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The '''Council of Europe''' is an international organisation of [[European]] nations, not to be confused with the [[European Union]], with which its membership substantially overlaps. It has 47 member states and one applicant country ([[Belarus]]). Belarus and the [[Holy See]] are the only European nations not to be members; the latetr has special observer status, along with the [[USA]], [[Canada]], [[Mexico]] and [[Japan]].
The Council of Europe was founded in 1949 and is based in [[Strasbourg]], [[France]]. Its stated aims are:
*to develop common and democratic principles based on the European Convention on Human Rights;
*to protect human rights, pluralist democracy and the rule of law;
*to encourage development of Europe's cultural identity and diversity;
*to find common solutions to the challenges facing European society: such as discrimination against minorities, xenophobia, intolerance, bioethics and cloning, terrorism, trafficking in human beings, organised crime and corruption, cybercrime, violence against children;
*to consolidate democratic stability in Europe by backing political, legislative and constitutional reform.
==Further Information==
[[Category:Europe]]