Member states of NATO facts for kids

NATO in 2024

NATO stands for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's a group of 32 countries from Europe and North America that have agreed to help each other if one of them is attacked. Think of it like a big team where everyone has each other's back!

NATO was started on April 4, 1949. A very important rule in NATO is called Article 5. It says that if one member country is attacked, it's like an attack on all members. Then, the other countries will come to help, even using their armed forces if needed.

However, this rule mostly applies to Europe and North America. For example, an attack on places like Hawaii or the Falkland Islands would not start an Article 5 response.

Most of NATO's 32 member countries (30 of them) are in Europe. Only two are in North America. Over the years, NATO has also created ways to work with other countries nearby, like the Partnership for Peace.

Almost all NATO countries have their own armies. The only exception is Iceland, which doesn't have a regular army. Instead, it has a coast guard and a small team of experts who help with NATO jobs. Three NATO members have nuclear weapons: France, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

When NATO first started, it had 12 founding countries. Later, three more joined between 1952 and 1955, and another in 1982. After the Cold War ended, NATO grew even more, adding 16 new members from 1999 to 2024.

Today, NATO is also looking at new countries that want to join. These include Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, and Ukraine.

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)

How NATO Started and Grew

NATO was officially created on April 4, 1949, when the North Atlantic Treaty was signed. The first 12 countries to join were:

• Belgium
• Canada
• Denmark
• France
• Iceland
• Italy
• Luxembourg
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Portugal
• United Kingdom
• United States

These countries also signed another agreement in 1951. This agreement made sure that civilian leaders, not just military ones, would oversee the alliance.

Today, NATO has 32 member countries. Besides the original 12, four more joined during the Cold War:

• Greece (1952)
• Turkey (1952)
• West Germany (1955)
• Spain (1982)

In 1990, when Germany became one country again, the former East Germany also became part of NATO.

After the Cold War, NATO continued to grow. Many countries from Eastern Europe joined:

• 1999: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland
• 2004: Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia
• 2009: Albania, Croatia
• 2017: Montenegro
• 2020: North Macedonia
• 2023: Finland
• 2024: Sweden

Most of these newer members were either part of the Warsaw Pact (a rival alliance during the Cold War) or from the former Yugoslavia. No country has ever left NATO since it began.

As of March 7, 2024, with Sweden joining, NATO now covers a huge area of about 27.5 million square kilometers (about 10.6 million square miles).

Countries Hoping to Join NATO

As of March 2024, three more countries have officially said they want to join NATO:

• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Georgia
• Ukraine

NATO leaders said at a meeting in 2008 that Georgia and Ukraine "will become members of NATO in the future." Bosnia and Herzegovina was invited to start a special plan to prepare for membership in 2010.

NATO Member Countries

Here is a list of all the countries that are part of NATO and when they joined.

