This map layer shows the possession of chemical weapons in four categories for 2018.
Detailed statements on the possession of chemical weapons of individual states are difficult, as many chemical weapons programmes are/were secret and there are no independent evaluations or publicly available databases. For the purpose of this map, countries were classed in four categories. Possession known, possession possible, possession unlikely and no possession.
Countries that have officially declared that they are in possession of chemical weapons or for which there is proof that they possess chemical weapons make up the category 'possession known'. All states that pursued a chemical weapons (research) programme in 2018 and that may have possessed chemical weapons according to information by government / military officials or experts make up the category 'possession possible'. Countries that used to pursue a chemical weapons programme and that were not interested in conducting research at the time of publication of data make up the category 'possession unlikely'. All other countries are in the category 'no possession'.
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