The United Nations is analogous in many ways to State or national governments and has developed organizational bodies and procedures to deal with the fundamental transnational issues of which criminality is a symptom and with the problems of crime prevention and criminal justice. The Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Branch is small and relies on other services and units to accomplish its tasks. Its most ambitious worldwide information-gathering effort has been the world crime survey, which received responses from 67 governments. The survey revealed that developed countries have much higher crime rates than developing countries, but that crimes against the person from a much larger proportion of total crimes in developing countries than in developed countries. Although some countries are exceptions, for the world as a whole, progress in socioeconomic development increases the total crime rate. The United Nations has also studied corrections. Periodic surveys among member nations focus on three issues: the extent to which the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners are implemented, the prison population census, and capital punishment. The United Nations has a deeply practical interest in criminology and aims to help all nations deal with crime prevention in a humane and cost-beneficial manner. Notes, figures, and 12 references are included.