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NATO Full Form

NATO Full Form

Edited By Team Careers360 | Updated on May 04, 2023 10:05 PM IST

What is the full form of NATO ?

The full form of NATO is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A political and military alliance of 30 nations. The group was established to defend the member countries' freedom and security. Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States were among the 12 nations that contributed to the Alliance's creation in 1949. Greece and Turkey joined in 1952, followed by Germany in 1955, Spain in 1982, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland in 1999, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia in 2004, Albania and Croatia in 2009, Montenegro in 2017 and North Macedonia in 2018. (2020). The organization’s headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium.

Goals of Nato

  • The protection and preservation of the independence of its member countries is NATO's main goal.

  • The environment of violence has, however, forced it to broaden its goal in recent years, and it has decided that it will also protect and defend member countries from cyberattacks, terrorism, and weapons of mass destruction.

Criteria of joining NATO

All of Europe's developing democracies that support the alliance's principles and are prepared to fulfill membership requirements may apply to join NATO. It is very clear that applicants for membership must satisfy the following five criteria, at the very least:

  • New members are required to defend democracy, which includes accepting diversity.

  • New participants must be moving closer to a market economy.

  • There must be strict civic authority over their armed forces.

  • They must respect other countries' sovereignty and be good neighbors.

  • They must be aiming for NATO force compatibility.

Impact On NATO after World War

After the Second World War, NATO was established when the United States and numerous European countries ratified the North Atlantic Treaty to work together against aggressors.

In 1949, just 12 countries joined: Belgium, Denmark, Canada, France, Italy, Iceland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom (United Kingdom), and the US (United States). In 1952, Greece and Turkey joined the organization. West Germany entered it in 1955.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Is India a NATO member?

No, India is not a NATO member. 

2. Who runs NATO?

The Military Committee has oversight over the NATO Command Structure. All twenty-nine of the member nations' Chiefs of Defense make up NATO's top military body.

3. How powerful is NATO?

According to Statista, there are more than 5.4 million military troops in NATO, roughly four times as many as in Russia.

4. Which NATO nations are the strongest?

Out of all the members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the United States has the most military personnel (1.35 million) in 2022.

5. Which nation founded NATO?

To guarantee collective security against the Soviet Union, the United States, Canada, and several Western European countries founded the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949.

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