A/56/253 82. A total of 692 communications were addressed to 125 States (of the 189 States Members of the United Nations). Of this total, 25 urgent appeals concerned 10 States. (i) Communications 83. Since the creation of the mandate, the number of communications has grown exponentially, from a low of seven in 1988, the year in which the mandate was created, to a high of 92 in 1992. 84. Essentially, this very steep increase in the number of communications has taken place in three phases: (a) 1989-1994: 30 communications on the average; (b) 1995-1999: 56 communications on the average; (c) 2000-2001: 88 communications on the average. 85. There has also been an exponential increase in the number of States receiving communications, from a low of seven States in 1988, when the mandate was created, to a high of 55 States in the year 2000. 86. If we exclude the year 1988, we see that this increase in the number of States covered by communications has taken place in two phases: (a) 1989-1994: 25 States on average; (b) 1995-2001: 50 States on average. 87. There has also been an exponential growth in the number of States which received more than one communication, as shown in table 8. Table 8 Evolution in the number of States covered by more than one communication Year Number of States having received more than one communication 1989 7 States received 2 communications each 1 State received 3 communications 1990 6 States received 2 communications each 2 States received 3 communications each 1991 4 States received 2 communications each 3 States received 3 communications each 1992 5 States received 2 communications each 2 States received 3 communications each 1993 6 States received 2 communications each 1994 4 States received 2 communications each 1995 5 States received 2 communications each 1 State received 3 communications 27