Which are the five nuclear powers?
The world's five nuclear powers are the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, and China. These five countries were the first to develop and master nuclear weapons, and they are also considered "nuclear weapon states" by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), and are legal possessors of nuclear weapons.
More than 100 countries around the world have signed the NPT, a treaty designed to prevent the misuse and proliferation of nuclear weapons and to promote the rational and peaceful use of nuclear energy. In the treaty, only countries that manufactured and tested nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices before January 1, 1967, can be counted as nuclear-armed states, so these five countries, the five permanent members of the United Nations, are the legal possessors of nuclear weapons.
Ranking the World's Five Nuclear Powers
As of 2019, the world's nine nuclear and "quasi-nuclear" states have a total of 13,865 nuclear bombs. Of these, Russia and the United States have the most, with 4,330 and 3,800 nuclear bombs, respectively, with both countries accounting for more than 90% of the world's nuclear bombs.
Russia and the United States are followed by France with 300, China with 290, and the United Kingdom with 200, in that order. All five of the current nuclear powers have a second nuclear strike capability. In addition, Pakistan, India, Israel, and North Korea together have hundreds of nuclear bombs.
Why are only these five countries legal
With the exception of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, which are legal to possess nuclear weapons, nuclear weapons research and test explosions conducted by other countries are illegal. These five countries are legal because they are permanent members of the United Nations and because they were the major victors in World War II.
So only these five countries are recognized as nuclear powers and can use nuclear weapons in war without violating international law, while others have nuclear weapons but are illegal.
Other countries with nuclear weapons
In fact, in addition to these five countries, three other countries have conducted nuclear explosion tests, namely India, Pakistan and North Korea, in addition to Israel should have developed nuclear weapons, only not officially recognized, Japan and Germany are in possession of nuclear technology, fully capable of producing nuclear weapons in a short period of time.
