Member States of NATO - wikipedia Member States of NATO Current NATO members highlighted in blue Timeline of countries becoming NATO members. Dark blue marks countries that were already NATO members at the given time. Light blue marks new members. NATO ( the North Atlantic Treaty Organization ) is an international alliance that consists of 29 member states from North America and Europe. It was established at the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on 4 April 1949. Article Five of the treaty states that if an armed attack occurs against one of the member states, it should be considered an attack against all members, and other members shall assist the attacked member, with armed forces if necessary. Of the 29 member countries, two are located in North America ( Canada and the United States ) and 27 are European countries while Turkey is in Eurasia. All members have militaries, except for Iceland which does not have a typical army ( but does, however, have a coast guard and a small unit of civilian specialists for NATO operations ). Three of NATO 's members are nuclear weapons states : France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. NATO has 12 original founding member nation states, and from 18 February 1952 to 6 May 1955, it added three more member nations, and a fourth on 30 May 1982. After the end of the Cold War, NATO added 13 more member nations ( 10 former Warsaw Pact members and three former Yugoslav republics ) from 12 March 1999 to 5 June 2017. Contents 1 Founding and changes in membership 2 Member states by date of membership 3 Military personnel 4 Military expenditures 4.1 Table 5 References Founding and changes in membership Main article : Enlargement of NATO NATO has added new members seven times since its founding in 1949, and since 2017 NATO has had 29 members. Twelve countries were part of the founding of NATO : Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 1952, Greece and Turkey became members of the Alliance, joined later by West Germany ( in 1955 ) and Spain ( in 1982 ). In 1990, with the reunification of Germany, NATO grew to include the former country of East Germany. Between 1994 and 1997, wider forums for regional cooperation between NATO and its neighbors were set up, including the Partnership for Peace, the Mediterranean Dialogue initiative and the Euro - Atlantic Partnership Council. In 1997, three former Warsaw Pact countries, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Poland, were invited to join NATO. After this fourth enlargement in 1999, the Vilnius group of The Baltics and seven East European countries formed in May 2000 to cooperate and lobby for further NATO membership. Seven of these countries joined in the fifth enlargement in 2004. The Adriatic States Albania and Croatia joined in the sixth enlargement in 2009, Montenegro in 2017. Due to the 2016 -- 17 Turkish purges and Turkey 's turn to authoritarianism some have speculated that Turkey could be expelled from NATO. United States President Donald Trump has also expressed interest in withdrawing from the organization during the 2016 election campaign, and only recently stated the United States would protect allies in the event that Article V is invoked. Member States by date of membership Date Country Enlargement Notes 24 August 1949 Belgium Founders Canada Denmark Denmark 's NATO membership includes the Faroe Islands and Greenland. France France withdrew from the integrated military command in 1966 to pursue an independent defense system but returned to full participation on 3 April 2009. Iceland Iceland, the sole member that does not have its own standing army, joined on the condition that it would not be expected to establish one. However, its strategic geographic position in the Atlantic made it an invaluable member. It has a Coast Guard and has recently contributed a voluntary peacekeeping force, trained in Norway for NATO. Italy Luxembourg Netherlands Norway Portugal United Kingdom United States 18 February 1952 Greece First Greece withdrew its forces from NATO 's military command structure from 1974 to 1980 as a result of Greco - Turkish tensions following the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus. Turkey 6 May 1955 Germany Second Commonly known as West Germany when it joined ; it later reunited with Saarland in 1957 and with the Berlin territories and East Germany on 3 October 1990. East Germany was a member of the rival Warsaw Pact 1956 -- 1990. 30 May 1982 Spain Third 12 March 1999 Czech Republic Fourth Member of the rival Warsaw Pact 1955 -- 1991 as part of Czechoslovakia. Hungary Member of the rival Warsaw Pact 1955 -- 1991. Poland Member of the rival Warsaw Pact 1955 -- 1990. 