The Embassy reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Embassy

A foreign embassy is the official diplomatic office of one country in the capital of another country. It is the official office of the ambassador of the home country, serves as the primary channel of communication between the two governments, negotiaties treaties between the home country and the host country, and promotes economic and cultural exchange between home country and host country.

Under international law, embassies enjoy diplomatic immunity and legally are treated part of the territory of the home country rather than the host country.

Many Commonwealth countries, by virtue of tradition and the technicality of once sharing a common head of state, do not exchange embassies and ambassadors but High Commissions and High Commissioners, which are identical in all but name.

Technically, embassy refers to the diplomatic delegation, while the embassy's office building is known as a chancery.

See also: Consulate general

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