A consulate (or consular office) is a form of diplomatic mission in charge of matters related to individual people and businesses, in other words issues outside inter-governmental diplomacy. The head of a consulate is known as a consul. Seal on the building of German Embassies. ... The United Nations, with its headquarters in New York City, is the largest international diplomatic organization. ...

A consulate general is headed by a senior consul known as a consul general, who typically has several consuls and vice consuls working under him/her. A country may open multiple consulates (and consulates general) in major economic centers to support their economic interests. Consulates are subordinate posts of their home country's embassy, which is located in the capital city of the host country. Embassies are established in international law under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations while honorary consulates, vice-consulates, consulates and consulates-general are established in international law under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (see external link below). A diplomatic mission is a group of people from one nation state present in another nation state to represent the sending state in the receiving State. ... International law, is the body of law that regulates the activities of entities possessing international personality. Traditionally, that meant the conduct and relationships of states. ... The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations is an international treaty on diplomatic intercourse and the privileges and immunities of a diplomatic mission. ...

Activities of a consulate include protecting the interests of their citizens temporarily or permanently resident in the host country; issuing passports; issuing visas to foreigners; and public diplomacy. However, the principal role of a consulate lies historically in promoting trade - assisting companies to invest and to import and export goods and services both inwardly to their home country and outward to their host country. And although it is never admitted publicly, consulates, like embassies, also gather intelligence information from the assigned country. This is especially important if the consulate is located in a port city. The title page of European Union passports bears the name European Union, then the name of the issuing country, in the official languages of all EU countries. ... An entry visa valid in all Schengen treaty countries Visas for Laos, Thailand, and Sri Lanka A visa (short for the Latin carta visa, lit. ... In international relations, the term public diplomacy is a term coined in the 1960s to describe aspects of international diplomacy other than the interactions between national governments. ... Intelligence is the process and the result of gathering information and analyzing it to answer questions or obtain advance warnings needed to plan for the future. ... Seaport, a painting by Claude Lorrain, 1638 The Port of Wellington at night. ...

In many countries the embassy and consulate-general are combined in one office or structure; however, an embassy implies official diplomatic relations between two countries while a consulate general does not. Between countries in the Commonwealth of Nations, both activities may be undertaken by a High Commission. The larger Commonwealth nations generally have consulates and consulates-general between one another, as is the case elsewhere. However, the senior envoys in these missions are usually known as Commissioners instead of consuls (general) but this is not always the case: for example, British consulates (general) in Canada, Australia and New Zealand are headed by consuls (general). This page is about negotiations; for the board game, see Diplomacy (game). ... The Commonwealth of Nations, usually known as The Commonwealth, is an association of independent sovereign states, almost all of which are former territories of the British Empire. ... A High Commissioner is a person serving in a special executive capacity. ... Commissioner may be used for a variety of official positions, especially that of a high-ranking official, or that of a senior police officer. ...

Consulates-general need not be in the capital city, but instead in the most appropriate cities. In the United States, for example, many countries base their consul general in New York City. The construction of the Empire State Building, 1930. ...

Some consuls are not career diplomats; some are locally-engaged staff with the nationality of the sending country;(see Chapter 1,Section 1,Article 22 of convention),and in smaller cities, or in cities that are very distant from full-time diplomatic missions, a foreign government may decide that some form of representation is nevertheless desirable, and may appoint a person who has not hitherto been part of their diplomatic service to fulfill this role. This person may well combine the job with their own (often commercial) private activities, in which case they are usually given the title of honorary consul. Many members of the public are not aware that honorary consuls are not full-time diplomats. Graham Greene used this position as the title of his 1973 novel The Honorary Consul. Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene, OM (October 2, 1904 – April 3, 1991) was a prolific English novelist, playwright, short story writer and critic whose works explore the ambiguities of modern man and ambivalent moral or political issues in a contemporary setting. ... A novel by Graham Greene, published in 1973. ...

External links

• Vienna Convention on Consular Relations