Scope
Today there are five zones covering continental or subcontinental groups of countries (including their territorial waters and airspace), one UN-recognized zone consisting of a single country, Mongolia, and three governing Antarctica, the seabed, and outer space which are not part of any state. The Antarctic, seabed, and space zones preceded all but one of the zones on national territories. Most of the Earth's oceans above the seabed are not covered by NWFZs since freedom of the seas restricts restrictions in international waters.
As of 15 July 2009 (2009 -07-15) when the African NWFZ came into force, the six land zones cover 56% of the Earth's land area of 149 million square kilometers and 60% of the 193 states on Earth, up from 34% and 30% the previous year; however, only 39% of the world's population lives in NWFZs, while the nine nuclear weapons states have 28% of the world's land area area and 46% of the world population.
NWFZs do not cover international waters (where there is freedom of the seas) or transit of nuclear missiles through space (as opposed to deployment of nuclear weapons in space).
The NWFZ definition does not count countries or smaller regions that have outlawed nuclear weapons simply by their own law, like Austria with the Atomsperrgesetz in 1999; also, the 2+4 Treaty, at the end of the Cold War, banned nuclear weapons in the six states, which joined to Germany 1990 (area of Berlin and former East Germany), but was an agreement only among the four Allies and two German states.
| Treaty | British | French | American |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tlatelolco | Anguilla, Virgin Is. Caymans, Turks&Caicos Falklands, S. Georgia |
Guyane Guadeloupe, Martinique St. Barthélemy, St. Martin |
Puerto Rico Virgin Is. USMOI |
| Rarotonga | Pitcairn Island | Polynésie, Wallis&Futuna Nouvelle-Calédonie |
Samoa, Jarvis Island |
| Pelindaba | Indian Ocean Territory | Réunion, Mayotte Îles Éparses |
NWFZs do cover most territories belonging to nuclear weapons states that are situated inside NWFZ boundaries; all are small islands except for French Guiana. However, the U.S. signed but has not ratified Protocol I to the Treaty of Rarotonga which would apply to American Samoa and Jarvis Island plus the U.S. and Britain dispute on the African NWFZ's applicability to Diego Garcia which has an American military base.
Read more about this topic: Nuclear-weapon-free Zone
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—Joseph De Maistre (1753–1821)
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—Lydia Hoyt Farmer (1842–1903)