List of states with nuclear weapons

There are currently nine sovereign states that are generally understood to possess nuclear weapons, though only eight formally acknowledge possessing them. In order of first successful nuclear test, the world's nine nuclear-armed states are the United States (1945), Russia (1949), the United Kingdom (1952), France (1960), China (1964), India (1974), Pakistan (1998), and North Korea (2006); Israel is believed to have acquired nuclear weapons around 1967, but has never openly tested or formally acknowledged having them. Under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, and China are recognized "nuclear-weapons states" (NWS). They are also the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. Israel, India, and Pakistan never signed the NPT, while North Korea acceded to it in 1985 before announcing withdrawal in 2003. South Africa developed nuclear weapons by 1982 but dismantled them around 1989 and joined the NPT in 1991. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the former Soviet republics of Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Belarus had nuclear weapons deployed on their territories, but agreed to transfer them to Russia (which inherited the Soviet Union's international rights and obligations) and join the NPT as non-nuclear-weapon states. There are six states that do not possess nuclear weapons, but have nuclear weapons deployed on their territory. U . nuclear weapons are based in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Turkey. Russian nuclear weapons are deployed in Belarus. During the Cold War, at least 23 states were known hosts of U ., British, or Soviet nuclear weapons. According to the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), there are 12,187 nuclear warheads in the world and approximately 3,912 of these are active, as of 2026. In 2024, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) estimated that the total number of nuclear warheads had reached 12,121. Approximately 9,585 nuclear warheads are kept with military stockpiles. About 3,904 warheads are deployed with operational forces. 2,100 warheads, which are primarily from Russia and the United States, are maintained for high operational alerts.