UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 1  -- Five new countries joined the UN Security Council as non-permanent members on Thursday, while Chile assumed the rotating presidency of the Council for January.

With the start of a new year, five new countries -- Angola, Malaysia, New Zealand, Venezuela and Spain -- have begun their two- year term, replacing retiring members Argentina, Australia, Luxembourg, the Republic of Korea and Rwanda.

Octavio Errazuriz, the permanent representative of Chile to the United Nations, took over the rotating council presidency from Cherif Mahamat Zene, the Chadian UN ambassador who held the council presidency for the month of December 2014.

According to the UN Charter, the 10 non-permanent members of the Security Council are elected by the General Assembly, with five elected in October each year, to join the five permanent and veto-wielding members of Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.

Under the UN Charter, the Security Council has the primary responsibility for the maintenance of peace and security in the world at large.

The council presidency rotates among the members in the English alphabetical order of their names. Each president holds office for one calendar month.