Germany became a NATO member in 1955, in an alliance that now has 32 member countries

Background

NATO records that Germany became a NATO member on 6 May 1955, six years after the alliance was created by 12 countries from Europe and North America with the Washington Treaty of 4 April 1949. The then Federal Republic of Germany was NATO's 15th member country, and NATO records that the Warsaw Pact was formed in 1955 in reaction to West Germany's accession. At present NATO has 32 member countries, the two most recent being Finland, which joined on 4 April 2023 as the 31st member, and Sweden, which joined on 7 March 2024 as the 32nd. Germany is not a founding member of NATO, a point examiners like to test. It is also a member of the European Union, the G7, the G20, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the United Nations, and it is not a permanent member of the UN Security Council.