29 March 2004 Bulgaria Fifth Member of the rival Warsaw Pact 1955 -- 1991. Estonia Member of the rival Warsaw Pact 1955 -- 1991 as part of the Soviet Union. Latvia Member of the rival Warsaw Pact 1955 -- 1991 as part of the Soviet Union. Lithuania Member of the rival Warsaw Pact 1955 -- 1990 as part of the Soviet Union. Romania Member of the rival Warsaw Pact 1955 -- 1991. Slovakia Member of the rival Warsaw Pact 1955 -- 1991 as part of Czechoslovakia. Slovenia Previously part of Yugoslavia 1945 -- 1991 ( Non-aligned ) 1 April 2009 Albania Sixth Member of the rival Warsaw Pact 1955 -- 1968. Croatia Previously part of Yugoslavia 1945 -- 1991 ( Non-aligned ) 5 June 2017 Montenegro Seventh Previously part of Yugoslavia 1945 -- 2006 ( Non-aligned ) Military personnel Country Active personnel Reserve personnel Total Albania 8,500 5,000 13,500 Belgium 24,500 100,500 125,000 Bulgaria 35,000 302,500 337,500 Canada 68,000 27,000 95,000 Croatia 18,000 180,000 198,000 Czech Republic 21,057 2,359 23,416 Denmark 20,003 63,000 83,003 Estonia 6,425 60,000 63,209 France 222,215 100,000 322,215 Germany 180,676 145,000 325,676 Greece 180,000 280,000 460,000 Hungary 29,700 8,400 38,100 Iceland 210 170 380 Italy 180,000 41,867 220,867 Latvia 6,000 11,000 17,000 Lithuania 15,839 4,550 20,389 Luxembourg 1,057 278 1,335 Montenegro 1,950 400 2,350 Netherlands 47,660 57,200 104,860 Norway 26,200 56,200 82,400 Poland 120,000 515,000 635,000 Portugal 44,900 210,930 255,830 Romania 73,350 79,900 153,250 Slovakia 16,000 16,000 Slovenia 7,300 1,500 8,801 Spain 123,000 16,200 139,200 Turkey 620,473 429,000 1,041,900 United Kingdom 205,851 181,720 387,571 United States 1,469,532 990,000 2,459,532 NATO 3,673,000 3,745,000 8,420,000 Military expenditures The United States spends more on the organization than all other members combined. Criticism of the organization by then newly elected US President Donald Trump caused various reactions from American and European political figures, ranging from ridicule to panic. Pew Research Center 's 2016 survey among its member states showed that while most countries viewed NATO positively, most NATO members preferred keeping their military spending the same. The response to whether their country should militarily aid another NATO country if it were to get into a serious military conflict with Russia was also mixed. Only in the US and Canada did more than 50 % of the people answer that they should. Table Country Population ( 2016 est. ) GDP ( nominal ) ( 2015, US $ millions ) Military expenditures ( 2015, US $ millions ) Military expenditures ( 2016, % of GDP ) Defence expenditures, ( 2014, US $ per capita ) Deployable military ( 2016 ) Albania 3,038,594 11,543 155 1.21 42.2 7,000 Belgium 11,409,077 454,687 4,953 0.85 468 29,000 Bulgaria 7,144,653 48,957 797 1.35 116 31,000 Canada 35,362,905 1,552,386 17,210 0.99 492 65,000 Croatia 4,313,707 48,850 904 1.23 204 15,000 Czech Republic 10,644,842 181,858 2,099 1.04 189 22,000 Denmark 5,593,785 294,951 4,130 1.14 796 16,000 Estonia 1,258,545 22,704 546 2.16 392 6,000 France 66,836,154 2,421,560 49,747 1.78 964 207,000 Germany 80,722,792 3,413,483 47,046 1.19 562 180,000 Greece 10,773,253 195,320 6,104 2.38 479 106,000 Hungary 9,874,784 120,636 1,225 1.01 118 18,000 Iceland 335,878 16,718 4.5 14.2 0 Italy 62,007,540 1,815,757 28,460 1.11 506 182,000 Latvia 1,965,686 27,048 341 1.45 150 5,000 Lithuania 2,854,235 41,267 566 1.49 126 13,000 Luxembourg 582,291 57,423 362 0.44 594 900 Montenegro 623,000 3,900 43 60 1950 Netherlands 17,016,967 738,419 10,476 1.17 600 41,000 Norway 5,265,158 389,482 7,377 1.54 1,328 20,000 Poland 38,523,261 474,893 12,603 275 103,000 Portugal 10,833,816 199,077 4,380 1.38 396 31,000 Romania 21,599,736 177,315 2,980 1.48 118 70,000 Slovakia 5,445,802 86,629 1,164 1.16 180 13,000 Slovenia 1,978,029 42,768 489 0.94 233 7,000 Spain 48,563,476 1,199,715 16,929 0.91 270 121,000 Turkey 80,274,604 733,642 17,669 1.56 298 411,000 United Kingdom 64,430,428 2,849,345 59,730 2.21 952 161,000 United States 323,995,528 16,348,875 595,472 3.61 1,891 1,305,000 NATO 932,645,526 36,211,501 904,913 2.9 934 3,515,000 Population data from CIA World Factbook GDP data from IMF Expenditure data ( except Iceland ) from SIPRI Military Expenditure Database, Icelandic data ( 2013 ) from Statistics Iceland Military personnel data from NATO Iceland has no armed forces. 2015 data. References Jump up ^ `` The North Atlantic Treaty ''. North Atlantic Treaty Organization. 