List Of States With Nuclear Weapons
There are currently eight states that have successfully detonated nuclear weapons. Five are considered to be "nuclear-weapon states" (NWS) under the terms of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). In order of acquisition of nuclear weapons these are: the United States, Russia (successor state to the Soviet Union), the United Kingdom, France, and China. Nations that are known or believed to possess nuclear weapons are sometimes referred to as the nuclear club.
Since the NPT entered into force in 1970, three states that were not parties to the Treaty have conducted nuclear tests, namely India, Pakistan, and North Korea. North Korea had been a party to the NPT but withdrew in 2003. Israel is also widely believed to have nuclear weapons, though it has refused to confirm or deny this, and is not known definitively to have conducted a nuclear test.
South Africa has the unique status of a nation that developed nuclear weapons but has since disassembled its arsenal before joining the NPT.
Read more about List Of States With Nuclear Weapons: Statistics, Five Nuclear-weapon States Under The NPT, Other States Declaring Possession of Nuclear Weapons, Other States Believed To Possess Nuclear Weapons, Nuclear Weapons Sharing, States Formerly Possessing Nuclear Weapons
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