List of Nobel Peace Prize laureates
The Nobel Peace Prize is a very special award given each year to people or groups who have worked hard for peace. It was created by Alfred Nobel, a Swedish inventor. He wanted to honor those who helped bring countries together, reduce armies, and promote peace meetings.
A group called the Norwegian Nobel Committee chooses the winners. This committee has five members chosen by the Parliament of Norway. Each winner gets a medal, a special certificate, and money. The Peace Prize is one of five awards Alfred Nobel created. The others are for amazing work in chemistry, physics, literature, and medicine.
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What is the Nobel Peace Prize?
The Peace Prize ceremony happens every year in Oslo, Norway. The King of Norway is usually there. It takes place on December 10th, the day Alfred Nobel passed away. This is the only Nobel Prize not given out in Stockholm, Sweden.
Sometimes, the Peace Prize goes to a group or organization, not just one person. For example, the International Committee of the Red Cross has won it three times! The first Peace Prize was given in 1901 to Frédéric Passy and Henry Dunant. The most recent winner, in 2025, was María Corina Machado.
Interesting Facts About the Prize
- Linus Pauling won the Peace Prize in 1962. He is the only person to win two Nobel Prizes all by himself. He also won the Chemistry Prize in 1954.
- Malala Yousafzai received the prize in 2014 when she was just 17. She is the youngest Peace Prize winner ever.
- The first woman to win was Bertha von Suttner in 1905. So far, 20 women have won the Peace Prize.
- The International Committee of the Red Cross has won the Peace Prize more than any other group. They won it three times for their amazing help to people.
- Some winners were not free when they received their awards. These include Carl von Ossietzky (1935), Aung San Suu Kyi (1991), Liu Xiaobo (2010), Ales Bialiatski (2022), and Narges Mohammadi (2023).
Who Has Won the Peace Prize?
As of 2025, 112 individuals and 28 organizations have received the Peace Prize. Twenty women have won this award. This is more than any other Nobel Prize. The International Committee of the Red Cross has won three times. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has won twice. There have been 19 years when the prize was not given out.
Year | Laureate (birth/death) | Country | Rationale | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1901 | ![]() |
Henry Dunant (1828–1910) |
Switzerland | "for helping wounded soldiers and promoting understanding between countries." |
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Frédéric Passy (1822–1912) |
France | "for his work in organizing peace meetings and solving problems between nations." | |
1902 | ![]() |
Élie Ducommun (1833–1906) |
Switzerland | "for his excellent leadership of the International Peace Bureau." |
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Charles Albert Gobat (1843–1914) |
"for his effective work with the Inter-Parliamentary Union." | ||
1903 | ![]() |
William Randal Cremer (1828–1908) |
United Kingdom | "for his long and dedicated work for peace and fair solutions." |
1904 | ![]() |
Institute of International Law (founded 1873) |
Belgium | "for working to create peaceful rules between countries and make war less harsh." |
1905 | ![]() |
Bertha von Suttner (1843–1914) |
Austria-Hungary | "for bravely speaking out against the terrible things that happen in war." |
1906 | ![]() |
Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) |
United States | "for helping to end the war between Japan and Russia." |
1907 | ![]() |
Ernesto Teodoro Moneta (1833–1918) |
Italy | "for promoting understanding between France and Italy through writing and peace meetings." |
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Louis Renault (1843–1918) |
France | "for his important role in peace conferences like those in Hague and Geneva." | |
1908 | ![]() |
Klas Pontus Arnoldson (1844–1916) |
Sweden | "for their long work for peace as leaders, speakers, and writers." |
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Fredrik Bajer (1837–1922) |
Denmark | ||
1909 | ![]() |
Auguste Beernaert (1829–1912) |
Belgium | "for their important roles in the global movement for peace and fair agreements." |
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Paul Henri d'Estournelles de Constant (1852–1924) |
France | ||
1910 | ![]() |
Permanent International Peace Bureau (founded 1891) |
Switzerland | "for connecting peace groups worldwide and helping organize global peace events." |
1911 | ![]() |
Tobias Asser (1838–1913) |
Netherlands | "for helping create international law and organizing important legal conferences." |
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Alfred Fried (1864–1921) |
Austria-Hungary | "for working to show and fight against the main reasons for war." | |
1912 | ![]() |
Elihu Root (1845–1937) |
