction of new permanent members for the G4 nations of Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan. The Uniting for Consensus movement, under the leadership of Italy, opposes these bids.
Permanent members
The following is a table of the current permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.
| State | Current state representation | Former state representation | Current executive leaders | Permanent representative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| China | People's Republic of China | Republic of China (1945–1949, 1949–1971) | CCP General Secretary and President: Xi Jinping Premier of the State Council: Li Qiang | Fu Cong |
| France | French Republic (Fifth Republic) | Provisional Government of the French Republic (1945–1946) French Fourth Republic (1946–1958) | President: Emmanuel Macron Prime Minister: Sébastien Lecornu | Jérôme Bonnafont |
| Russia | Russian Federation | Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1945–1991) | President: Vladimir Putin Prime Minister: Mikhail Mishustin | Vasily Nebenzya |
| United Kingdom | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | — | Monarch: King Charles III Prime Minister: Keir Starmer | Barbara Woodward |
| United States | United States of America | — | President: Donald Trump | Mike Waltz |
History
Based on the consensus concerning the Security Council's structure agreed upon at the 1944 Dumbarton Oaks Conference and subsequently at UN's founding in 1945, the five permanent members of the Security Council were the French Republic, the Republic of China, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States. There have been two seat changes since then, although these have not been reflected in Article 23 of the UN Charter, as it has not been accordingly amended:
- China's seat was originally held by the Nationalist government of the Republic of China (ROC). However, it lost the Chinese Civil War and retreated to the island of Taiwan in 1949. The Chinese Communist Party won control of Mainland China and established the People's Republic of China (PRC). In 1971, UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 recognised the PRC as the legal representative of China in the UN, and gave it the seat on the Security Council that had been held by the ROC, which was expelled from the UN altogether. Both the ROC and the PRC continue to claim de jure sovereignty over the entirety of China (including Taiwan). However, only 13 states continue to officially recognise the ROC as the sole legitimate government of China.
- After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia was recognised as the legal successor state of the Soviet Union and maintained the latter's position on the Security Council.
Additionally, between the founding of the United Nations and the end of the 20th century, many of the overseas territories of the United Kingdom and France became independent with the breakup of the British Empire and French colonial empire, and France had a reduction in de jure territory with the independence of Algeria in 1962. France maintained its seat as there was no change in its international status or recognition. (During this time, France also reformed its provisional government into the French Fourth Republic in 1946 and into the French Fifth Republic in 1958, both under the leadership of Charles de Gaulle.)
The five permanent members of the Security Council were the victorious powers in World War II and have maintained the world's most powerful military forces ever since. They annually top the list of countries with the highest military expenditures along with India and Germany; in 2011, they spent over US$1 trillion combined on defence, accounting for over 60% of global military expenditures (the US alone accounting for over 40%). They are also among the world's top 10 largest arms exporters and are the only nations officially recognised as "nuclear-weapon states" under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), though there are other states known or believed to be in possession of nuclear weapons.
Veto power
The "power of veto" refers to the veto power wielded solely by the permanent members, enabling them to prevent the adoption of any "substantive" draft Council resolution, regardless of the level of international support for the draft. The veto does not apply to procedural votes, which is significant in that the Security Council's permanent membership can vote against a "procedural" draft resolution, without necessarily blocking its adoption by the council.
The veto is exercised when any permanent member — the so-called "P5" — casts a "negative" vote on a "substantive" draft resolution. Abstention or absence from the vote by a permanent member does not prevent a draft resolution from being adopted.
Expansion
There have been proposals for the introduction of new permanent members. The candidates usually mentioned are Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan. They compose the group of four countries known as the G4 nations, which mutually support one another's bids for permanent seats.
This sort of reform has historically been opposed by Uniting for Consensus, which is composed primarily of nations that are regional rivals and economic competitors of the G4. The group is composed of:
- Italy and Spain (opposing Germany)
- Colombia, Mexico and Argentina (opposing Brazil)
- Pakistan (opposing India)
- South Korea (opposing Japan)
- Canada, Costa Rica, Malta, San Marino, Turkey
Since 1992, Italy and other council members have instead proposed semi-permanent seats or expanding the number of temporary seats. In 2024, the United States proposed the creation of two permanent seats on the Security Council for African countries, in the event of an expansion of the Security Council.
