Which countries around the globe have nuclear weapons? All you need to know

NUCLEAR WEAPONS have been adopted by countries worldwide, with major superpowers and some smaller nations making use of them.

The United States of America was the first to develop and adopt a nuclear arsenal with the Soviet Union quickly following suit after their first successful test in 1949.

Currently, there are nine countries recognised by the international community as possessing nuclear weapons.

Which countries around the world have nuclear weapons?

The United States was the first nation to develop nuclear weapons (Image: Getty Images) These are all the countries around the world that possess nuclear weapons in order of when they developed them.

• The United States of America (USA) - 1945
• Russian Federation (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics - USSR) - 1949
• United Kingdom - 1952
• France - 1960
• People's Republic of China - 1964
• India - 1974
• Pakistan - 1998
• Israel - between 1960 and 1979 (first successful test unknown)
• North Korea - 2006

Which countries used to have nuclear weapons?

There are a number of nations that gave up their nuclear weapons (Image: Getty Images) There are also a number of countries around the world that once possessed nuclear arsenals but decided to forgo them.

Three notable nations that used to have these weapons of mass destruction include the former Soviet Republics of Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.

Following the collapse of the USSR in 1991, the newly independent countries opted to return the arsenals they had inherited back to Russia.

South Africa is another power that opted to do away with its nukes. During the apartheid years, the country made use of these weapons to exert geopolitical leverage in the region.

However, when minority rule ended, the nuclear programme was discontinued and the country dismantled its last remaining bombs, signing the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in 1991.