1949 - 04 - 04. Retrieved 2008 - 06 - 16. Jump up ^ `` Erdogan 's purge may give Nato no choice but to expel Turkey from the alliance ''. The Telegraph. Retrieved 3 March 2017. Jump up ^ Wintour, Patrick ( 28 July 2016 ). `` Turkey officials to demand extradition of Fethullah Gülen from US ''. The Guardian. Retrieved 3 March 2017. Jump up ^ `` Will Turkey be expelled from NATO ? ''. Al - Monitor. 26 July 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2017. Jump up ^ `` NATO and Turkey : Allies, not friends ''. Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 3 March 2017. Jump up ^ `` Turkey 's NATO membership and move to cement ties with Russia ''. DailySabah. Retrieved 3 March 2017. Jump up ^ `` In Opinion : Turkey should be thrown out of NATO ''. Newsweek. 13 August 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2017. Jump up ^ `` NATO members are supposed to be democratic. What happens when Turkey is n't ? ''. Washington Post. Retrieved 3 March 2017. Jump up ^ Weiss, Stanley ( 23 February 2016 ). `` It 's Time to Kick Erdogan 's Turkey Out of NATO ''. The Huffington Post. Retrieved 3 March 2017. Jump up ^ `` Trump threatens to quit NATO : White House official - France 24 ''. France 24. 2017 - 05 - 18. Retrieved 2017 - 05 - 31. Jump up ^ Landler, Michael D. Shear, Mark ; Kanter, James ( 2017 - 05 - 25 ). `` In NATO Speech, Trump Is Vague About Mutual Defense Pledge ''. The New York Times. ISSN 0362 - 4331. Retrieved 2017 - 05 - 31. Jump up ^ Lauter, David ( 2017 - 05 - 26 ). `` A glowing orb and a not - so - glowing review of the GOP healthcare bill : Trump 's week was filled with events he did n't control ''. Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458 - 3035. Retrieved 2017 - 05 - 31. Jump up ^ `` North Atlantic Treaty '' ( PDF ). United States Department of State. 2009 - 04 - 01. Retrieved 2015 - 09 - 02. Jump up ^ Where Does The Relationship Between NATO And The U.S. Go From Here ?, Huffington Post Jump up ^ NATO allies boost defense spending in the wake of Trump criticism, The Washington Post Jump up ^ Former US ambassador to Nato in withering criticism of Donald Trump, The Independent Jump up ^ Shaken by Trump 's Criticism of NATO, Europe Mulls Building Own Military Force, Voice Of America Jump up ^ Support for NATO is widespread among member nations, Pew Research Jump up ^ U.S. would defend NATO despite Trump 's criticism, Europeans believe : study, Reuters ^ Jump up to : `` Table 3 : Defence expenditures as a percentage of gross domestic product and annual real change ( based on 2010 prices ) '' ( PDF ). Retrieved 20 January 2017. Jump up ^ `` World Economic Outlook Database April 2016 ''. International Monetary Fund. International Monetary Fund. April 2015. Retrieved 2016 - 10 - 23. Jump up ^ `` SIPRI Military Expenditure Database 2015 '' ( XLS ). Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. 2016. Retrieved 2016 - 10 - 23. Jump up ^ `` Central government total expenditure by function 1998 - 2013 ''. Statistics Iceland. Statistics Iceland. 2014 - 09 - 23. Retrieved 2015 - 06 - 08. Jump up ^ `` Financial and Economic Data Relating to NATO Defence '' ( PDF ). NATO. NATO. 24 February 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2015. North Atlantic Treaty Organization History North Atlantic Treaty Summit Operations Enlargement Structure Council Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe Air Command Land Command Maritime Command JFC Brunssum JFC Naples Allied Command Transformation Parliamentary Assembly Standardization Agreement People Secretary General Chairman of the Military Committee Supreme Allied Commander Europe Supreme Allied Commander Transformation Members Main members Albania Belgium Bulgaria Canada Croatia Czech Republic Denmark Estonia France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Montenegro Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Turkey United Kingdom United States Multilateral relations Atlantic Treaty Association Euro - Atlantic Partnership Council Mediterranean Dialogue Istanbul Cooperation Initiative Partnership for Peace Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Member_states_of_NATO&oldid=806893343 '' Categories : NATO Countries by international organization Member states of NATO Talk Contents About Wikipedia Azərbaycanca Cymraeg Eesti فارسی 한국어 Polski Română Русский Српски / srpski Татарча / tatarça Türkçe Українська Edit links This page was last edited on 24 October 2017, at 20 : 11. 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Question: how many countries are in nato in 2017
Answer: 29