Already in 1992, Encyclopedia Britannica Book of the Year indicated that the Bahá'í Faith is the most widely diffused religion on earth after Christianity. The Bahá'í community numbers more than six million members, and there are now Bahá'ís in every country on earth. Over 2100 nationalities and tribes are represented.
Bahá'í s give great importance to community life. All administrative authority is vested in elected institutions at the local, national, and international levels. There is no ritual, no clergy. The supreme ruling body of the Bahá'í Faith is the Universal House of Justice, located in Haifa, Israel. It was first elected in 1963 in what probably was the first global, truly democratic election in the history of our planet. Since then, the community has initiated and has been actively engaged in thousands of social and economic development projects in many parts of the world.
Believing that the United Nations represents a major effort in the unification of the planet, Bahá'ís strive to support its work in every way possible. The Bahá'í International Community is accredited with consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). The Bahá'í Community's offices in New York and Geneva and Bahá'ís in many lands regularly participate in conferences, congresses and seminars concerned with the socio-economic life of our planet.