Editing Council of Europe (section)

=== Member states and observers ===
[[File:Albanian CoE stamp.jpg|thumb|Postage stamp marks Albania as a member of the Council of Europe 1995]]
The Council of Europe was founded on 5 May 1949 by [[Belgium]], [[Denmark]], [[France]], [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]], [[Italy]], [[Luxembourg]], [[Netherlands]], [[Norway]], [[Sweden]] and the [[United Kingdom]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Statute of the Council of Europe is signed in London |url=https://70.coe.int/1949-statute-of-the-council-of-europe-is-signed-in-london-en.html |publisher=Council of Europe |access-date=23 June 2019 |quote=On 5 May 1949, at St James's Palace, London, the Foreign Ministers of Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom signed the Treaty establishing the Council of Europe.}}</ref> [[Greece]] and [[Turkey]] joined three months later.<ref>{{cite web |title=Turkey joins |url=https://70.coe.int/-/1950-turkey-joins |publisher=Council of Europe |access-date=23 June 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Turkey – Member state |url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/turkey |publisher=Council of Europe |access-date=23 June 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Turkey |url=https://70.coe.int/-/1949-greece-joins |publisher=Council of Europe |access-date=23 June 2019}} and [[Greece]]</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Greece – Member state |url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/greece |publisher=Council of Europe |access-date=23 June 2019 |quote=Greece and Turkey became the 11th and 12th member State of the Council of Europe on 9 August 1949.}}</ref> [[Iceland]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Iceland joins |url=https://70.coe.int/-/1950-iceland-joins |publisher=Council of Europe |access-date=23 June 2019}}.</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Iceland – Member state |url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/iceland |publisher=Council of Europe |access-date=23 June 2019 |quote=Iceland became the 13th member State of the Council of Europe on 7 March 1950.}}</ref> [[West Germany]] and [[Saar Protectorate]] joined the Council of Europe as associate members in 1950. West Germany became a full member in 1951, and the Saar withdrew its application after it joined West Germany following the [[1955 Saar Statute referendum]].<ref>{{cite web |title=13 July 1950: Federal Republic of Germany joins the Council of Europe|url=https://70.coe.int/1950-federal-republic-of-germany-joins-the-council-of-europe-en.html|publisher=Council of Europe}}</ref><ref>Lansing Warren (3 May 1951), [https://www.nytimes.com/1951/05/03/archives/council-of-europe-raises-bonn-to-the-status-of-a-full-member-bonn.html "Council of Europe Raises Bonn To the Status of a Full Member"], ''The New York Times''.</ref> Joining later were [[Austria]] (1956), [[Cyprus]] (1961), [[Switzerland]] (1963), [[Malta]] (1965), and [[Portugal]] (1976).<ref name=Klebes/> [[Spain]] joined in 1977, two years after the death of its dictator [[Francisco Franco]] and the [[Spanish transition to democracy]].<ref>Carlos Lopez (2010), [https://www.cvce.eu/content/publication/2010/4/28/67511746-0b1f-47e6-8762-03a336d23bd0/publishable_en.pdf "Franco's Spain and the Council of Europe"], {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210311164338/https://www.cvce.eu/content/publication/2010/4/28/67511746-0b1f-47e6-8762-03a336d23bd0/publishable_en.pdf |date=11 March 2021 }}, [[Centre virtuel de la connaissance sur l'Europe]].</ref> Next to join were [[Liechtenstein]] (1978), [[San Marino]] (1988) and [[Finland]] (1989).<ref name=Klebes/> After the fall of Communism with the [[Revolutions of 1989]] and the [[collapse of the Soviet Union]], the following countries in Europe joined: [[Hungary]] (1990), [[Poland]] (1991), [[Bulgaria]] (1992), [[Estonia]] (1993), [[Lithuania]] (1993), [[Slovenia]] (1993), the [[Czech Republic]] (1993), [[Slovakia]] (1993), [[Romania]] (1993), [[Andorra]] (1994), [[Latvia]] (1995), [[Moldova]] (1995), [[Albania]] (1995), [[Ukraine]] (1995), the [[former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia]] (1995) (later renamed [[North Macedonia]]), [[Russia]] (1996, expelled 2022), [[Croatia]] (1996), [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] (1999), [[Armenia]] (2001), [[Azerbaijan]] (2001), [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]] (2002), [[Serbia and Montenegro]] (later [[Serbia]]) (2003), [[Monaco]] (2004) and [[Montenegro]] (2007).<ref name=Klebes/> After Russia being expelled in 2022, the council has 46 member states.<ref name=MemberStates>[https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/46-members-states 46 "Member States"], Council of Europe.</ref>

