NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

Established

Members 31 as of July 2023. It started with 12 members as a military alliance of countries of west Europe and North America, in 1949, the beginning of the cold war.¹Visit NATO site

1949

1. BELGIUM (1949)
2. CANADA (1949)
3. DENMARK (1949)
4. FRANCE (1949)
5. ICELAND (1949)²What continent is Iceland on? Iceland is officially considered part of Europe, yet from a geographic standpoint, it straddles both the North American and European continents. It is not part of EU but a member of EEA – European Economic Area. The EU has 27 members, excluding UK which left EU on 31 Jan. 2020 (Brexit). Gainsbourg, Charlotte. “What continent is Iceland, where to see the tectonic plates?” Hertz, 13 June 2023, https://www.hertz.is/iceland-nature/iceland-continent-tectonic-plates. Accessed 4 August 2023.
6. ITALY (1949)
7. LUXEMBOURG (1949)
8. NETHERLANDS (1949)
9. NORWAY (1949)
10. PORTUGAL (1949)
11. UNITED KINGDOM (1949)
12. UNITED STATES (1949)

It has constantly expanded. In 1952 Greece and Turkey were included, Germany was added in 1955 – ofcourse it was West Germany. Spain became its member in 1982. Spain is part of southern Europe and is considered part of ‘PIGS’ – Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain – all financially weak countries. ³

PIGS is a horrible acronym.

But this is how the financial markets refer to the troubled and heavily-indebted countries of Europe – Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain. (Some analysts use PIIGS to include Italy – Europe’s longstanding biggest debtor.)

“Europe’s PIGS : Country by country”. BBC News, 11 Feb. 2010, “http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8510603.stm“, Accessed on 4 Aug. 2023

References

Iceland on two tectonic plates – the mid atlantic ridge