This chart demonstrates estimates of the nuclear weapon stockpiles of countries throughout history
According to Wikipedia
Excludes former Soviet Republics that temporarily held nuclear weapons in 1991
For non-exact figures, the average (rounded up) of the given range is picked
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| Year | U.S. | Russia | China | France | UK | India | Pakistan | Israel | North Korea | South Africa |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1939 | ||||||||||
| 1945 | 2 | |||||||||
| 1950 | 299 | 5 | ||||||||
| 1955 | 2422 | 200 | 14 | |||||||
| 1960 | 18638 | 1605 | 42 | |||||||
| 1965 | 31149 | 6129 | 32 | 436 | ||||||
| 1970 | 26008 | 11643 | 75 | 36 | 394 | 8 | ||||
| 1975 | 27519 | 19055 | 180 | 188 | 492 | 20 | ||||
| 1980 | 23368 | 30062 | 205 | 250 | 492 | 1 | 31 | |||
| 1985 | 21392 | 39197 | 243 | 360 | 422 | 3 | 42 | 3 | ||
| 1990 | 10904 | 37000 | 232 | 505 | 422 | 7 | 4 | 53 | 1 | 6 |
| 1995 | 10577 | 27000 | 234 | 500 | 422 | 14 | 13 | 63 | 1 | 0 |
| 2000 | 8360 | 21500 | 232 | 470 | 281 | 28 | 28 | 72 | 1 | 0 |
| 2005 | 7700 | 17000 | 235 | 350 | 281 | 44 | 38 | 80 | 8 | 0 |
| 2014 | 7260 | 7500 | 260 | 300 | 215 | 100 | 110 | 80 | 7 | 0 |
| 2020 | 5800 | 6375 | 320 | 290 | 215 | 150 | 160 | 85 | 35 | 0 |
Slapindabass
+4
Level 60
Sep 27, 2021
I find it interesting that since the mid-90s India and Pakistan are almost identical in terms of the development of their respective stockpiles.
Iluvbread123
+2
Level 75
Sep 30, 2021
Also sort of concerning, but gladly in 2021 we can safely say that those figures didn't lead to any actual conflicts
JWatson24
+1
Level 71
Sep 27, 2021
Is there a reason why China, France, and the UK start so abruptly? Like, did China really make 75 nuclear weapons in just 1970 (which I kinda doubt)? Or is it just that we don't have data going back further?
JWatson24
+3
Level 71
Sep 27, 2021
Oh also congrats on getting a chart featured! Thought you were Quizmaster for a second lol
Iluvbread123
+1
Level 75
Sep 30, 2021
Tank, this is very poggers :D
Nachtschicht
+1
Level 58
Sep 27, 2021
Maybe that was the first time that official numbers were made public?
GlassMonkeyCode
+1
Level 67
Sep 27, 2021
I think they were gifts from their respective allies that had already developed nuclear arms.
Jimster95
+1
Level 38
Sep 27, 2021
There's channel on YouTube called History Matters that talks about how these three countries got their nuclear weapons. They're in three separate videos that are all about 3-4 minutes long.
Iluvbread123
+1
Level 75
Sep 30, 2021
I have no idea, I just copied the data from Wikipedia lol
MG17
+3
Level 43
Sep 27, 2021
Second featured user-chart! Yahoo! 2.0 lol
TheNatureThread
+1
Level 65
Sep 27, 2021
Gmail!
MG17
+1
Level 43
Sep 27, 2021
Hotmail :)
Iluvbread123
+1
Level 75
Sep 30, 2021
pogger
ShievaAndGolly
+1
Level 56
Dec 17, 2021
Who needs 39,000 Nuclear weapons?
Iluvbread123
+2
Level 75
Dec 17, 2021
Paranoia can lead to questionable actions sometimes
TacoPug278
+1
Level 51
Jun 18, 2023
Why did South Korea get 6 or 7 nukes and then use them all?
Ainmclarach
+1
Level 55
Jul 12, 2023
It was South Africa, the Apartheid government developed some, which were promptly dismantled after Mandela took over.