Flag	Map	Name	Capital	Joined	Population	Area	Military budget as %GDP 2023	GDP 2023 (million US$)	Languages
		Albania	Tirana	1 April 2009	002,854,710	28,748 km2 (11,100 sq mi)	1.7	22,743	Albanian
		Belgium	Brussels	24 August 1949	011,611,419	30,528 km2 (11,787 sq mi)	1.2	630,110	Dutch French German
		Bulgaria	Sofia	29 March 2004	006,885,868	110,879 km2 (42,811 sq mi)	1.8	101,611	Bulgarian
		Canada	Ottawa	24 August 1949	038,155,012	9,984,670 km2 (3,855,103 sq mi)	1.3	2,140,086	English French
		Croatia	Zagreb	1 April 2009	004,060,135	56,594 km2 (21,851 sq mi)	1.8	82,044	Croatian
		Czech Republic	Prague	12 March 1999	010,510,751	78,867 km2 (30,451 sq mi)	1.5	332,025	Czech
		Denmark	Copenhagen	24 August 1949	005,854,240	2,210,573 km2 (853,507 sq mi)	2.0	405,199	Danish
		Estonia	Tallinn	29 March 2004	001,328,701	45,228 km2 (17,463 sq mi)	2.9	40,757	Estonian
		Finland	Helsinki	4 April 2023	005,535,992	338,455 km2 (130,678 sq mi)	2.4	300,499	Finnish Swedish
		France	Paris	24 August 1949	064,531,444	643,427 km2 (248,429 sq mi)	2.1	3,031,778	French
		Germany	Berlin	6 May 1955 (West Germany) 3 October 1990 (Germany)	083,408,554	357,022 km2 (137,847 sq mi)	1.5	4,457,366	German
		Greece	Athens	18 February 1952	010,445,365	131,957 km2 (50,949 sq mi)	3.2	238,275	Greek
		Hungary	Budapest	12 March 1999	009,709,786	93,028 km2 (35,918 sq mi)	2.1	212,610	Hungarian
		Iceland	Reykjavík	24 August 1949	000,370,335	103,000 km2 (39,769 sq mi)	0.0	31,020	Icelandic
		Italy	Rome		059,240,329	301,340 km2 (116,348 sq mi)	1.6	2,255,503	Italian
		Latvia	Riga	29 March 2004	001,873,919	64,589 km2 (24,938 sq mi)	2.3	43,598	Latvian
		Lithuania	Vilnius		002,786,651	65,300 km2 (25,212 sq mi)	2.7	77,926	Lithuanian
		Luxembourg	Luxembourg	24 August 1949	000,639,321	2,586 km2 (998 sq mi)	0.7	85,780	Luxembourgish French German
		Montenegro	Podgorica	5 June 2017	000,627,859	13,812 km2 (5,333 sq mi)	1.6	7,406	Montenegrin
		Netherlands	Amsterdam	24 August 1949	017,501,696	41,543 km2 (16,040 sq mi)	1.5	1,117,101	Dutch
		North Macedonia	Skopje	27 March 2020	002,103,330	25,713 km2 (9,928 sq mi)	1.7	14,769	Macedonian
		Norway	Oslo	24 August 1949	005,403,021	323,802 km2 (125,021 sq mi)	1.6	485,513	Norwegian
		Poland	Warsaw	12 March 1999	038,307,726	312,685 km2 (120,728 sq mi)	3.8	808,435	Polish
		Portugal	Lisbon	24 August 1949	010,290,103	92,090 km2 (35,556 sq mi)	1.5	287,421	Portuguese
		Romania	Bucharest	29 March 2004	019,328,560	238,391 km2 (92,043 sq mi)	1.6	345,894	Romanian
		Slovakia	Bratislava		005,447,622	49,035 km2 (18,933 sq mi)	2.0	132,122	Slovakian
		Slovenia	Ljubljana		002,119,410	20,273 km2 (7,827 sq mi)	1.3	68,236	Slovenian
		Spain	Madrid	30 May 1982	047,486,935	505,370 km2 (195,124 sq mi)	1.5	1,581,151	Spanish
		Sweden	Stockholm	7 March 2024	010,467,097	450,295 km2 (173,860 sq mi)	1.5	593,268	Swedish
		Turkey	Ankara	18 February 1952	084,775,404	783,562 km2 (302,535 sq mi)	1.5	1,108,453	Turkish
		United Kingdom	London	24 August 1949	067,281,039	243,610 km2 (94,058 sq mi)	2.3	3,344,744	English
		United States	Washington, D.C.		336,997,624	9,833,520 km2 (3,796,743 sq mi)	3.4	27,357,825

Special Rules for Some Members

Some of the first NATO members, like Denmark, Iceland, and Norway, made special agreements. They decided not to have permanent military bases from other NATO countries, no nuclear weapons, and no Allied military activities on their land unless invited. However, Denmark did allow the U.S. to keep an existing base in Greenland.

For a long time, from the 1960s to the 1990s, France had its own military strategy. It worked somewhat separately from NATO. But in 2009, France decided to rejoin NATO's main military command. France is still the only NATO member that is not part of the Nuclear Planning Group. Also, unlike the United States and the United Kingdom, France does not promise to use its nuclear submarines to help the alliance.