United States | "for improving understanding between North and South American countries and starting important peace agreements." |
1913 | ![]() |
Henri La Fontaine (1854–1943) |
Belgium | "for his great work in organizing international peace efforts." |
1914 | Not awarded because of World War I. | |||
1915 | ||||
1916 | ||||
1917 | ![]() |
International Committee of the Red Cross (founded 1863) |
Switzerland | "for helping wounded soldiers, prisoners of war, and their families." |
1918 | Not awarded because of World War I. | |||
1919 | ![]() |
Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) |
United States | "for helping to create the League of Nations." |
1920 | ![]() |
Léon Bourgeois (1851–1925) |
France | "for his long work for peace and justice, and his role in starting the League of Nations." |
1921 | ![]() |
Hjalmar Branting (1860–1925) |
Sweden | "for their lifelong work for peace and international cooperation." |
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Christian Lange (1869–1938) |
Norway | ||
1922 | ![]() |
Fridtjof Nansen (1861–1930) |
Norway | "for his leadership in helping war prisoners return home, providing international aid, and assisting refugees." |
1923 | Not awarded | |||
1924 | ||||
1925 | ![]() |
Sir Austen Chamberlain (1863–1937) |
United Kingdom | "for his important role in creating the Locarno Treaties." |
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Charles G. Dawes (1865–1951) |
United States | "for his important role in creating the Dawes Plan." | |
1926 | ![]() |
Aristide Briand (1862–1932) |
France | "for their important role in creating the Locarno Treaties." |
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Gustav Stresemann (1878–1929) |
Germany | ||
1927 | ![]() |
Ferdinand Buisson (1841–1932) |
France | "for helping people in France and Germany support peaceful international cooperation." |
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Ludwig Quidde (1858–1941) |
Germany |
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1928 | Not awarded | |||
1929 | ![]() |
Frank Billings Kellogg (1856–1937) |
United States | "for his important role in creating the Kellogg-Briand Pact." |
1930 | ![]() |
Nathan Söderblom (1866–1931) |
Sweden | "for promoting unity among Christians and helping create a mindset for peace between nations." |
1931 | ![]() |
Jane Addams (1860–1935) |
United States | "for their strong efforts to bring back the idea of peace in their countries and worldwide." |
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Nicholas Murray Butler (1862–1947) |
United States | ||
1932 | Not awarded | |||
1933 | ![]() |
Sir Norman Angell (1872–1967) |
United Kingdom | "for showing that war is an illusion and arguing strongly for international cooperation and peace." |
1934 | ![]() |
Arthur Henderson (1863–1935) |
United Kingdom | "for his tireless and brave work as chairman of the League of Nations Disarmament Conference." |
1935 | ![]() |
Carl von Ossietzky (1889–1938) |
Germany | "for his strong belief in freedom of thought and speech, and his valuable work for peace." |
1936 | ![]() |
Carlos Saavedra Lamas (1878–1959) |
Argentina | "for creating the Saavedra Lamas Treaty and helping to make peace between Paraguay and Bolivia." |
1937 | ![]() |
The Viscount Cecil of Chelwood (1864–1958) |
United Kingdom | "for his tireless work supporting the League of Nations, disarmament, and peace." |
1938 | ![]() |
Nansen International Office for Refugees (1930–1939) |
League of Nations | "for continuing Fridtjof Nansen's work to help refugees across Europe." |
1939 | Not awarded because of World War II. | |||
1940 | ||||
1941 | ||||
1942 | ||||
1943 | ||||
1944 | ![]() |
International Committee of the Red Cross (founded 1863) |
Switzerland | "for its great humanitarian work during World War II." |
1945 | ![]() |
Cordell Hull (1871–1955) |
United States | "for his tireless work for international understanding and his key role in creating the United Nations." |
1946 | ![]() |
Emily Greene Balch (1867–1961) |
United States | "for her lifelong work for peace." |
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John Raleigh Mott (1865–1955) |
United States | "for helping create a religious brotherhood that promotes peace across countries." | |
1947 | ![]() |
The Quakers (represented by Friends Service Council and American Friends Service Committee) (started during the mid-17th century) |
United States & United Kingdom | "for their pioneering work in the international peace movement and their kind efforts to help people in need." |
1948 | Not awarded because "there was no suitable living candidate." (A tribute to the recently assassinated Mohandas Gandhi in India.) | |||
1949 | ![]() |
Lord Boyd-Orr (1880–1971) |
United Kingdom | "for his lifelong effort to end hunger and poverty, which helps prevent wars." |
1950 | ![]() |
Ralph Bunche (1904–1971) |
United States | "for his work as a mediator in Palestine from 1948-1949." |
1951 | ![]() |
Léon Jouhaux (1879–1954) |
