List of intergovernmental organizations
Wikimedia list article

The following is a list of the major existing intergovernmental organizations (IGOs).
For a more complete listing, see the Yearbook of International Organizations, which includes 25,000 international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), excluding for-profit enterprises, about 5,000 IGOs, and lists dormant and dead organizations as well as those in operation (figures as of the 400th edition, 2012/13). A 2020 academic dataset on international organizations included 561 intergovernmental organizations between 1815 and 2015; more than one-third of those IGOs ended up defunct.
United Nations and agencies
The UN has six principal organs:
The General Assembly (the main deliberative assembly);
The Security Council (decides certain resolutions for peace and security);
The Economic and Social Council (assists in promoting international economic and social cooperation and development);
The Secretariat (provides studies, information, and facilities needed by the UN);
The International Court of Justice (the primary judicial organ).
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