The Baha'i Faith is a religion of the followers of Baha'u'llah.  The 
Baha'i Faith is the youngest of the world's religions and is now, in 1993, 
established in more than 181 countries of the world, and translated into more
than 800 languages.     
        Although it began in a Muslim country, Iran, the Baha'i Faith is 
as distinct from Islam as Christianity is from Judaism, and it is a world 
religion which has spread to almost every corner of the globe within its 
first 150 years.
        The Baha'i International Community is co-operating closely with 
the United Nations to achieve the goals of world peace, universal human 
rights and full economic and social development of the peoples of this 
planet. It was granted consultative status with the Economic and Social 
Council (ECOSOC) in 1970 and has permanent representatives at the 
United Nations headquarters in New York and Geneva and with the 
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi.