Embassy

An embassy is an accredited diplomatic mission from one sovereign nation to another. The term is more commonly used to refer to the institution carrying out such a function and the premises or buildings in which it is situated. The chief official of an embassy is the ambassador. Embassies are normally considered to have diplomatic immunity, and the violation of this immunity by or with the connivance of the host government - as in the siege of the Embassy Quarter in Beijing during the Boxer Rebellion of 1900, the storming and sacking of the British Embassy in Beijing by Red Guards in 1967, and the kidnapping of United States Embassy staff in Teheran by Revolutionary Guards in 1979-1980 - is considered a serious outrage.

See also: High Commission