Frequently asked questions

Q1. Where can I find maps produced by the United Nations?

A1: Please refer to the section under Maps & Geoservices for maps produced under the United Nations imprint.
The United Nations also collects other maps including treaty, government and commercial maps, for more information on the Dag Hammarskjöld Library site.

Q2. Who are the United Nations Member States?

A2: There are 193 Member States of the United Nations, member of the General Assembly.  States are admitted to membership in the UN by a decision of the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council. The current list of Member States is available here.

Q3. What is the history of the UN flag and emblem?

A3. The history, and resolutions, related to the emblem and the flag of the United Nations are available here.

Q4. What is the projection used in the world map in the United Nations flag and emblem?

A4: The United Nations emblem is the official seal of the United Nations approved by the General Assembly (A/107) and is described as “a map of the world representing an azimuthal equidistant projection centered on the North Pole, inscribed in a wreath consisting of crossed conventionalized branches of the olive tree, in gold on a field of smoke-blue with all water areas in white. The projection of the map extends to 60 degrees south latitude, and includes five concentric circles” as portrayed in A/RES/92(I).

Q5. What are the projection and datum used in maps of the United Nations? 

A5. The United Nations Secretariat has no prescribed projections, but the majority of world maps use the Robinson (1974), the Winkel III (1921), or the Eckert IV (1906) projections, which offer compromises to balance distortions of area, direction, and distance globally, as well as reducing distortions of land masses near the poles. Regional and national profile maps are projected based on the geographical area and/or available national projections. Large scale maps, which are produced for operational purposes, are often projected to an area’s Universal Transverse Mercator zone with WGS 84 datum, or use a national projection.

Q6. Does the United Nations have an interactive map? 

A6: United Nations produced a web-mapping services entitled 'Clear Map'' to meet the needs of the Secretariat,  the service can be used by the international community, following the map permission process. The service is available in a variety of flavours to address users requirements.

Q7. Where can I find Sustainable Development Goals indicators? 

A7: The SDG indicators are available on the United Nations Statistics Division’s webpage.The United Nations Statistical Commission agreed in 2017 on a  global indicator framework for Sustainable Development Goals, developed by the Inter-Agency and Expert Group (IAEG-SDGs).The global indicator framework will be complemented by indicators at the regional and national levels, which will be developed by Member States.The global indicator framework includes 231 unique indicators. 

Q8. How are geographical groupings determined in the United Nations?

A8: Geographical region and composition is developed for statistical convenience by the United Nations Statistics Division.The dedicated webpage details the “Standard Country or Area Codes for Statistical Use”, or so-called M49 standard (last published in 1999), provides the list and codes of geographical regions, sub-regions, intermediary regions, other special groupings and country codes, based on three-digit numerical codes used for statistical processing and their corresponding three-digit alphabetical codes assigned by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO codes).

Q9. How to contact you?

A9: That’s easy, send us an email at geospatial@un.org.

Q10. How do I request and access geospatial services and products (For UN Secretariat only)? 

A10 : For general information, please refer to iSeek *.
For specific requirements, please access the Geospatial Service Catalogue *.

* Note: Access to these intranet websites requires credentials.