Although most Council members are predominantly Christian in heritage, there are four Muslim-majority member states: Bosnia and Herzegovina,<ref name=Popis2013>{{cite web|title=Census of population, households and dwellings in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2013: Final results|url=http://www.popis2013.ba/popis2013/doc/Popis2013prvoIzdanje.pdf|publisher=Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina|date=June 2016|accessdate=1 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171224103940/http://www.popis2013.ba/popis2013/doc/Popis2013prvoIzdanje.pdf|archive-date=24 December 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> Turkey, Albania, and Azerbaijan.<ref name=Klebes/>

The CoE has granted some countries a status that allows them to participate in CoE activities without being full members. There are three types of nonmember status: ''associate member'', ''special guest'' and ''observer''.<ref name=Klebes/> Associate member status was created for former Axis states which had not yet regained their sovereignty since their defeat in the Second World War; as such, it is no longer used, although there have been proposals to reactivate it to permit enhanced participation by the current observer states.<ref name=Klebes/> "Special guest" status was used as a transitional status for [[post-Soviet countries]] that wished to join the council after the [[fall of the Berlin Wall]] and is no longer commonly used.<ref name=Klebes/> "Observer" status is for non-European nations who accept democracy, rule of law, and human rights, and wish to participate in Council initiatives.<ref name=Klebes/> The [[United States]] became an observer state in 1995.<ref>[https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/united-states "United States // Observer"], Council of Europe.</ref> Currently, [[Canada]], the [[Holy See]], [[Japan]], [[Mexico]], and the [[United States]] are observer states, while [[Israel]] is an observer to the PACE.<ref name=MemberStates/> Additionally [[Kosovo]] is a member of the [[Council of Europe Development Bank]] and a [[Member states of the Venice Commission|member]] of the Council of Europe's [[Venice Commission]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.venice.coe.int/webforms/events/?country=243 | title=Venice Commission :: Council of Europe}}</ref> The [[Assembly of Kosovo]] was invited to take part in the work of the [[Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe]] and its committees as an observer in 2016.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Assembly of Kosovo* |url=https://pace.coe.int/en/aplist/countries/65/assembly-of-kosovo- |access-date=16 October 2022 |website=PACE |archive-date=11 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221011210114/https://pace.coe.int/en/aplist/countries/65/assembly-of-kosovo- |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=2016 |title=The situation in Kosovo* and the role of the Council of Europe |url=http://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/Xref-XML2HTML-en.asp?fileid=22499&lang=en |access-date=16 October 2022 |website=PACE website |archive-date=14 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221014130615/http://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/Xref-XML2HTML-en.asp?fileid=22499&lang=en |url-status=live}}</ref> Two representatives of local government in Kosovo participate in the work of the [[Congress of Local and Regional Authorities]] as observers.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://komunat-ks.net/archives/5132?lang=sq | title=DELEGACIONI I ASOCIACIONIT TË KOMUNAVE PO PËRFAQËSON KOSOVËN NË PUNIMET e KONGRESIT TË KËSHILLIT TË EVROPËS – Asociacioni i Komunave të Kosovës }}</ref>