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NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) is an international alliance that consists of 30 member states from North America and Europe. It was established at the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on 4 April 1949. Article Five 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.

Of the 30 member countries, two are located in North America (Canada and the United States), 28 are in Europe, and one is in Europe and Asia (Turkey). All members have militaries, except for Iceland which does not have a typical army (but does, however, 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 nation states, and from 18 February 1952 to 6 May 1955, it added three more member nations, and a fourth on 30 May 1982. After the end of the Cold War, NATO added 14 more member nations (10 former Warsaw Pact members and four former Yugoslav republics) from 12 March 1999 to 27 March 2020.

Founding and changes in membership

NATO has added new members eight times since its foundation, in 1949, with a total of 30 members. Twelve countries took part in the founding of NATO: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 1952, Greece and Turkey became members of the Alliance, joined later by West Germany (in 1955) and Spain (in 1982). In 1990, with the reunification of Germany, NATO grew to include the former country of East Germany. 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. In 1997, three former Warsaw Pact countries, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Poland, were invited to join NATO. After this fourth enlargement in 1999, the Vilnius group of the Baltics and seven East European countries formed in May 2000 to cooperate and lobby for further NATO membership. Seven of these countries joined in the fifth enlargement in 2004. The Adriatic States Albania and Croatia joined in the sixth enlargement in 2009, Montenegro in 2017 and North Macedonia in 2020.

United States President Donald Trump expressed interest in withdrawing from the organization during his 2016 presidential campaign, but he later stated that the United States would protect allies in the event that Article V is invoked.

Member states

Flag	Map	Member state	Capital	Accession	Population	Area
		Albania	Tirana	1 April 2009	2,821,977	28,748 km (11,100 sq mi)
		Belgium	Brussels	24 August 1949	11,720,716	30,528 km (11,787 sq mi)
		Bulgaria	Sofia	29 March 2004	6,966,899	110,879 km (42,811 sq mi)
		Canada	Ottawa	24 August 1949	37,694,085	9,984,670 km (3,855,103 sq mi)
		Croatia	Zagreb	1 April 2009	4,227,746	56,594 km (21,851 sq mi)
		Czech Republic	Prague	12 March 1999	10,702,498	78,867 km (30,451 sq mi)
		Denmark	Copenhagen	24 August 1949	5,869,410	2,210,000 km (853,286 sq mi)
		Estonia	Tallinn	29 March 2004	1,228,624	45,228 km (17,463 sq mi)
		France	Paris	24 August 1949	67,848,156	643,427 km (248,429 sq mi)
		Germany	Berlin	8 May 1955	80,159,662	357,022 km (137,847 sq mi)
		Greece	Athens	18 February 1952	10,607,051	131,957 km (50,949 sq mi)
		Hungary	Budapest	12 March 1999	9,771,827	93,028 km (35,918 sq mi)
		Iceland	Reykjavík	24 August 1949	350,734	103,000 km (39,769 sq mi)
		Italy	Rome	24 August 1949	62,402,659	301,340 km (116,348 sq mi)
		Latvia	Riga	29 March 2004	1,881,232	64,589 km (24,938 sq mi)
		Lithuania	Vilnius	29 March 2004	2,731,464	65,300 km (25,212 sq mi)
		Luxembourg	Luxembourg	24 August 1949	628,381	2,586 km (998 sq mi)
		Montenegro	Podgorica	5 June 2017	609,859	13,812 km (5,333 sq mi)
		Netherlands	Amsterdam	24 August 1949	17,280,397	41,543 km (16,040 sq mi)
		North Macedonia	Skopje	27 March 2020	2,125,971	25,713 km (9,928 sq mi)
		Norway	Oslo	24 August 1949	5,467,439	323,802 km (125,021 sq mi)
		Poland	Warsaw	12 March 1999	38,282,325	312,685 km (120,728 sq mi)
		Portugal	Lisbon	24 August 1949	10,302,674	92,090 km (35,556 sq mi)
		Romania	Bucharest	29 March 2004	21,302,893	238,391 km (92,043 sq mi)
		Slovakia	Bratislava	29 March 2004	5,440,602	49,035 km (18,933 sq mi)
		Slovenia	Ljubljana	29 March 2004	2,102,678	20,273 km (7,827 sq mi)
		Spain	Madrid	30 May 1982	50,015,792	505,370 km (195,124 sq mi)
		Turkey	Ankara	18 February 1952	82,017,514	783,562 km (302,535 sq mi)
		United Kingdom	London	24 August 1949	65,761,117	243,610 km (94,058 sq mi)
		United States	Washington, D.C.	24 August 1949	332,639,102	9,833,520 km (3,796,743 sq mi)

