Member states of NATO facts for kids

NATO in 2025

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is like a big team of 32 countries from Europe and North America that work together to keep each other safe. It was started on April 4, 1949. Most of the countries (30) are in Europe, and two are in North America.

NATO also has ways for its members to work with other countries nearby. These include programs like the Partnership for Peace.

Almost all NATO members have armies. The only one that doesn't have a typical army is Iceland. However, Iceland has a coast guard and special civilian experts who help NATO. Three NATO countries have nuclear weapons: France, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

NATO started with 12 countries. Over the years, more countries joined. Since the end of the Cold War, 16 more countries have joined NATO.

A very important rule in NATO is Article 5. It says that if one member country is attacked, it's like an attack on all of them. Then, all the other members will help the attacked country, even using their armed forces if needed. This rule mainly covers attacks on the main parts of North America and Europe, and all of Turkey. It does not cover faraway places like Hawaii or the Falkland Islands.

NATO also has an "Open Doors" policy. This means that countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, and Ukraine are hoping to join NATO in the future.

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. This happened when the North Atlantic Treaty was signed. The first 12 countries to join were: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

All these countries also signed another agreement in 1951. This agreement made sure that civilians, not just military leaders, had a say in how NATO was run.

Today, NATO has 32 member countries. Besides the first 12, four more joined during the Cold War. These were Greece and Turkey in 1952, West Germany in 1955, and Spain in 1982. Also, when Germany became one country again in 1990, the former East Germany joined NATO.

After the Cold War ended, NATO grew even more. Many countries from Eastern Europe joined. These included the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland in 1999. Then, in 2004, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia joined. Later, Albania and Croatia joined in 2009, Montenegro in 2017, and North Macedonia in 2020. Most recently, Finland joined in 2023, and Sweden joined in 2024.

No country has ever left NATO since it started. However, France did step away from NATO's main military command for a while, from 1966 to 2009.

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

NATO Member Countries

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

List of member states of NATO

Flag	Map	Country Name	Capital City	Joined NATO	Population	Military Spending (as % of GDP)
		Albania	Tirana	1 April 2009	002,854,710	2.03
		Belgium	Brussels	24 August 1949	011,611,419	1.30
		Bulgaria	Sofia	29 March 2004	006,885,868	2.18
		Canada	Ottawa	24 August 1949	038,155,012	1.37
		Croatia	Zagreb	1 April 2009	004,060,135	1.81
		Czech Republic	Prague	12 March 1999	010,510,751	2.10
		Denmark	Copenhagen	24 August 1949	005,854,240	2.37
		Estonia	Tallinn	29 March 2004	001,328,701	3.43
		Finland	Helsinki	4 April 2023	005,619,399	2.41
		France	Paris	24 August 1949	064,531,444	2.06
		Germany	Berlin	6 May 1955 (West Germany) 3 October 1990 (Germany)	083,408,554	2.12
		Greece	Athens	18 February 1952	010,445,365	3.08
		Hungary	Budapest	12 March 1999	009,709,786	2.11
		Iceland	Reykjavík	24 August 1949	000,370,335	0.0
		Italy	Rome		059,240,329	1.49
		Latvia	Riga	29 March 2004	001,873,919	3.15
		Lithuania	Vilnius		002,786,651	2.85
		Luxembourg	Luxembourg	24 August 1949	000,639,321	1.29
		Montenegro	Podgorica	5 June 2017	000,627,859	2.02
		Netherlands	Amsterdam	24 August 1949	017,501,696	2.05
		North Macedonia	Skopje	27 March 2020	002,103,330	2.22
		Norway	Oslo	24 August 1949	005,403,021	2.20
		Poland	Warsaw	12 March 1999	038,307,726	4.12
		Portugal	Lisbon	24 August 1949	010,290,103	1.55
		Romania	Bucharest	29 March 2004	019,328,560	2.25
		Slovakia	Bratislava		005,447,622	2.0
		Slovenia	Ljubljana		002,119,410	1.29
		Spain	Madrid	30 May 1982	047,486,935	1.28
		Sweden	Stockholm	7 March 2024	010,467,097	2.14
		Turkey	Ankara	18 February 1952	084,775,404	2.09
		United Kingdom	London	24 August 1949	067,281,039	2.33
		United States	Washington, D.C.		336,997,624	3.38

Special Rules for Some Members

Some of the first countries to join NATO, 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 they invited them. However, Denmark did allow the US to keep an existing base in Greenland.

For many years, from the mid-1960s to the mid-1990s, France decided to have its military work more independently from NATO. But in 2009, France rejoined NATO's main military command. France is still the only NATO member that doesn't fully commit its nuclear submarines to the alliance.

Countries Hoping to Join NATO

As of March 2024, three more countries have officially told NATO they want to join. These are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, and Ukraine.

• At a big meeting in 2008, NATO members agreed that Georgia and Ukraine "will become members of NATO in the future."
• NATO invited Bosnia and Herzegovina to start a special plan to prepare for membership in April 2010.

Countries That Left NATO (or Didn't Join)

No country has ever officially left NATO. However, some places that used to be controlled by NATO member countries did not join NATO after they became independent.

•  Cyprus became independent from the United Kingdom in 1960.
•  Algeria became independent from France in 1962.
•  Malta became independent from the United Kingdom in 1964.

Military Personnel in NATO

This section shows how many people are in the military for each NATO country.

