- Mikhail Kalashnikov is a Russian small arms designer, most famous for designing the AK-47 assault rifle, the AKM and the AK-74.
- In 1956, the AK-47 assault rifle became the Soviet Army's standard issue rifle and went on to become Kalashnikov's most famous invention.
- Throughout the world, the AK and its variants are among the most commonly smuggled small arms sold to governments, rebels, criminals, and civilians alike, with little international oversight.
- In Mexico, the AK-47 is known as "Cuerno de Chivo" (literally "Ram's Horn") and is one of the weapons of choice of Mexican drug cartels. It is sometimes mentioned in Mexican folk music lyrics.
- In some countries, prices for AKs are very low; in Somalia, Rwanda, Mozambique, Congo and Ethiopia, prices are between $30 and $125 per weapon.
- The weapon has appeared in a number of conflicts including clashes in the Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia.
- After the Soviet retreat from Afghanistan, the Soviet Army left quantities of weapons including AKs which were subsequently used in the civil war between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance and were also exported to Pakistan.
- The World Bank estimates that out of the 500 million total firearms available worldwide, 100 million are of the Kalashnikov family, and 75 million of which are AK-47s.
- The AK is included in the flag of Mozambique and its coat of arms, an acknowledgment that the country's leaders gained power in large part through the effective use of their AK-47s. It is also found in the coat of arms of Zimbabwe and East Timor, the revolution era coat of arms of Burkina Faso, the flag of Hezbollah, and the logo of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
AK 47 assault rifle facts