France | "for dedicating his life to fighting war by promoting social fairness and brotherhood among people and nations." |
1952 | ![]() |
Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) |
Germany/France | "for his kindness, respect for life, and tireless humanitarian work that brought the idea of brotherhood to life." |
1953 | ![]() |
George Catlett Marshall Jr. (1880–1959) |
United States | "for proposing and overseeing the Marshall Plan for Europe's economic recovery." |
1954 | ![]() |
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (founded 1950) |
United Nations | "for its efforts to help refugees worldwide and heal the wounds of war." |
1955 | Not awarded | |||
1956 | ||||
1957 | ![]() |
Lester Bowles Pearson (1897–1972) |
Canada | "for his important role in sending a United Nations Emergency Force after the Suez Crisis." |
1958 | ![]() |
Dominique Pire (1910–1969) |
Belgium | "for his efforts to help refugees leave camps and live freely and with dignity." |
1959 | ![]() |
Philip Noel-Baker (1889–1982) |
United Kingdom | "for his long work for disarmament and peace." |
1960 | ![]() |
Albert Luthuli (1898–1967) |
South Africa | "for his peaceful fight against apartheid." |
1961 | ![]() |
Dag Hammarskjöld (1905–1961) |
Sweden | "for making the UN an effective organization that brought its principles to life." |
1962 | ![]() |
Linus Pauling (1901–1994) |
United States | "for his fight against the nuclear arms race between East and West." |
1963 | ![]() |
International Committee of the Red Cross (founded 1863) |
Switzerland | "for promoting the rules of the Geneva Convention and working with the UN." |
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League of Red Cross Societies (founded 1919) |
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1964 | ![]() |
Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968) |
United States | "for his peaceful fight for civil rights for African Americans." |
1965 | ![]() |
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) (founded 1946) |
United Nations | "for its efforts to build friendship between nations and reduce the gap between rich and poor countries." |
1966 | Not awarded | |||
1967 | ||||
1968 | ![]() |
René Cassin (1887–1976) |
France | "for his fight to ensure human rights as stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights." |
1969 | ![]() |
International Labour Organization (founded 1919) |
United Nations | "for creating international laws that set standards for working conditions everywhere." |
1970 | ![]() |
Norman Ernest Borlaug (1914–2009) |
United States | "for giving hope through the green revolution." |
1971 | ![]() |
Willy Brandt (1913–1992) |
West Germany | "for opening the way for important talks between East and West." |
1972 | Not awarded | |||
1973 | ![]() |
Henry Kissinger (1923–2023) |
United States | "for jointly negotiating a cease fire in Vietnam in 1973." |
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Lê Đức Thọ (1911–1990) |
North Vietnam | ||
1974 | ![]() |
Seán MacBride (1904–1988) |
Ireland | "for his efforts to protect and develop human rights worldwide." |
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Eisaku Satō (1901–1975) |
Japan | "for helping stabilize the Pacific region and signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty." | |
1975 | ![]() |
Andrei Sakharov (1921–1989) |
Soviet Union | "for his fight for human rights in the Soviet Union, for disarmament, and for cooperation between nations." |
1976 | ![]() |
Betty Williams (1943–2020) |
United Kingdom | "for their brave efforts in starting a movement to end the violent conflict in Northern Ireland." |
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Mairead Corrigan (born 1944) |
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1977 | ![]() |
Amnesty International (founded 1961) |
United Kingdom | "for promoting human rights around the world." |
1978 | ![]() |
Anwar Sadat (1918–1981) |
Egypt | "for jointly negotiating peace between Egypt and Israel in 1978." |
Menachem Begin (1913–1992) |
Israel | |||
1979 | ![]() |
Mother Teresa (1910–1997) |
India | "for her work in helping suffering people." |
1980 | ![]() |
Adolfo Pérez Esquivel (born 1931) |
Argentina | "for inspiring people who were being repressed, especially in Latin America." |
1981 | ![]() |
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (founded 1950) |
United Nations | "for promoting the basic rights of refugees." |
1982 | ![]() |
Alva Myrdal (1902–1986) |
Sweden | "for their work for disarmament and nuclear-weapon-free zones." |
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Alfonso García Robles (1911–1991) |
Mexico | ||
1983 | ![]() |
Lech Wałęsa (born 1943) |
Poland | "for his peaceful fight for free trade unions and human rights in Poland." |
1984 | ![]() |
Desmond Tutu (1931–2021) |
South Africa | "for his role as a unifying leader in the peaceful campaign to end apartheid in South Africa." |
1985 | ![]() |
