The world in active nuclear weapons

DATA: the world in nuclear weapons
GRAPHIC: how we visualised this data (PDF)
Introducing the nuke-o-meter

Which country has the most nukes? How many missiles could the US launch? How many bombs does Russia have? These are the latest figures

Get a PDF of this graphic

North Korea has sent tension soaring across Asia by launching missiles and testing warheads.

So, what does the nuclear world look like? These figures are from the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists and show the best estimates for the big five nuclear powers: the US, Russia, China, France and the UK. We've also included estimates for other nuclear powers like India, Pakistan and Israel - and for the so-called rogue states like North Korea and Iran. These are just the active warheads - both Russia and the US have thousands more in storage and pending dismantling.
Hit the link on the spreadsheet for how the figures changed between 1945 and 2006. In the mid-1980s, there were over 70,000 warheads out there - each with the power of eight times that which destroyed Hiroshima at the end of the second world war. There are many less now - but do you feel any safer?