Member states of NATO

For the history of states becoming NATO members, see Enlargement of NATO.

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) is an international military alliance consisting of 32 member states from Europe and North America. It was established at the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on 4 April 1949. Article 5 of the treaty states that if an armed attack occurs against one of the member states, it shall be considered an attack against all members, and other members shall assist the attacked member, with armed forces if necessary.^[1] Article 6 of the treaty limits the scope of Article 5 to the islands north of the Tropic of Cancer, the North American and European mainlands, the entirety of Turkey, and French Algeria, the last of which has been moot since July 1962. Thus, an attack on Hawaii, Puerto Rico, French Guiana, the Falkland Islands, Ceuta or Melilla, among other places, would not trigger an Article 5 response.

NATO in 2024

Of the 32 member countries, 30 are in Europe and two are in North America. Between 1994 and 1997, wider forums for regional cooperation between NATO and its neighbors were set up, including the Partnership for Peace, the Mediterranean Dialogue initiative, and the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council.

All members have militaries, except for Iceland, which does not have a typical army (but it does have a coast guard and a small unit of civilian specialists for NATO operations). Three of NATO's members are nuclear weapons states: France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. NATO has 12 original founding member states. Three more members joined between 1952 and 1955, and a fourth joined in 1982. Since the end of the Cold War, NATO has added 16 more members from 1999 to 2024.^[2]

NATO currently recognizes Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, and Ukraine as aspiring members as part of their Open Doors enlargement policy.^[3]

Map of NATO in Europe:

  Current members

  Membership Action Plan

  Countries seeking membership

  Countries where membership is not a goal

  Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)

Founding members and enlargement

Main article: Enlargement of NATO

NATO was established on 4 April 1949 via the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty (Washington Treaty). The 12 founding members of the Alliance were: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States.^[4]

The various allies all sign the Ottawa Agreement,^[5] which is a 1951 document that acts to embody civilian oversight of the Alliance.^[5][6]

Current membership consists of 32 countries. In addition to the 12 founding countries, four new members joined during the Cold War: Greece and Turkey (1952), West Germany (1955) and Spain (1982). In 1990, the territory of the former East Germany was added with the reunification of Germany. NATO further expanded after the Cold War, adding the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland (1999); Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia (2004); Albania and Croatia (2009); Montenegro (2017); North Macedonia (2020); Finland (2023); and Sweden (2024).^[4] Of the territories and members added between 1990 and 2024, all except for Finland and Sweden were either formerly part of the Warsaw Pact (including the formerly Soviet Baltic states) or territories of the former Yugoslavia. No countries have left NATO since its founding.

Currently, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization now covers a total area of 27,580,492 km² (10,648,887 sq mi), since the accession of Sweden on 7 March 2024.

Membership aspirations

As of March 2024^[update], three additional states have formally informed NATO of their membership aspirations: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, and Ukraine.^[3]

• NATO members agreed at the 2008 Bucharest Summit that Georgia and Ukraine "will become members of NATO in the future".^[7]
• Bosnia and Herzegovina was invited by NATO to join the Membership Action Plan (MAP) in April 2010.^[7]

List of member states

The current members and their dates of admission are listed below.

