Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones
How regional treaties have created vast areas of the world free from nuclear weapons, and why these zones matter for the global nonproliferation regime.
The Concept
Nuclear-weapon-free zones (NWFZs) are regions where countries have legally committed not to develop, produce, acquire, test, or possess nuclear weapons. They represent a bottom-up approach to nonproliferation: instead of waiting for a global disarmament agreement, regions take the initiative to ban nuclear weapons from their territory. Five treaties establish NWFZs covering the entire Southern Hemisphere and significant portions of the Northern Hemisphere.
The Treaty of Tlatelolco (1967) made Latin America and the Caribbean the first populated NWFZ. The Treaty of Rarotonga (1985) covers the South Pacific. The Treaty of Bangkok (1995) covers Southeast Asia. The Treaty of Pelindaba (1996) covers Africa. The Treaty of Semipalatinsk (2006) covers Central Asia. Mongolia has declared itself a single-state NWFZ. Additionally, the Antarctic Treaty (1959) and the Outer Space Treaty (1967) prohibit nuclear weapons in those domains.