NATO's Military Strength

This section shows how many military personnel each NATO country has. "Active" means full-time soldiers. "Reserve" means people who can be called to serve if needed. "Paramilitary" are groups that are like military but not part of the main army.

Numbers of military personnel

Country		Active	Reserve	Para­mili­tary	Total	Per 1,000 people
						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	36,440	45,800	51,000	133,240	22.6	6.2
	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	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	33,400	40,000	0	73,400	13.3	6.1
	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	8.7	4

How Much Money NATO Countries Spend on Defense

Countries in NATO spend money on their military to keep their nations safe. This is called "defense spending."

Military spending of the US compared to 29 other NATO member countries (all except Sweden) (US$ millions).      United States (67.1%)     All other NATO countries total (32.90%)

Total military spending of NATO member countries except the United States, and Sweden (US$ millions).      Greece (1.75%)     Estonia (0.28%)     Portugal (0.99%)     Montenegro (0.03%)     Lithuania (0.51%)     Norway (2.05%)     Turkey (4.42%)     Latvia (0.25%)     Denmark (1.91%)     Croatia (0.34%)     Other (87.81%)

The United States spends more than twice as much on defense as all other NATO members combined. NATO members have agreed to spend at least 2% of their country's total economic output (called GDP) on defense. However, in 2023, most countries did not reach this goal.

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

Member state	Popu­lation	GDP (nomi­nal) ($billions)	Defense spending (US$)			Military Staff
			Total ($mil­lions)	% real GDP	Per person
Albania	3,101,621	23.36	401	1.72	93	6,600
Belgium	11,913,633	636.07	7,670	1.21	537	21,400
Bulgaria	6,827,736	103.59	1,933	1.87	181	26,600
Canada	38,516,736	2,123.01	28,140	1.33	591	66,800
Croatia	4,169,239	83.01	1,450	1.75	291	14,000
Czech Republic	10,706,242	334.94	5,108	1.53	305	27,700
Denmark	6,057,361	412.37	8,199	2.00	1,208	16,700
Estonia	1,202,762	41.50	1,198	2.89	587	7,300
Finland	5,614,571	305.42	7,500	2.46	1,146	31,000
France	62,819,428	3,050.30	57,815	1.90	734	207,300
Germany	84,220,184	4,473.00	74,085	1.66	712	181,700
Greece	10,497,595	245.38	7,495	3.05	632	111,000
Hungary	9,670,009	209.41	4,338	2.07	336	20,100
Iceland	360,872	31.30	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Italy	61,021,855	2,223.01	32,750	1.47	494	170,700
Latvia	1,821,750	44.60	1,052	2.37	404	6,700
Lithuania	2,655,755	79.13	2,177	2.75	508	17,900
Luxembourg	660,924	59.61	603	1.01	730	900
Montenegro	602,445	7.45	115	1.55	128	1,700
Netherlands	17,463,930	1,122.05	16,538	1.63	818	40,800
North Macedonia	2,133,410	15.80	268	1.70	96	5,700
Norway	5,600,850	488.19	8,788	1.80	1,445	24,000
Poland	37,991,766	819.82	32,165	3.92	655	202,300
Portugal	10,223,150	288.37	4,254	1.48	337	22,400
Romania	18,326,327	352.64	5,655	1.60	200	64,000
Slovakia	5,425,319	130.90	2,682	2.05	387	13,800
Slovenia	2,099,790	68.61	914	1.33	342	5,700
Spain	47,051,085	1,582.94	19,638	1.24	350	110,600
Sweden	10,536,338
Turkey	83,593,483	1,201.56	18,965	1.58	228	463,700
United Kingdom	68,502,956	3,398.27	77,384	2.28	1,077	139,500
United States	338,229,980	27,343.45	875,603	3.24	2,101	1,317,000
NATO	969,619,192	51,298.96	1,304,886	2.54	1,113	3,346,000