Name	ISO	Capital	Date of accession^[8]	Population^[a]	Area^[10]	Mil. % GDP^[11]	GDP (2020 USD)^[12]
Albania	AL	Tirana	1 April 2009	003,101,621	28,748 km^2 11,100 sq mi	1.5	15,131,866,271
Belgium	BE	Brussels	24 August 1949^[b]	011,913,633	30,528 km^2 11,787 sq mi	1.1	521,676,942,135
Bulgaria	BG	Sofia	29 March 2004	006,827,736	110,879 km^2 42,811 sq mi	1.8	69,889,347,433
Canada	CA	Ottawa	24 August 1949^[b]	038,516,736	9,984,670 km^2 3,855,103 sq mi	1.4	1,645,423,407,568
Croatia	HR	Zagreb	1 April 2009	004,169,239	56,594 km^2 21,851 sq mi	1.8	79,163,000,000
Czech Republic^[c]	CZ	Prague	12 March 1999	010,706,242	78,867 km^2 30,451 sq mi	1.4	245,339,322,067
Denmark^[d]	DK	Copenhagen	24 August 1949^[b]	006,057,361	2,210,573 km^2 853,507 sq mi^[e]	1.4	356,084,867,686
Estonia	EE	Tallinn	29 March 2004	001,202,762	45,228 km^2 17,463 sq mi	2.3	30,650,285,472
Finland	FI	Helsinki	4 April 2023	005,614,571	338,455 km^2 130,678 sq mi	1.5	269,751,000,000
France^[f]	FR	Paris	24 August 1949^[b]	062,819,428	643,427 km^2 248,429 sq mi	2.1	2,630,317,731,455
Germany^[g]	DE	Berlin	6 May 1955 (West Germany) 3 October 1990 (Germany)	084,220,184	357,022 km^2 137,847 sq mi	1.4	3,846,413,928,654
Greece	GR	Athens	18 February 1952	010,497,595	131,957 km^2 50,949 sq mi	2.8	188,835,201,626
Hungary	HU	Budapest	12 March 1999	009,670,009	93,028 km^2 35,918 sq mi	1.6	156,743,134,666
Iceland	IS	Reykjavík	24 August 1949^[b]	000,360,872	103,000 km^2 39,769 sq mi	0.0	21,718,075,725
Italy	IT	Rome		061,021,855	301,340 km^2 116,348 sq mi	1.6	1,892,574,064,222
Latvia	LV	Riga	29 March 2004	001,821,750	64,589 km^2 24,938 sq mi	2.3	33,645,460,617
Lithuania	LT	Vilnius		002,655,755	65,300 km^2 25,212 sq mi	2.1	56,546,957,475
Luxembourg	LU	Luxembourg	24 August 1949^[b]	000,660,924	2,586 km^2 998 sq mi	0.8	73,353,132,794
Montenegro	ME	Podgorica	5 June 2017	000,602,445	13,812 km^2 5,333 sq mi	2.1	4,780,722,122
Netherlands^[h]	NL	Amsterdam	24 August 1949^[b]	017,463,930	41,543 km^2 16,040 sq mi^[i]	1.4	913,865,395,790
North Macedonia	MK	Skopje	27 March 2020	002,133,410^[j]	25,713 km^2 9,928 sq mi	1.3	12,116,981,815
Norway^[k]	NO	Oslo	24 August 1949^[b]	005,600,850	323,802 km^2 125,021 sq mi	1.9	362,198,318,435
Poland	PL	Warsaw	12 March 1999	037,991,766	312,685 km^2 120,728 sq mi	2.2	596,624,355,720
Portugal	PT	Lisbon	24 August 1949^[b]	010,223,150	92,090 km^2 35,556 sq mi	2.1	228,539,245,045
Romania	RO	Bucharest	29 March 2004	018,326,327	238,391 km^2 92,043 sq mi	2.3	249,511,333,648
Slovakia	SK	Bratislava		005,425,319	49,035 km^2 18,933 sq mi	1.8	105,172,564,492
Slovenia	SI	Ljubljana		002,099,790	20,273 km^2 7,827 sq mi	1.1	53,589,609,581
Spain^[l]	ES	Madrid	30 May 1982	047,051,085	505,370 km^2 195,124 sq mi	1.4	1,281,484,640,044
Sweden	SE	Stockholm	7 March 2024	010,536,338	450,295 km^2 173,860 sq mi	1.3	547,050,000,000
Turkey^[m]	TR	Ankara	18 February 1952	083,593,483	783,562 km^2 302,535 sq mi	2.8	719,954,821,683
United Kingdom^[n]	GB	London	24 August 1949^[b]	068,502,956	243,610 km^2 94,058 sq mi	2.2	2,756,900,214,107
United States^[o]	US	Washington, D.C.		338,229,980	9,833,520 km^2 3,796,743 sq mi	3.7	20,893,743,833,000

Special arrangements

The three Nordic countries which joined NATO as founding members, Denmark, Iceland and Norway, chose to limit their participation in three areas: there would be no permanent peacetime bases, no nuclear warheads and no Allied military activity (unless invited) permitted on their territory. However, Denmark allowed the U.S. to maintain an existing base, Thule Air Base (now Pituffik Space Base), in Greenland.^[14]

From the mid-1960s to the mid-1990s, France pursued a military strategy of independence from NATO under a policy dubbed "Gaullo-Mitterrandism".^[15] Nicolas Sarkozy negotiated the return of France to the integrated military command and the Defence Planning Committee in 2009, the latter being disbanded the following year. France remains the only NATO member outside the Nuclear Planning Group and unlike the United States and the United Kingdom, will not commit its nuclear-armed submarines to the alliance.^[16][17]

Military personnel

Comparison of total military personnel per 1,000 capita

50

100

150

200

250

300

Countries (see legend)