International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (founded 1980) |
United States | "for sharing important information and raising awareness about the terrible effects of nuclear war." |
1986 | ![]() |
Elie Wiesel (1928–2016) |
United States (born in Romania) | "for being a messenger to mankind, sharing a message of peace, forgiveness, and dignity." |
1987 | ![]() |
Óscar Arias (born 1940) |
Costa Rica | "for his work for lasting peace in Central America." |
1988 | ![]() |
United Nations Peace-Keeping Forces (founded 1945) |
United Nations | "for preventing armed clashes and creating conditions for talks." |
1989 | Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama (born 1935) |
India (born in Tibet) | "for promoting peaceful solutions based on respect to protect his people's heritage." | |
1990 | ![]() |
Mikhail Gorbachev (1931–2022) |
Soviet Union | "for his leading role in bringing big changes to relations between East and West." |
1991 | ![]() |
Aung San Suu Kyi (born 1945) |
Myanmar | "for her peaceful fight for democracy and human rights." |
1992 | ![]() |
Rigoberta Menchú (born 1959) |
Guatemala | "for her fight for social fairness and peace between different cultures, respecting the rights of indigenous peoples." |
1993 | ![]() |
Nelson Mandela (1918–2013) |
South Africa | "for their work to peacefully end the apartheid system and build a new democratic South Africa." |
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Frederik Willem de Klerk (1936–2021) |
South Africa | ||
1994 | ![]() |
Yasser Arafat (1929–2004) |
Palestine | "for their efforts to create peace in the Middle East." |
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Yitzhak Rabin (1922–1995) |
Israel | ||
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Shimon Peres (1923–2016) |
Israel | ||
1995 | ![]() |
Joseph Rotblat (1908–2005) |
Poland | "for their efforts to reduce the role of nuclear weapons and eventually get rid of them." |
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Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs | Canada | ||
1996 | ![]() |
Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo (born 1948) |
East Timor | "for their work towards a fair and peaceful solution to the conflict in East Timor." |
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José Ramos-Horta (born 1949) |
East Timor | ||
1997 | ![]() |
International Campaign to Ban Landmines (founded 1992) |
Switzerland | "for their work to ban and clear anti-personnel mines." |
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Jody Williams (born 1950) |
United States | ||
1998 | ![]() |
John Hume (1937–2020) |
Ireland | "for their efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in Northern Ireland." |
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David Trimble (1944–2022) |
United Kingdom | ||
1999 | Médecins Sans Frontières | Switzerland | "for the organization's pioneering humanitarian work on several continents." | |
2000 | ![]() |
Kim Dae-jung (1924–2009) |
South Korea | "for his work for democracy and human rights in South Korea and East Asia, and for peace with North Korea." |
2001 | ![]() |
United Nations | United Nations | "for their work for a better organized and more peaceful world." |
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Kofi Annan (1938–2018) |
Ghana | ||
2002 | ![]() |
Jimmy Carter (1924–2024) |
United States | "for his decades of tireless effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, promote democracy and human rights, and encourage economic and social development." |
2003 | ![]() |
Shirin Ebadi (born 1947) |
Iran | "for her efforts for democracy and human rights. She focused especially on the rights of women and children." |
2004 | ![]() |
Wangari Muta Maathai (1940–2011) |
Kenya | "for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy, and peace." |
2005 | ![]() |
International Atomic Energy Agency (founded 1957) |
United Nations | "for their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military purposes and to ensure its safe use for peaceful purposes." |
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Mohamed ElBaradei (born 1942) |
Egypt | ||
2006 | ![]() |
Muhammad Yunus (born 1940) |
Bangladesh | "for their efforts to create social and economic development from the ground up." |
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Grameen Bank (founded 1983) |
Bangladesh | ||
2007 | ![]() |
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (founded 1988) |
United Nations | "for their efforts to build and share knowledge about human-caused climate change, and to set the stage for actions needed to fight it." |
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Al Gore (born 1948) |
United States | ||
2008 | ![]() |
Martti Ahtisaari (1937–2023) |
Finland | "for his important efforts, over many years and on several continents, to solve international conflicts." |
2009 | ![]() |
Barack Obama (born 1961) |
United States | "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." |
