Historical nuclear weapons stockpiles and nuclear tests by country
This article shows various estimates of the nuclear weapon stockpiles of various countries at various points in time.
This article also shows the number of nuclear weapons tests conducted by each country at various points in time.
[19] The United States and Russian nuclear weapons stockpiles are projected to continue decreasing over the next decade.
[22] South Africa successfully built six nuclear weapons in the 1980s, but dismantled all of them in the early 1990s, shortly before the fall of the apartheid system.
[10] However, it is worth pointing out that this report was written before the overthrow of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and before information was released indicating that Iraq had already given up its nuclear weapons program.
U.S. and Soviet/Russian nuclear weapons stockpiles/inventories from 1945 to 2006. The failing
Soviet economy
and the
dissolution of the country between 1989 and 1991
which marks the end of the
Cold War
and with it the relaxation of the arms race, brought about a large decrease in both nations' stockpiles. The effects of the
Megatons to Megawatts
can also be seen in the mid-1990s, continuing Russia's reducing trend. A similar chart focusing solely on quantity of warheads in the multi-
megaton
range is also available.
[
17
]
Moreover, total
deployed
US & "Russian" strategic weapons increased steadily from the 1980s until the Cold War ended.
[
18
]
Over 2,000 nuclear explosions have been conducted, in over a dozen different sites around the world. Red Russia/Soviet Union, blue France, light blue United States, violet Britain, black Israel, yellow China, orange India, brown Pakistan, green North Korea and light green (territories exposed to nuclear bombs).
