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The nuclear weapons race started at the end of World War II when the United States dropped two atomic bombs over Japan. Since then several countries have produced their own nuclear devices and others are working hard on their production.
The United States
Nuclear testing began during World War II and ended in the early 1990s after the collapse of Communism. The United States still has the most operational warheads (over 2000), while there are still thousands that are being dismantled. The Americans also have nuclear weapons stationed in other NATO countries. Together with Russia, the US is the only member of the atomic weapons club that has air-, sea- and land-based nuclear weapons. For two decades the United States has been working together with Russia to reduce the number of nuclear weapons around the world.
Russia
Russia conducted its first nuclear test in 1949, four years after the Americans bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. During the Cold War the arms race led to a proliferation of nuclear weapons. Today, Russia has about 1,700 operational warheads. Nuclear experts , however, are worried that after 1990 some warheads might have fallen into the hands of third parties and are thus, not accounted for.