2010 | ![]() |
Liu Xiaobo (1955–2017) |
China | "for his long and peaceful fight for basic human rights in China." |
2011 | ![]() |
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (born 1938) |
Liberia | "for their peaceful fight for the safety of women and for women's rights to fully participate in peace-building work." |
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Leymah Gbowee (born 1972) |
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Tawakkol Karman (born 1979) |
Yemen | ||
2012 | ![]() |
European Union (founded 1958) |
European Union | "for over six decades of contributing to peace, reconciliation, democracy, and human rights in Europe." |
2013 | ![]() |
Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (founded 1997) |
Netherlands | "for its extensive efforts to get rid of chemical weapons." |
2014 | ![]() |
Kailash Satyarthi (born 1954) |
India | "for their fight against the mistreatment of children and young people, and for the right of all children to education." |
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Malala Yousafzai (born 1997) |
Pakistan | ||
2015 | ![]() |
Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet (2013–2014) |
Tunisia | "for its key role in building a diverse democracy in Tunisia after the Jasmine Revolution of 2011." |
2016 | ![]() |
Juan Manuel Santos (born 1951) |
Colombia | "for his strong efforts to end the civil war in his country, which lasted over 50 years." |
2017 | ![]() |
International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (founded 2007) |
Switzerland | "for its work to highlight the terrible human consequences of using nuclear weapons and its efforts to create a treaty banning them." |
2018 | ![]() |
Denis Mukwege (born 1955) |
Democratic Republic of the Congo | "for their efforts to end the use of violence against people in wars and conflicts." |
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Nadia Murad (born 1993) |
Iraq | ||
2019 | ![]() |
Abiy Ahmed (born 1976) |
Ethiopia | "for his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, especially for his key step to solve the border conflict with neighboring Eritrea." |
2020 | ![]() |
World Food Programme (founded 1961) |
United Nations | "for its efforts to fight hunger, for helping create better conditions for peace in conflict areas, and for working to prevent hunger from being used as a weapon." |
2021 | ![]() |
Maria Ressa (born 1963) |
Philippines | "for their efforts to protect freedom of expression, which is essential for democracy and lasting peace." |
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Dmitry Muratov (born 1961) |
Russia | ||
2022 | ![]() |
Ales Bialiatski (born 1962) |
Belarus | "These Peace Prize winners represent civil society in their home countries. For many years, they have promoted the right to speak out against power and protect basic human rights. They have done outstanding work to document unfair actions and abuse of power. Together, they show how important civil society is for peace and democracy." |
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Memorial (founded 1989) |
Russia | ||
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Centre for Civil Liberties (founded 2007) |
Ukraine | ||
2023 | ![]() |
Narges Mohammadi (born 1972) |
Iran | "for her fight for human rights and freedom for all, especially for women in Iran." |
2024 | ![]() |
Nihon Hidankyo (founded 1956) |
Japan | "for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for showing through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again." |
2025 | ![]() |
María Corina Machado (born 1967) |
Venezuela | "for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve democracy and peace." |
Peace Prize Winners by Group
Category | Total |
---|---|
Men | 94 |
Women | 20 |
International organizations | 27 |
Not awarded | 19 |
Peace Prize Winners by Country
Country | Laureates |
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23 |
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12 |
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11 |
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10 |
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9 |
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5 |
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4 |
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4 |
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4 |
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3 |
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3 |
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2 |
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See also
In Spanish: Anexo:Ganadores del Premio Nobel de la Paz para niños
- List of Nobel laureates
- List of peace activists
- List of organizations nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize
- List of individuals nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize
- PRIO Director's Shortlist