Who Has Nuclear Weapons? Where The World's Missiles Are Located

Nuclear tensions between the United States and North Korea escalated in recent days, with both nations warning of impending military action should they perceive a threat from the other. After reports emerged of a failed missile test, Vice President Mike Pence cautioned Monday that North Korea should not underestimate the U.S.

"We will defeat any attack and we will meet any use of conventional or nuclear weapons with an overwhelming and effective response," Pence said in a news conference Monday in Seoul, South Korea, noting "all options" were on the table.

Read: Can North Korea's Nuclear Missiles Reach The U.S.?

Other nations have involved themselves in the conversation as well. Japanese officials announced last week that the nation was taking "every possible measure" alongside South Korea and the U.S. to prevent North Korea from taking further steps toward nuclear proliferation.

Though the nuclear conversation typically centers around the U.S. and Russia, who, combined, hold an estimated 93 percent of the world's nuclear arsenal, many other countries have nuclear capabilities as well. Due to the highly secretive nature of nuclear operations around the world, it's difficult to gauge the exact number of warheads held by each nation. The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) constantly updates its estimates of global nuclear warhead inventories to show where the world's arsenal is held.

Russia had 7,000 nuclear warheads, according to the FAS Feb. 17, 2017 update. The U.S. was close behind, with 6,800 warheads. France had a total of 300, while China had a total of 260. The United Kingdom maintained 215 nuclear warheads. Pakistan held 130, while India had 120.

North Korea was conspicuously absent from the list due to a lack of quantifiable information.

"North Korea has produced fissile material for 10-20 nuclear warheads and detonated five nuclear devices," the FAS February 17 update said. "But we are not aware of public information that shows that it has yet stockpiled operational nuclear warheads."

Read: Will There Be A Nuclear War Between North Korea And The U.S.?

It's unclear what the capabilities are for the current nuclear warheads stockpiled by North Korea. Most estimates agree that while the nation doesn't have the capability to effectively reach far-away targets like the continental U.S. just yet, the technology is likely not far off.

"By relentlessly bringing in a number of strategic nuclear assets to the Korean peninsula, the U.S. is gravely threatening the peace and safety and driving the situation to the brink of a nuclear war," North Korean officials said last week, according to state news agency KCNA. "This has created a dangerous situation in which thermo-nuclear war may break out at any moment."