The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is a military alliance formed in 1949 by 12 countries, including the US, Canada, the UK, and France.

Members agree to come to one another’s aid in the event of an armed attack against any one member state. Its point was initially to counter the danger of post-war Russian extension in Europe.

In 1955 Soviet Russia answered to Nato by making its own tactical union of eastern European socialist nations, called the Warsaw Pact.

Following the breakdown of the Soviet Union in 1991, various previous Warsaw Pact nations exchanged sides and became Nato individuals. The union currently has 30 members.

NATO Members

Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States.

In Order Of Joining NATO

1949 – Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, United Kingdom, United States.

1952 – Greece, Turkey

1955 – Germany

1982 – Spain

1999 – Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland

2004 – Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia

2009 – Albania, Croatia

2017 – Montenegro

2020 – North Macedonia

NATO Partner Countries

Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Finland, Georgia, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Kyrghyz Republic, Malta, The Republic of Moldova, Russia, Serbia, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.