•   Estonia
•   Finland
•   Greece
•   Portugal
•   Montenegro
•   Lithuania
•   Norway
•   Turkey
•   Latvia
•   Denmark
•   Croatia
•   North Macedonia
•   Romania
•   Hungary
•   United States
•   Bulgaria
•   Italy
•   Sweden
•   France
•   Poland
•   Spain
•   Slovenia
•   United Kingdom
•   Slovakia
•   Canada
•   Germany
•   Albania
•   Czech Republic
•   Belgium
•   Netherlands
•   Luxembourg
•   Iceland

The following list is constructed from The Military Balance, published annually by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Numbers of military personnel

Country^[18]		Active	Reserve	Para­mili­tary	Total	Per 1,000 capita
						total	active
	Albania	10,500	0	500	11,000	3.6	3.4
	Belgium	29,400	5,900	0	35,300	3	2.5
	Bulgaria	42,663	3,000	0	45,663	6.6	6.2
	Canada	70,500	35,600	5,500	111,600	2.9	1.9
	Croatia	16,700	21,000	3,000	40,700	9.7	4
	Czech Republic	27,400	4,200	0	31,600	3	2.6
	Denmark	20,440	45,800	0	66,240	11.2	3.5
	Estonia	7,600	230,000	15,800	253,400	207.7	6.2
	Finland	24,250	900,000	14,321	938,571	168.7	4.4
	France	208,750	141,050	175,050	524,850	7.7	3.1
	Germany	184,100	50,050	0	234,150	2.9	2.3
	Greece	143,300	221,350	4,000	368,650	34.8	13.5
	Hungary	41,600	20,000	12,000	73,600	7.6	4.3
	Iceland	250	250	250	750	2.1	0.7
	Italy^[p]	175,100	18,300	182,350	375,750	6	2.8
	Latvia	16,700	36,000	0	52,700	28.3	9
	Lithuania	23,000	90,000	14,150	127,150	46.9	8.5
	Luxembourg	940	0	600	1,540	2.4	1.5
	Montenegro	2,350	2,800	10,100	15,250	25.1	3.9
	Netherlands	41,543	6,643	6,500	54,686	3.2	2.4
	North Macedonia	8,000	26,850	7,600	42,450	19.9	3.8
	Norway	25,400	40,000	0	65,400	11.9	4.6
	Poland	164,500	200,000	75,400	439,900	11.5	4.3
	Portugal	33,200	211,700	24,700	269,600	26.3	3.2
	Romania	72,000	55,000	79,900	206,900	9.7	3.4
	Slovakia	19,500	0	0	19,500	3.6	3.6
	Slovenia	7,500	26,200	5,950	39,650	18.9	3.6
	Spain	133,282	15,450	75,800	224,532	4.8	2.8
	Sweden	24,400	32,900	0	57,300	5.4	2.3
	Turkey	690,811	380,700	192,534	1,264,045	15.3	8.4
	United Kingdom	196,453	78,600	0	275,053	4.2	3
	United States	1,598,287	1,072,543	0	2,670,830	8	4.8
	NATO	3,869,402	3,768,103	870,271	8,507,776	1,000	454.8

Military expenditures

Military spending of the US compared to 29 other NATO member countries (all except Finland and Sweden) (US$ millions).^[q]

  United States (70.46%)

  All other NATO countries total^[r][s] (29.53%)

Total military spending of NATO member countries except the United States, Finland and Sweden (US$ millions).^[q][t]

  Greece (1.58%)

  Estonia (0.21%)

  Portugal (1.09%)

  Montenegro (0.03%)

  Lithuania (0.35%)

  Norway (2.34%)

  Turkey (4.54%)

  Latvia (0.23%)

  Denmark (1.55%)

  Croatia (0.35%)

  North Macedonia (0.035%)

  Romania (1.64%)

  Hungary (0.67%)

  Bulgaria (0.35%)

  Italy (7.99%)

  France (16.55%)

  Poland (3.91%)

  Spain (4.29%)

  Slovenia (0.18%)

  United Kingdom (19.72%)

  Slovakia (0.62%)

  Canada (7.15%)

  Germany (17.68%)

  Netherlands (4.05%)

  Other (2.895%)

United States, Finland and Sweden omitted – see above

The defence spending of the United States is more than double the defence spending of all other NATO members combined.^[19] Criticism of the fact that many member states were not contributing their fair share in accordance with the international agreement by then US president Donald Trump caused various reactions from American and European political figures, ranging from ridicule to panic.^[20][21][22]

 

Total Military budget of European NATO countries (excluding Turkey) as a percentage of US military budget. Chinese and Russian military spending included for comparison^[23]

