List of International Organizations and their Headquarters in the Area of Economics, Social & Politics
International Organizations is an important examination topic for the candidates preparing for UPSC, SSC, RRB, Bank PO/Clerk or any other government and competitive examinations. In this article, we have provided a list of International Organizations.

Important International Organizations
An organization comprising of member nations from more than one country is known as International Organization. It is interesting to note that many International Organizations are intergovernmental such as United Nations. These are created to foster international co-operation in areas such as security, law, economic, social matters and diplomacy.
There are more than 300 intergovernmental organizations in the world.
List of Important International Organizations
Organization | Headquarters | Established |
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) | New York City, USA | 1965 |
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) | Nairobi, Kenya | 1972 |
United Nations Population Fund (UNPF) | New York City, USA | 1969 |
United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat) | Nairobi, Kenya | 1978 |
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) | New York City, USA | 1946 |
World Food Programme (WFP) | Rome, Italy | 1961 |
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) | Rome, Italy | 1945 |
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) | Montreal, Canada | 1947 |
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) | Rome, Italy | 1977 |
International Labour Organization (ILO) | Geneva, Switzerland | 1919 |
International Monetary Fund (IMF) | Washington, DC, USA | 1944 |
International Maritime Organization (IMO) | London, United Kingdom | 1948 |
International Telecommunication Union (ITU) | Geneva, Switzerland | 1865 |
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) | Paris, France | 1945 |
United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) | Vienna, Austria | 1966 |
World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) | Madrid, Spain | 1974 |
Universal Postal Union (UPU) | Bern, Switzerland | 1874 |
World Health Organization (WHO) | Geneva, Switzerland | 1948 |
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) | Geneva, Switzerland | 1967 |
World Meteorological Organization (WMO) | Geneva, Switzerland | 1950 |
World Bank | Washington, DC, USA | 1944 |
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) | Geneva, Switzerland | 1994 |
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) | Geneva, Switzerland | 1950 |
United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) | Geneva, Switzerland | 1980 |
United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) | Geneva, Switzerland | 1963 |
United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) | Copenhagen, Denmark | 1973 |
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) | Amman, Jordan | 1949 |
United Nations System Staff College (UNSSC) | Turin, Italy | 2002 |
United Nations University (UNU) | Tokyo, Japan | 1973 |
UN Women | New York City, USA | 2010 |
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) | Vienna, Austria | 1957 |
International Organization for Migration (IOM) | Geneva, Switzerland | 1951 |
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) | The Hague, Netherlands | 1997 |
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) | Bonn, Germany | 1994 (Signed in 1993) |
World Trade Organization (WTO) | Geneva, Switzerland | 1995 |
International Trade Centre (ITC) | Geneva, Switzerland | 1964 |
African Development Bank Group | Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire | 1964 |
African Union (AU) | Addis Abab, Ethiopia | 2002 |
Amnesty International (AI) | London, United Kingdom | 1961 |
Andean Community | Lima, Peru | 1969 |
Arctic Council | Tromso, Norway | 1996 |
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) | Queenstown, Singapore | 1989 |
Asian Development Bank (ADB) | Mandaluyong, Philippines | 1966 |
Association of Caribbean States (ACS) | Port of Spain, Trinidad, Tobago | 1994 |
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) | Jakarta, Indonesia | 1967 |
Bank for International Settlements (BIS) | Basel, Switzerland | 1930 |
Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) | Istanbul, Turkey | 1992 |
Caribbean Community (CARICOM) | Georgetown, Guyana | 1973 |
Central American Bank for Economic Integration | Tegucigalpa, Honduras |
1960 |
Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) | Lusaka, Zambia | 1994 |
Commonwealth Secretariat | London, United Kingdom | 1965 |
Council of Europe | Strasbourg, France | 1949 |
Council of Europian Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) | Geneva, Switzerland | 1951 |
Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) | Stockholm, Switzerland | 1992 |
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) | Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria | 1975 |
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) | London, United Kingdom | 1991 |
European Central Bank (ECB) | Frankfurt, Germany | 1998 |
European Free Trade Association (EFTA) | Geneva, Switzerland | 1960 |
Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa (AWEPA) | Amsterdam, Netherlands | 1984 |
European Space Agency (ESA) | Paris, France | 1975 |
European Union (EU) | Brussels, Belgium | 1993 |
Group of Eight (G8) | New York, USA | 1975 |
G-15 Summit | Geneva, Switzerland | 1990 |
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) | Washington, DC, USA | 1959 |
Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) | Djibouti, Djibouti | 1986 |
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) | Vienna, Austria | 1957 |
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) | Montreal, Canada | 1947 |
International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) | Paris, France | 1919 |
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) | Geneva, Switzerland | 1863 |
International Court of Justice (ICJ) | The hague, Netherlands | 1945 |
International Development Association (IDA) | Washington, DC, USA | 1960 |
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Socities (IFRC) | Geneva, Switzerland | 1919 |
International Finance Corporation (IFC) | Washington, DC, USA | 1956 |
International Labour Organization (ILO) | Geneva, Switzerland | 1919 |
International Olympic Committee (IOC) | Lausanne, Switzerland | 1894 |
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) | Geneva, Switzerland | 1947 |
International Peace Bureau (IPB) | Geneva, Switzerland | 1891 |
International Seabed Authority (ISA) | Kingston, Jamaica | 1994 |
International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) | Geneva, Switzerland | 1984 |
Inter-Parliamentary Union | Geneva, Switzerland | 1889 |
League of Arab States | Cairo, Egypt | 1945 |
Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) | Washington, DC, USA | 1988 |
The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) | Central Jakarta, Indonesia | 1961 |
Nordic Council of Ministers | Copenhagen, Denmark | 1971 |
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) | Washington, DC, USA | 1949 |
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) | Paris, France | 1961 |
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) | Vienna, Austria | 1975 |
Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) | Kuwait, Middle East | 1968 |
Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) | Jeddah, Saudi Arabia | 1969 |
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) | Vienna, Austria | 1960 |
Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) | Noumea, New Caledonia | 1947 |
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) | Kathmandu, Nepal | 1985 |
Unión Latina | Paris, France | 1954 |
United Cities & Local Governments (UCLG) | Barcelona, Spain | 2004 |
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) | Bangkok, Thailand | 1947 |
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) | Beirut, Lebanon | 1973 |
United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) | Nairobi, Kenya | 1972 |
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) | Rome, Italy | 1945 |
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) | Geneva, Switzerland and New York City, USA | 1993 |
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) | Vienna, Austria | 1997 |
United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW) | Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic | 1975 |
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) | Geneva, Switzerland and New York City, USA | 1991 |
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) | Amman, Jordan | 1949 |
Western European Union (WEU) | Paris, France | 1954 |
World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA) | Geneva, Switzerland and New York City, USA | 1946 |
World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) | Geneva, Switzerland | 1985 |
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) | Gland, Switzerland | 1961 |
So, this was the list of important International Organizations along with their headquarters and years of establishment.
Do you know? United Nations is the largest intergovernmental organization. |
International Reports and India's Rank in various indexes 2019-2020
FAQ
Why are International Organizations created?
International Organizations are created to foster international cooperation in areas such as security, law, economic, social matters and diplomacy.
What is the oldest International Organization?
Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine is the first and the oldest International Organization.
What are the two types of International Organizations?
International Organizations are of two types:
1- International Governmental Organizations (IGOs)
2- International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs)
How many International Organizations are there?
There are more than 300 intergovernmental Organizations in the world with the United Nations (UN) as the largest intergovernmental organization.
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