Military personnel

The following list is sourced from the 2018 edition of "The Military Balance" published annually by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

	Country	Active military	Reserve military	Paramilitary	Total	Per 1000 capita (total)	Per 1000 capita (active)
	Albania	8,000	0	500	8,500	2.8	2.6
	Belgium	28,800	5,000	0	33,800	2.9	2.5
	Bulgaria	31,300	3,000	0	34,300	4.8	4.4
	Canada	63,000	30,000	4,500	97,500	2.7	1.8
	Croatia	15,650	0	3,000	18,650	4.3	3.6
	Czech Republic	23,200	2,359	0	25,559	2.4	2.2
	Denmark	16,100	45,700	0	61,800	11	2.9
	Estonia	6,600	12,000	15,800	34,400	27.5	5.3
	France	202,700	72,300	103,400	378,400	5.6	3
	Germany	178,600	27,900	500	207,000	2.6	2.2
	Greece	141,350	220,500	4,000	365,850	34	13.1
	Hungary	27,800	44,000	12,000	83,800	8.5	2.8
	Iceland	200	200	250	650	1.9	0.6
	Italy	174,500	18,300	182,350	375,150	6	2.8
	Latvia	5,310	7,850	0	13,160	6.8	2.7
	Lithuania	18,350	6,700	11,300	36,350	12.9	6.5
	Luxembourg	900	0	600	1,500	2.5	1.5
	Montenegro	1,950	0	10,100	12,050	18.8	3
	Netherlands	35,410	4,660	5,900	45,970	2.7	2.1
	Norway	23,950	38,590	0	62,540	11.8	4.5
	Poland	105,000	0	73,400	178,400	4.6	2.7
	Portugal	30,500	211,950	44,000	286,450	26.4	2.8
	Romania	69,300	50,000	79,900	199,200	9.3	3.2
	Slovakia	15,850	0	0	15,850	2.9	2.9
	Slovenia	7,250	1,760	5,950	14,960	7.6	3.7
	Spain	121,200	15,450	76,750	213,400	4.4	2.5
	Turkey	355,200	378,700	156,800	890,700	11	4.4
	United Kingdom	146,650	44,250	0	190,900	2.9	2.3
	United States	1,348,400	857,950	0	2,206,350	6.8	4.2

Military expenditures

The United States has a larger defense expenditure than all other members combined. Criticism of the organization by current US President Donald Trump caused various reactions from American and European political figures, ranging from ridicule to panic. 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. Only in the US and Canada did more than 50% of the people answer that they should.

Member state	Population	GDP (nominal)	Defence expenditure			Personnel
			In millions	% real GDP	Per capita
Albania	3,074,579	16.75	198	1.26	58	6,800
Belgium	11,720,716	529.55	4,921	0.93	392	26,000
Bulgaria	6,966,899	70.13	1,079	1.61	132	25,000
Canada	37,694,085	1,810.00	21,885	1.27	569	72,000
Croatia	4,227,746	63.17	1,072	1.75	238	15,000
Czech Republic	10,702,498	261.73	2,969	1.19	236	26,000
Denmark	5,869,410	360.51	4,760	1.35	760	17,000
Estonia	1,228,624	32.74	669	2.13	429	6,300
France	67,848,156	2,770.00	50,659	1.84	709	208,000
Germany	80,159,662	3,980.00	54,113	1.36	591	184,000
Greece	10,607,051	222.79	4,844	2.24	431	105,000
Hungary	9,771,827	180.50	2,080	1.21	178	20,000
Iceland	350,734	24.24	—	—	—	—
Italy	62,402,659	2,010.00	24,482	1.22	385	179,000
Latvia	1,881,232	36.77	724	2.01	325	6,400
Lithuania	2,731,464	56.23	1,084	1.98	336	15,900
Luxembourg	628,381	72.99	391	0.55	552	900
Montenegro	609,859	5.69	92	1.65	126	1,600
Netherlands	17,280,397	930.99	12,419	1.35	655	41,000
North Macedonia	2,125,971	13.33	108	1.09		7,200
Norway	5,467,439	422.06	7,179	1.70	1,308	20,000
Poland	38,282,325	606.73	11,971	2.01	296	123,000
Portugal	10,302,674	243.23	3,358	1.41	299	30,000
Romania	21,302,893	261.87	5,043	2.04	225	69,000
Slovakia	5,440,602	111.87	1,905	1.74	322	13,000
Slovenia	2,102,678	56.85	581	1.04	253	6,800
Spain	50,015,792	1,440.00	13,156	0.92	264	121,000
Turkey	82,017,514	813.81	13,919	1.89	225	435,000
United Kingdom	65,761,117	2,720.00	60,376	2.13	979	144,000
United States	332,639,102	22,320.00	730,149	3.42	2,072	1,338,000
NATO	951,214,086	42,444.53	1,036,077	2.51	1,045	3,258,000

