List of members of NATO - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an international alliance that consists of 28 member states from North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

and Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

. It was established at the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty

North Atlantic Treaty

The North Atlantic Treaty is the treaty that brought NATO into existence, signed in Washington, D.C. on 4 April 1949. The original twelve nations that signed it and thus became the founding members of NATO were:...

on 4 April 1949. Article Five of the treaty states that if an armed attack occurs against one of the member states, it should be considered an attack against all members, and other members shall assist the attacked member, with armed forces

Armed forces

The armed forces of a country are its government-sponsored defense, fighting forces, and organizations. They exist to further the foreign and domestic policies of their governing body, and to defend that body and the nation it represents from external aggressors. In some countries paramilitary...

if necessary.

Of two are North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

n countries (Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

and the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

) and 26 are Europe

Europe

an countries. All members have militias, although Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

does not have a typical army (it does, however, have a military coast guard

Coast guard

A coast guard or coastguard is a national organization responsible for various services at sea. However the term implies widely different responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to being a volunteer organization tasked with...

and a small unit of soldiers for NATO operations). Three of NATO's members are nuclear weapons states: France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, and the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

Member states by date of accession

Date	Country	Enlargement	Notes
4 April 1949		Founders

			Unlike Denmark's EU membership, its NATO membership does include the Faroe Islands Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland... and Greenland Greenland Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for... .
			France withdrew from the integrated military command in 1966 to pursue an independent defence system but returned to full membership on April 4, 2009.
	Iceland		Iceland, the sole member that does not have its own standing army, joined on the condition that it would not be expected to establish one. However, its strategic geographic position in the Atlantic made it an invaluable member. It has a Coast Guard Icelandic Coast Guard The Icelandic Coast Guard is the service responsible for Iceland's coastal defense and maritime and aeronautical search and rescue. Origins of the Icelandic Coast Guard can be traced to 1859, when the corvette Ørnen started patrolling Icelandic waters... and has recently contributed a voluntary peacekeeping force, trained in Norway for NATO.


	Netherlands
	Norway
	Portugal
	United Kingdom
	United States
18 February 1952	Greece	First	Greece withdrew its forces from NATO’s military command structure from 1974 to 1980 as a result of Greco-Turkish tensions Greco-Turkish relations The relations between the Greek and the Turkish states have been marked by alternating periods of mutual hostility and reconciliation ever since Greece won its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1821... following the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus Turkish invasion of Cyprus The Turkish invasion of Cyprus, launched on 20 July 1974, was a Turkish military invasion in response to a Greek military junta backed coup in Cyprus... .
18 February 1952	Turkey	First
9 May 1955	Germany	Second	Joined as West Germany West Germany West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990.... ; Saarland Saarland Saarland is one of the sixteen states of Germany. The capital is Saarbrücken. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population, it is the smallest state in Germany other than the city-states... reunited with it in 1957 and the territories of Berlin Berlin Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union... and the former German Democratic Republic German Democratic Republic The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city... reunited with it on 3 October 1990. The GDR German Democratic Republic The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city... was a member of the rival Warsaw Pact Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe... 1956–1990.
30 May 1982	Spain	Third
12 March 1999	Czech Republic	Fourth	Member of the rival Warsaw Pact Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe... 1955–1991 as part of Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992... .
	Hungary		Member of the rival Warsaw Pact Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe... 1955–1991.
	Poland		Member of the rival Warsaw Pact Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe... 1955–1991.
29 March 2004	Kingdom of Bulgaria	Fifth	Member of the rival Warsaw Pact Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe... 1955–1991.
	Estonia		Member of the rival Warsaw Pact Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe... 1955–1991 as part of the Soviet Union Soviet Union The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991.... .
	Latvia		Member of the rival Warsaw Pact Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe... 1955–1991 as part of the Soviet Union Soviet Union The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991.... .
	Lithuania		Member of the rival Warsaw Pact Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe... 1955–1991 as part of the Soviet Union Soviet Union The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991.... .
	Kingdom of Romania		Member of the rival Warsaw Pact Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe... 1955–1991.
	Slovakia		Member of the rival Warsaw Pact Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe... 1955–1991 as part of Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992... .
	Slovenia		Previously part of Yugoslavia 1945–1991 (Non-aligned Non-Aligned Movement The Non-Aligned Movement is a group of states considering themselves not aligned formally with or against any major power bloc. As of 2011, the movement had 120 members and 17 observer countries... )
1 April 2009	Albania	Sixth	Member of the rival Warsaw Pact Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe... 1955–1968.
1 April 2009	Independent State of Croatia	Sixth	Previously part of Yugoslavia 1945–1991 (Non-aligned Non-Aligned Movement The Non-Aligned Movement is a group of states considering themselves not aligned formally with or against any major power bloc. As of 2011, the movement had 120 members and 17 observer countries... )

Table

Country	Population (2011)	GDP (nominal) (2010, US$ millions)	Military expenditures (2010, US$ millions)	Military expenditures (2010, % of GDP)
Belgium	10,827,519	465,676	5,382	1.15
Kingdom of Bulgaria	7,351,234	44,843	698	1.55
Canada	34,447,000	1,574,051	20,164	1.28
Independent State of Croatia	4,425,747	59,917	1,060	1.77
Czech Republic	10,515,818	192,152	2,529	1.31
Denmark	5,560,628	310,760	4,588	1.47
Estonia	1,340,122	19,220	336	1.75
Early Modern France	65,821,885	2,582,527	61,285	2.37
Germany	81,802,000	3,315,643	46,848	1.41
Greece	11,306,183	305,415	9,369	3.07
Hungary	10,014,324	128,960	1,323	1.02
Iceland	318,452	12,767	12	0.09
Italy	60,605,053	2,055,114	38,198	1.86
Latvia	2,229,500	23,385	268	1.15
Lithuania	3,249,400	35,734	427	1.19
Luxembourg	502,100	52,433	301	0.57
Netherlands	16,667,700	783,293	11,604	1.48
Norway	4,937,900	414,462	6,322	1.52
Poland	38,092,000	468,539	8,380	1.78
Portugal	10,636,888	229,336	5,213	2.27
Kingdom of Romania	21,466,174	161,629	2,164	1.33
Slovakia	5,435,273	86,262	1,010	1.17
Slovenia	2,046,510	46,442	788	1.69
Spain	46,148,605	1,409,946	15,803	1.12
Turkey	73,722,988	741,853	15,634	2.1
United Kingdom	62,008,048	2,247,455	57,424	2.55
United States	311,328,000	14,657,800	687,105	4.6
Total	906,002,051	32,223,344	1,004,436	3.11

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