Member state	Popu­lation^[a]	GDP (nomi­nal) ($billions)^[u]	Defence expenditure (US$)^[v]				Person­nel^[v]
			Total ($mil­lions)	% real GDP	Per capita	Per 1,000 personnel ($millions)
Albania	3,101,621	20.18	198	1.26	58	29	6,800
Belgium	11,913,633	624.25	4,921	0.93	392	189	26,000
Bulgaria	6,827,736	100.64	1,079	1.61	132	43	25,000
Canada	38,516,736	2,089.67	21,885	1.27	569	304	72,000
Croatia	4,169,239	78.89	1,072	1.75	238	71	15,000
Czech Republic	10,706,242	330.48	2,969	1.19	236	114	26,000
Denmark	6,057,361	405.63	4,760	1.35	760	280	17,000
Estonia	1,202,762	41.55	669	2.13	429	106	6,300
Finland	5,614,571	301.67	4,046
France	62,819,428	2,923.93	50,659	1.84	709	244	208,000
Germany	84,220,184	4,308.85	54,113	1.36	591	294	184,000
Greece	10,497,595	239.30	4,844	2.24	431	46	105,000
Hungary	9,670,009	188.51	2,080	1.21	178	104	20,000
Iceland	360,872	28.63	—	—	—	—	—
Italy	61,021,855	2,169.75	24,482	1.22	385	137	179,000
Latvia	1,821,750	47.40	724	2.01	325	113	6,400
Lithuania	2,655,755	78.35	1,084	2.13	336	53	21,000
Luxembourg	660,924	86.97	391	0.55	552	434	900
Montenegro	602,445	7.03	92	1.65	126	58	1,600
Netherlands	17,463,930	1,080.88	12,419	1.35	655	303	41,000
North Macedonia	2,133,410	15.28	108	1.09	51	15	7,200
Norway	5,600,850	554.10	7,179	1.70	1,308	359	20,000
Poland	37,991,766	748.89	11,971	2.01	296	97	123,000
Portugal	10,223,150	267.72	3,358	1.41	299	112	30,000
Romania	18,326,327	348.90	5,043	2.04	225	73	69,000
Slovakia	5,425,319	127.53	1,905	1.74	322	147	13,000
Slovenia	2,099,790	68.11	581	1.04	253	85	6,800
Spain	47,051,085	1,492.43	13,156	0.92	264	109	121,000
Sweden	10,536,338
Turkey	83,593,483	1,029.30	13,919	1.89	225	32	435,000
United Kingdom	68,502,956	3,158.94	60,376	2.13	979	419	144,000
United States	338,229,980	26,854.60	730,149	3.42	2,072	546	1,338,000
NATO	969,619,192	49,818.36	1,036,186	2.51	1,045	317	3,268,000

Political and popular support

Pew Research Center's 2016 survey among its member states showed that while most countries viewed NATO positively, most NATO members preferred keeping their military spending the same. The response to whether their country should militarily aid another NATO country if it were to get into a serious military conflict with Russia was also mixed. Roughly half or fewer in six of the eight countries surveyed say their country should use military force if Russia attacks a neighboring country that is a NATO ally. And at least half in three of the eight NATO countries say that their government should not use military force in such circumstances. The strongest opposition to responding with armed force is in Germany (58%), followed by France (53%) and Italy (51%). More than half of Americans (56%) and Canadians (53%) are willing to respond to Russian military aggression against a fellow NATO country. A plurality of the British (49%) and Poles (48%) would also live up to their Article 5 commitment. The Spanish are divided on the issue: 48% support it, 47% oppose.^[26][27]

Notes

1. Population data is based on a 2023 estimate by the Central Intelligence Agency in The World Factbook.^[9]
2. Founding member of NATO.
3. Officially referred to by the name Czechia. (See Name of the Czech Republic.)
4. Denmark consists of Denmark proper, the Faroe Islands and Greenland.
5. including Faroe Islands and Greenland.
6. Excluding all overseas territories of France apart from Saint Pierre and Miquelon.
7. Germany initially joined NATO as West Germany. The former country of East Germany became part of NATO after German reunification.
8. Only the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is part of NATO.
9. Figure includes the islands of Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius, but they do not fall under the NATO treaty.
10. North Macedonia's population estimate was missing from Central Intelligence Agency's Country Comparison list in The World Factbook but available in the country's entry.^[13]
11. Including Jan Mayen and Svalbard but excluding Bouvet Island.
12. Excluding Ceuta and Melilla.
13. Officially referred to by the name Türkiye. (See Name of Turkey.)
14. Including the crown dependencies as well as Gibraltar and Bermuda. The other overseas territories are excluded.
15. Only includes the contiguous United States, Alaska and Washington, D.C.; Hawaii and the territories of the United States do not fall under the NATO treaty due to geographic scope.
16. The paramilitary forces of Italy consist of the Carabinieri and the Guardia di Finanza.
17. Country order is the same as the preceding chart (military personnel per 1,000 capita) to maintain the same country colours between charts.
18. Except Finland
19. Except Sweden
20. The pie chart format does not allow as many slices as there are countries in NATO, so the countries with the fewest military personnel per capita (Albania, Belgium, Czech Republic, Iceland and Luxembourg) have been combined into a single slice.
21. Gross domestic product (nominal) data (in billions of US dollars) is based on an April 2023 issue of the World Economic Outlook, which is published by the International Monetary Fund.^[24]
22. Defence expenditure and personnel data are based on a June 2019 press release from NATO.^[25]