Notes

1. ^ Population data is based on a July 2020 estimate by the Central Intelligence Agency in The World Factbook.
2. ^ Founding member of NATO.
3. The paramilitary forces of Italy consist of the Carabinieri and the Guardia di Finanza.
4. Gross domestic product (nominal) data (in billions of US dollars) is based on an October 2019 issue of the World Economic Outlook, which is published by the International Monetary Fund.
5. ^ Defence expenditure and personnel data are based on a June 2019 press release from NATO.

References

Citations

1. "The North Atlantic Treaty". North Atlantic Treaty Organization. 4 April 1949. Retrieved 16 June 2008.
2. "Trump threatens to quit NATO: White House official - France 24". France 24. 18 May 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
3. Landler, Michael D. Shear, Mark; Kanter, James (25 May 2017). "In NATO Speech, Trump Is Vague About Mutual Defense Pledge". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 31 May 2017.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
4. Lauter, David (26 May 2017). "A glowing orb and a not-so-glowing review of the GOP healthcare bill: Trump's week was filled with events he didn't control". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
5. "Member countries". NATO. 24 March 2020. Archived from the original on 29 March 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
6. "Country Comparison :: Population". Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
7. "Field Listing :: Area". Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
8. IISS 2018, pp. 82
9. IISS 2018, pp. 85
10. IISS 2018, pp. 88
11. IISS 2018, pp. 43
12. IISS 2018, pp. 90
13. IISS 2018, pp. 94
14. IISS 2018, pp. 96
15. IISS 2018, pp. 98
16. IISS 2018, pp. 102
17. IISS 2018, pp. 107-108
18. IISS 2018, pp. 111
19. IISS 2018, pp. 114
20. IISS 2018, p. 116
21. IISS 2018, pp. 118
22. IISS 2018, pp. 122
23. IISS 2018, pp. 124
24. IISS 2018, p. 125-126
25. IISS 2018, pp. 128
26. IISS 2018, pp. 130
27. IISS 2018, pp. 132-133
28. IISS 2018, pp. 135
29. IISS 2018, pp. 138
30. IISS 2018, pp. 140
31. IISS 2018, pp. 145
32. IISS 2018, pp. 147
33. IISS 2018, pp. 148
34. IISS 2018, pp. 156-157
35. IISS 2018, pp. 160-161
36. IISS 2018, pp. 46
37. Where Does The Relationship Between NATO And The U.S. Go From Here?, Huffington Post
38. NATO allies boost defense spending in the wake of Trump criticism, The Washington Post
39. Former US ambassador to Nato in withering criticism of Donald Trump, The Independent
40. Shaken by Trump’s Criticism of NATO, Europe Mulls Building Own Military Force, Voice Of America
41. Support for NATO is widespread among member nations, Pew Research
42. U.S. would defend NATO despite Trump's criticism, Europeans believe: study, Reuters
43. "GDP, current prices". International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
44. "Defence Expenditure of NATO Countries (2012-2019)" (PDF). NATO. 25 June 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2020.

Bibliography

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

• NATO
• Countries by international organization
• Member states of NATO