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secretary-general
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Trygve Lie Dag Hammarskjöld, 1954. U Thant, 1965 Kurt Waldheim Javier Pérez de Cuéllar Boutros Boutros-Ghali Kofi Annan Ban Ki-Moon Guterres, António
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secretary-general

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secretary-general, the principal administrative officer of the United Nations. See Secretariat.

The table provides a historical list of UN secretaries-general.

Secretaries-general of the United Nations
name country of origin period of service
*Acting secretary-general from Nov. 3, 1961.
Trygve Lie
 Trygve Lie Norway Feb. 1, 1946–April 10, 1953
Dag Hammarskjöld, 1954.
 Dag Hammarskjöld Sweden April 10, 1953–Sept. 18, 1961
U Thant, 1965
 U Thant* Myanmar (Burma) Nov. 30, 1962–Dec. 31, 1971
Kurt Waldheim
 Kurt Waldheim Austria Jan. 1, 1972–Dec. 31, 1981
Javier Pérez de Cuéllar
 Javier Pérez de Cuellar Peru Jan. 1, 1982–Dec. 31, 1991
Boutros Boutros-Ghali
 Boutros Boutros-Ghali Egypt Jan. 1, 1992–Dec. 31, 1996
Kofi Annan
 Kofi Annan Ghana Jan. 1, 1997–Dec. 31, 2006
Ban Ki-Moon
 Ban Ki-Moon South Korea Jan. 1, 2007–Dec. 31, 2016
Guterres, António
 António Guterres Portugal Jan. 1, 2017–
This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.