Nuclear-weapon-free zone

Today there are five zones covering continental or subcontinental groups of countries (including their territorial waters and airspace), and three governing Antarctica, the seabed, and outer space which are not part of any state. The Antarctic, seabed, and space zones preceded all but one of the zones on national territories. Most of the Earth's oceans above the seabed are not covered by NWFZs since freedom of the seas restricts restrictions in international waters. The UN has also recognized one additional country, Mongolia, as having nuclear-weapon-free status. NWFZs do not cover international waters (where there is freedom of the seas) or transit of nuclear missiles through space (as opposed to deployment of nuclear weapons in space). when the African NWFZ came into force, the six land zones cover 56% of the Earth's land area of 149 million square kilometers and 60% of the 195 states on Earth, up from 34% and 30% the previous year; however, only 39% of the world's population lives in NWFZs, while the nine nuclear weapons states have 28% of the world's land area and 46% of the world population. The Antarctic, Latin American, and South Pacific zones are defined by lines of latitude and longitude, except for the northwestern boundary of the South Pacific zone which follows the limit of Australian territorial waters, and these three zones form a contiguous area, though treaty provisions do not apply to international waters within that area. In contrast, the Southeast Asian zone is defined as the territories of its members including their Exclusive Economic Zones, and the African zone is also defined as the countries and territories considered part of Africa by the OAU (now the African Union) which include islands close to Africa and Madagascar. An AU member, Mauritius, claims the British Indian Ocean Territory where Diego Garcia is currently a US military base. s. Some NWFZs are defined in terms of EEZ areas, some in terms of territorial waters which extend only 12 nautical miles. ==Nuclear power in NWFZ states==

Four NWFZ countries have nuclear plants to generate electricity. South Africa formerly had a nuclear weapons program which it terminated in 1989. Argentina and Brazil are known to operate uranium enrichment facilities. Countries that had enrichment programs in the past include Libya and South Africa, although Libya's facility was never operational. Australia has announced its intention to pursue commercial enrichment, and is actively researching laser enrichment. Argentina and Brazil also have plans to build nuclear submarines. ==Protocols for non-member states==

Several of the NWFZ treaties have protocols under which states outside the zone that have territories within the zone can bring the provisions of the NWFZ into force for those territories. All these territories are small islands except for French Guiana. The United States has signed but not ratified Protocol I to the Treaty of Rarotonga which would apply to American Samoa and Jarvis Island. The United Kingdom does not accept that African NWFZ is applicable to the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia which has a U.S. military base. ==Southern Hemisphere==

but the other oceanic islands in this area are owned by Britain, France, Norway, and Maldives and are the only Southern Hemisphere lands that are not in a NWFZ. Few prevailing winds cross the Equator and effects of nuclear explosions in the Northern Hemisphere might send less fallout to the Southern Hemisphere. The five southern NWFZs together cover all land in the Southern Hemisphere except Atlantic and Indian Ocean islands belonging to non-NWFZ countries in the box (map) bounded by 60° S, 20° W, and 115° E, which combined have less than 8000 km2 of land area: • St. Helena and its dependencies Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha, a British overseas territory • Bouvet Island, a Norwegian territory • Kerguelen, Crozet, Saint Paul and Amsterdam Islands, some of the French Southern Territories • Chagos Islands (British Indian Ocean Territory) including Diego Garcia (disputed by Mauritius) • Addu and Fuvahmulah, southernmost atolls of the Maldives In 1994 states of the South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone issued a "Declaration on the Denuclearization of the South Atlantic" which the U.N. General Assembly endorsed but the U.S., U.K., and France still opposed. ==Tropics==

The Latin American, African, South Pacific and Southeast Asian zones also cover most land in the tropics, but not some Northern Hemisphere areas south of the Tropic of Cancer. Most tropical land outside of NWFZs is in India and the Arabian Peninsula. Little of the land area covered by the five southern Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones extends north of the Tropic of Cancer: only northern Mexico, northern Bahamas, northern Myanmar, and North Africa. However, the Central Asian and Mongolian zones are entirely in the North Temperate Zone. ==Northern Hemisphere==

is a geostrategic military alliance concerned with most of Europe and North America. The majority of non-NWS non-NWFZ states are in Europe and the North Pacific and are members of (or surrounded by) collective security alliances with nuclear weapons states dating from the Cold War and predating the NWFZ movement. Twenty-two states are not part of a NWFZ or a collective security bloc nor nuclear weapons states, twelve in the Middle East, six in South Asia, and four in the former Soviet Union. There have been NWFZ proposals for the Middle East (e.g. Nuclear program of Iran#Nuclear Weapon Free Zone in the Middle East, 2009 UN proposal, 2011 IAEA forum), the Korean Peninsula, Central Europe, South Asia, South-east Asia, and the Arctic. All countries without nuclear weapons, except South Sudan, are parties to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, as are the five NPT-sanctioned nuclear weapon states. Europe The UK, France, and the USA share a nuclear umbrella with the 29 other members of NATO, and the four European Union states not part of NATO (Austria, Cyprus, Ireland, Malta) are part of the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy. The other European countries west of the former Soviet Union are small Western European states and surrounded by and aligned with the EU and NATO but not members (Switzerland and European microstates Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino, Vatican, Andorra), or Balkan states that have not yet joined the EU and NATO (Bosnia, Serbia and Kosovo). NATO also extends to Canada. Former Soviet Union Belarus and Armenia, along with some members of the Central Asian NWFZ, are allies of Russia in CSTO. GUAM states (Georgia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Moldova) are not party to any security treaty. The three Baltic states have joined NATO. North Pacific South Korea and Japan are American allies under its nuclear umbrella, while the three Micronesian states (Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, and Palau) are in a Compact of Free Association with the US. South Asia India and Pakistan are nuclear-armed states and the six other South Asian states (Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan) are not part of a NWFZ or security bloc. Middle East The six Gulf Cooperation Council states, the 5 other Arab League states outside Africa (Yemen, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq), and Iran (see Nuclear program of Iran) are not nuclear weapons states and not part of a NWFZ. The UN General Assembly has urged establishment of a Middle East NWFZ, and NPT Review Conferences in 1995 and 2010 called for a zone free of all weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East. An International Conference For A WMD-Free Middle East was held in Haifa in December 2013 attended by citizens from all over the world concerned about the lack of progress in the official talks. == See also ==