No firearm of any kind has killed more people - or been more widely embraced as a symbol - than the AK-47 Kalashnikov. Emblazoned on the national flag of Mozambique and on the banners of Hizbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the AK-47 has become the weapon of choice for guerrillas, terrorists and rebels across the world.
No less than 75 million are in circulation, according to a World Bank study from 2007, accounting for almost 20 per cent of the entire global stock of firearms.
![Bullets and magazine clips for AK-47s at a gun bazaar in Iraq. Photo / Getty Images](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/XB5LTXSRZ3RNIADMNSDAH2ZTPY.jpg?auth=567eb6c72794c5d4dbb4e732cc70b239cd987c567d58629984cf7a0e6a8a2b25&width=16&height=12&quality=70&smart=true)
Every year, small arms kill between 20,000 and 100,000 people in the world's conflicts. AK-47s account for a high proportion - and quite possibly the majority - of this human toll. In the 68 years since the first prototype, the AK-47 has, without question, dealt death to millions.
The weapon's success - if that is the right word - owes everything to its designer, Mikhail Kalashnikov, who produced a new rifle for the Soviet Army in 1947. His invention was so robust that it could be used everywhere from the Arctic to the Sahara - and yet so simple that the rawest recruit, or the youngest child soldier, could use the weapon with deadly effect.