Nearly 15,000 nuclear weapons exist today in the arsenals of these 9 nations

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un provides guidance on a nuclear weapons program in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang September 3, 2017. KCNA via REUTERS

The 2017 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, a group dedicated to ridding the world of the dangerous arms technology.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee said in its decision on Wednesday that ICAN "works vigorously to achieve nuclear disarmament" and noted the organization's progress in getting 122 UN member states to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

However, the committee also noted that the effort to rid the world of nuclear bombs and protect people from their devastating effects is an uphill battle.

North Korea has been increasing the pace of its nuclear and missile tests, for example, and has threatened to detonate a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean — despite roughly $1 billion worth of international economic sanctions. The isolated nation is also suspected of having built roughly 60 nuclear weapons, a miniaturized a thermonuclear warhead, and long-range missiles capable of striking cities deep within the US.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has frequently exchanged bellicose rhetoric with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The president also inherited a $1 trillion program to expand and modernize the US nuclear arsenal, and Russia is now straining its budget to do the same. (In regard to Russia's nuclear modernization, Trump has even said, "let it be an arms race.")

The Federation of American Scientists and other organizations keep track of these stockpiles and regularly release updated weapons counts.

Below is a map that shows the best estimates of which countries have nukes and how many they have.

nuclear weapons nukes map count BI Graphics