Which Countries Have Nuclear Weapons?
Nuclear weapons have long been a part of war and a country's defense. However, only a handful of nations possess these extremely lethal weapons.
According to the Federation of American Scientists, there are nine countries that have nuclear weapons in their arsenal as of early 2017. The country thought to be in possession of the most nukes is Russia, which is closely followed by the United States. Both countries are estimated to have approximately 7,000 warheads each.
Other countries in decreasing order of nuclear weapons owned are France, China, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, India and Israel. The New York Times reports that Israel has yet to formally recognize their nuclear program, but it is believed that they possess around 80 nukes. The ninth country with nuclear weapons is none other than North Korea. And while the exact number of their warheads is shrouded in mystery, most experts surmise that the country possesses less than 10.
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The nine countries have a combined total of almost 15,000 nuclear weapons, which is definitely enough to inflict overwhelming damage. According to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear weapons or ICAN, some leaders of these nine countries have stated their desire to see a world without nukes. However, detailed plans to achieve this hope have yet to be drawn.
In fact, the knowledge on how to develop nuclear weapons has spread across the world, which means other nations may soon be added to the list of nine. China, Pakistan, India and North Korea are all working to add to their inventories.
The current state of the world has only increased public concern, especially given North Korea's relationship with the United States. And while the amount of nuclear weapons in the world has decreased significantly since the Cold War, it has been said that today's forces are more effective and efficient compared to those in 1986.