Most of the leading candidates for permanent membership are regularly elected onto the Security Council by their respective groups. Japan was elected for eleven two-year terms, Brazil for ten terms, and Germany for three terms. India has been elected to the council eight times in total, with the most recent successful bid being in 2020.
In 2013, the P5 and G4 members of the UN Security Council accounted for eight of the world's ten largest defence budgets, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
Leaders of the permanent members
The following are the heads of state or heads of government that represent the permanent members of the UN Security Council as of 2025[update]:
Historical leaders
Comparison
| Comparison of P5 nations | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country data | CHN | FRA | RUS | U.K. | U.S. | ||||||||
| Region | Asia-Pacific | Western Europe and Others | Eastern Europe | Western Europe and Others | Western Europe and Others (observer) | ||||||||
| Population | 17.9% 2nd | 0.9% 20th | 1.9% 9th | 0.9% 21st | 4.2% 3rd | ||||||||
| Territory | 9,596,961 km² 4th | 640,679 km² 42nd | 17,098,246 km² 1st | 242,495 km² 78th | 9,833,517 km² 3rd | ||||||||
| GDP (nominal) (US$trillion) | $19.4 2nd | $3.36 7th | $2.54 9th | $3.96 6th | $30.61 1st | ||||||||
| GDP (PPP) (US$trillion) | $41.01 1st | $4.53 9th | $7.14 4th | $4.45 10th | $30.61 2nd | ||||||||
| UN funding1 | 12.01% 2nd | 4.43% 6th | 2.41% 10th | 4.57% 5th | 22.00% 1st | ||||||||
| UN peacekeeping funding2 | 15.22% 2nd | 5.61% 6th | 3.04% 8th | 5.79% 5th | 27.89% 1st | ||||||||
| UN peacekeepers | 2,531 9th | 706 30th | 70 70th | 279 48th | 33 78th | ||||||||
| Defence budget (US$billion) | $292.0 2nd | $53.0 8th | $86.4 3rd | $68.5 6th | $887.0 1st | ||||||||
| Military (active) | 2,185,000 1st | 203,250 22nd | 1,320,000 4th | 148,500 34th | 1,328,100 3rd | ||||||||
| Military (reserve) | 510,000 9th | 56,000 41st | 2,000,000 2nd | 80,000 35th | 844,950 7th | ||||||||
| Paramilitary (active)' | 660,000 6th | 14,350 60th | 554,000 60th | 0 — | 0 — | ||||||||
| Military (total) | 4,015,000 5th | 380,600 28th | 3,874,000 6th | 275,053 40th | 2,072,950 8th | ||||||||
| Active space program | |||||||||||||
| Helicopter carriers projects | |||||||||||||
| Aircraft carriers projects | |||||||||||||
| Nuclear submarines projects | |||||||||||||
| Active nuclear arsenal | 350 3rd | 290 4th | 5,977 1st | 225 5th | 5,428 2nd | ||||||||
| 1share of annual UN budget 2share of funding for UN peacekeeping | |||||||||||||
See also
- List of country groupings
- Uniting for Consensus
- Paris Club
- London Club
Relations between permanent members
- China–France relations
- China–Russia relations
- China–United Kingdom relations
- China–United States relations
- France–Russia relations
- France–United Kingdom relations
- France–United States relations
- Russia–United Kingdom relations
- Russia–United States relations
- United Kingdom–United States relations
Notes
- On 25 October 1971, through UN Resolution 2758, the People's Republic of China was recognized as the legal representative of the Chinese seat on the Security Council in place of the Republic of China on Taiwan.
- The President of China is legally a ceremonial office, but the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (de facto leader) has always held this office since 1993, except for the months of transition. The current paramount leader is President Xi Jinping.
- The de jure head of government of China is the Premier of the State Council, whose current holder is Li Qiang.
- At the time, both the law of France and the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories recognized French Algeria as a part of France, instead of a colony of France.
- General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party since 15 November 2012 and President of China since 14 March 2013
- Previously President of Russia in 2000–08
Further reading
- Nico J. Schrijver and Niels M. Blokker (eds.). 2020. Elected Members of the Security Council: Lame Ducks or Key Players? Brill.com.[full citation needed]
- GPF Staff (April 2005). "Security Council Expansion—A Regional Model" (PDF). GlobalPolicy.org. Global Policy Forum. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 May 2009. This is referred to by some[who?] as the "Italian Model".[citation needed]
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