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The Convention on International Civil Aviation, also known as the Chicago Convention, established the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a specialized agency of the United Nations charged with coordinating and regulating international air travel. The Convention establishes rules of airspace, aircraft registration and safety, and details the rights of the signatories in relation to air travel. The Convention also exempts air fuels from tax.

The document was signed on December 7, 1944 in Chicago, Illinois, by 52 signatory states. It received the requisite 26th ratification on March 5, 1947 and went into effect on April 4, 1947, the same date that ICAO came into being. In October of the same year, ICAO became a specialized agency of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The Convention has since been revised eight times (in 1959, 1963, 1969, 1975, 1980, 1997, 2000 and 2006). Links to all versions of the document can be found in the external links section.

The original signed document resides in the National Archives of the United States.

The Convention is supported by eighteen annexes containing standards and recommended practices (SARPs). The annexes are amended regularly by ICAO and are as follows:

• Annex 1 - Personnel Licensing
• Annex 2 - Rules of the Air
• Annex 3 - Meteorological Service for International Air Navigation

Vol I - Core SARPs

Vol II - Appendices and Attachments

• Annex 4 - Aeronautical Charts
• Annex 5 - Units of Measurement to be used in Air and Ground Operations
• Annex 6 - Operation of Aircraft

Part I - International Commercial Air Transport - Aeroplanes

Part II - International General Aviation - Aeroplanes

Part III - International Operations - Helicopters

• Annex 7 - Aircraft Nationality and Registration Marks
• Annex 8 - Airworthiness of Aircraft
• Annex 9 - Facilitation
• Annex 10 - Aeronautical Telecommunications

Vol I - Radio Navigation Aids

Vol II - Communication Procedures including those with PANS status

Vol III - Communication Systems

Part I - Digital Data Communication Systems

Part II - Voice Communication Systems

Vol IV - Surveillance Radar and Collision Avoidance Systems

Vol V - Aeronautical Radio Frequency Spectrum Utilization

• Annex 11 - Air Traffic Services - Air Traffic Control Service, Flight Information Service and Alerting Service
• Annex 12 - Search and Rescue
• Annex 13 - Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation
• Annex 14 - Aerodromes

Vol I - Aerodrome Design and Operations

Vol II - Heliports

• Annex 15 - Aeronautical Information Services
• Annex 16 - Environmental Protection

Vol I - Aircraft Noise

Vol II - Aircraft Engine Emissions

• Annex 17 - Security: Safeguarding International Civil Aviation Against Acts of Unlawful Interference
• Annex 18 - The Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air

Annex 5, Units of Measurement to be Used in Air and Ground Operations, named in its Table 3-3 three "non-SI alternative units permitted for temporary use with the SI": the foot (for vertical distance = altitude), the knot (for speed), and the nautical mile (for long distance).

• Convention on International Civil Aviation (on ICAO Website)
• Annex 5: Units of Measurement to be Used in Air and Ground Operations

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