Numbers of military personnel

Country	Active Soldiers	Reserve Soldiers	Other Military Staff	Total Military	Per 1,000 People
					Total	Active
	Albania	5,350	2,100	2,150	9,600	3.1	1.7
	Belgium	23,500	5,900	0	29,400	2.5	2
	Bulgaria	36,950	3,000	0	39,950	5.9	5.4
	Canada	62,300	29,100	5,800	97,200	2.5	1.6
	Croatia	16,800	21,000	3,000	40,800	9.8	4
	Czech Republic	26,600	4,200	0	30,800	2.8	2.5
	Denmark	13,100	44,200	0	57,300	9.6	2.2
	Estonia	7,100	20,000	21,200	48,300	40.5	5.9
	Finland	23,850	233,000	2,900	259,750	46.2	4.2
	France	202,200	38,500	95,100	335,800	4.9	3
	Germany	179,850	34,100	0	213,950	2.5	2.1
	Greece	132,000	289,000	7,400	428,400	41	12.6
	Hungary	32,150	20,000	0	52,150	5.3	3.3
	Iceland	0	0	250	250	0.7	0
	Italy	161,850	14,500	178,600	354,950	5.8	2.7
	Latvia	6,600	16,000	0	22,600	12.5	3.7
	Lithuania	16,100	12,950	18,400	47,450	18.1	6.1
	Luxembourg	900	0	600	1,500	2.2	1.3
	Montenegro	2,710	2,800	4,100	9,610	16	4.5
	Netherlands	33,650	6,350	6,500	46,500	2.6	1.9
	North Macedonia	8,000	4,850	7,600	20,450	9.6	3.7
	Norway	25,400	40,000	0	65,400	11.9	4.6
	Poland	164,100	37,500	14,300	215,900	5.6	4.2
	Portugal	21,500	23,500	22,600	67,600	6.6	2.1
	Romania	69,900	55,000	57,000	181,900	10	3.9
	Slovakia	12,800	0	0	12,800	2.3	2.3
	Slovenia	6,200	950	0	7,150	3.4	3
	Spain	122,200	13,800	80,500	216,500	4.6	2.6
	Sweden	14,850	21,500	0	36,350	3.4	1.4
	Turkey	355,200	378,700	160,800	894,700	10.6	4.2
	United Kingdom	141,100	70,450	0	211,550	3.1	2.1
	United States	1,315,600	797,200	0	2,112,800	6.2	3.8
	NATO	3,240,410	2,233,850	688,800	6,163,060	6.3	3.3

How Much Money NATO Countries Spend on Defense

The United States spends more than twice as much on defense as all other NATO members put together. 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 meet 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 Country	Population	Total Money (GDP in $billions)	Defense Spending (US$)			Military Staff
			Total ($millions)	% of GDP	Per Person
Albania	3,101,621	25.43	516	2.03	114	7,000
Belgium	11,913,633	655.74	8,519	1.30	585	21,300
Bulgaria	6,827,736	106.72	2,325	2.18	218	26,900
Canada	38,516,736	2,233.83	30,495	1.37	609	77,100
Croatia	4,169,239	89.90	1,624	1.81	315	13,700
Czech Republic	10,706,242	326.13	6,834	2.10	426	29,500
Denmark	6,057,361	418.58	9,940	2.37	1,479	17,300
Estonia	1,202,762	41.89	1,437	3.43	690	7,500
Finland	5,614,571	302.72	7,308	2.41	1,103	30,800
France	62,819,428	3,120.35	64,271	2.06	801	204,700
Germany	84,220,184	4,610.04	97,686	2.12	911	185,600
Greece	10,497,595	249.81	7,684	3.08	648	110,800
Hungary	9,670,009	231.61	4,889	2.11	349	20,900
Iceland	360,872	32.89	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Italy	61,021,855	2,311.17	34,462	1.49	505	171,400
Latvia	1,821,750	45.15	1,421	3.15	539	8,400
Lithuania	2,655,755	80.72	2,300	2.85	538	18,500
Luxembourg	660,924	60.69	785	1.29	921	900
Montenegro	602,445	8.02	162	2.02	170	1,600
Netherlands	17,463,930	1,162.88	21,640	1.85	1,030	41,900
North Macedonia	2,133,410	15.87	353	2.22	127	6,100
Norway	5,600,850	482.58	10,606	2.20	1,754	24,300
Poland	37,991,766	848.86	34,975	4.12	711	216,100
Portugal	10,223,150	298.98	4,627	1.55	360	28,400
Romania	18,326,327	383.92	8,644	2.25	289	66,600
Slovakia	5,425,319	142.81	2,841	1.99	387	15,600
Slovenia	2,099,790	73.52	949	1.29	339	5,900
Spain	47,051,085	1,658.36	21,269	1.28	366	117,400
Sweden	10,536,338	626.54	13,428	2.14	1,185	23,100
Turkey	83,593,483	1,090.29	22,776	2.09	310	481,000
United Kingdom	68,502,956	3,520.50	82,107	2.33	1,077	138,100
United States	338,229,980	28,719.94	967,707	3.37	2,239	1,300,200
NATO	969,619,192	53,976.44	1,474,399	2.73	1,210	3,418,600

How People Feel About NATO

A survey in 2016 showed that most people in NATO countries liked NATO. However, many also thought their country's military spending should stay the same.

The survey also asked if their country should help another NATO country with its military if it was attacked. The answers were mixed. About half or fewer people in six of eight countries said their country should use military force. In Germany (58%), France (53%), and Italy (51%), more than half said they should not use military force.

More than half of Americans (56%) and Canadians (53%) were willing to help. Many British (49%) and Polish (48%) people also supported helping. People in Spain were split, with 48% supporting and 47% opposing.

A company called YouGov also checks public opinion about NATO. As of January 6, 2025, 45% of people in the UK strongly support NATO. 31% tend to support it. Older people (65+) support NATO more strongly (59%). Younger people (18-24) tend to support it (34%), but many (33%) are unsure.

A poll in 2025 found that 52% of people in Slovenia supported NATO membership. This is less than the 66% who voted for it in a special vote in 2003.