References

Citations

1. "The North Atlantic Treaty". North Atlantic Treaty Organization. 4 April 1949. from the original on 1 March 2022. Retrieved 16 June 2008.
2. Center, Notre Dame International Security (23 March 2023). "The Addition of NATO Members Over Time (1949–2023)". ND International Security Center. from the original on 21 January 2024. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
3. "Enlargement and Article 10". NATO. 10 June 2022. from the original on 9 June 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2022. Currently, five partner countries have declared their aspirations to NATO membership: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Finland, Georgia, Sweden and Ukraine.
4. NATO. "Member countries". NATO. from the original on 19 November 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
5. Mosquera, Andrés B. Muñoz (2019). "The North Atlantic Treaty: Article 9 and NATO's Institutionalization". Volume 34. Emory International Law Review. from the original on 26 November 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2022. Really, the Agreement on the Status of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, National Representatives and International Staff signed in Ottawa
6. "03. Agreement on the Status of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, National Representatives and International Staff, done at Ottawa September 20, 1951". US Department of State. from the original on 30 November 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
7. NATO. "Enlargement and Article 10". NATO. from the original on 11 March 2018. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
8. . NATO. 4 October 2022. Archived from the original on 9 October 2022. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
9. "Country Comparisons — Population". Central Intelligence Agency. from the original on 1 September 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
10. . Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original on 31 January 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
11. "Military expenditure by country as percentage of gross domestic product, 1949–2020" (XLSX). Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. 26 April 2021. from the original on 24 February 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
12. "DataBank: World Development Indicators". World Bank. from the original on 14 December 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
13. "North Macedonia — People and Society". Central Intelligence Agency. from the original on 21 January 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
14. "Denmark and NATO – 1949". from the original on 13 April 2022. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
15. "Why the concept of Gaullo-Mitterrandism is still relevant". IRIS. 29 April 2019. from the original on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
16. Cody, Edward (12 March 2009). "After 43 Years, France to Rejoin NATO as Full Member". The Washington Post. from the original on 26 October 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2011.
17. Stratton, Allegra (17 June 2008). "Sarkozy military plan unveiled". The Guardian. UK. from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
18. The International Institute for Strategic Studies (February 2022). The Military Balance 2022. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-032-27900-8. ISSN 0459-7222.
19. Friedman, George (24 January 2017). "Where Does The Relationship Between NATO And The U.S. Go From Here?". Huffington Post. from the original on 29 January 2024. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
20. Birnbaum, Michael; Gibbons-Neff, Thomas (8 April 2023). "NATO allies boost defense spending in the wake of Trump criticism". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. from the original on 1 September 2022. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
21. Mortimer, Caroline (19 March 2017). "Ex-US ambassador in withering criticism of Trump on Nato". The Independent. from the original on 3 April 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
22. Ridgwell, Henry (25 January 2017). "Shaken by Trump's Criticism of NATO, Europe Mulls Building Own Military Force". Voice Of America. from the original on 3 April 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
23. "SIPRI Military Expenditure Database". Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. 2023. doi:10.55163/cqgc9685. from the original on 2 May 2019. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
24. "GDP, current prices". International Monetary Fund. from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
25. "Defence Expenditure of NATO Countries (2012–2019)" (PDF). NATO. 25 June 2019. (PDF) from the original on 30 October 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
26. Cuddington, Danielle (6 July 2016). "Support for NATO is widespread among member nations". Pew Research. from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
27. Emmott, Robin (23 May 2017). "U.S. would defend NATO despite Trump's criticism, Europeans believe: study". Reuters. from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 28 January 2024.

Bibliography

• International Institute for Strategic Studies (14 February 2018). The Military Balance 2018. London: Routledge. ISBN 9781857439557.