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This is a list of countries by number of military and paramilitary personnel. It includes any government-sponsored soldiers used to further the domestic and foreign policies of their respective government. The term "
country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...
" is used in its most common use, in the sense of
state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...
which exercises
sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...
or has limited
recognition Recognition may refer to: *Award, something given in recognition of an achievement Machine learning *Pattern recognition, a branch of machine learning which encompasses the meanings below Biometric * Recognition of human individuals, or biomet ...
.


Guide to the list

The list consists of columns that can be sorted by clicking on the appropriate title: * The names of the states, accompanied by their respective national flags. * The number of
military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
personnel on
active duty Active duty, in contrast to reserve duty, is a full-time occupation as part of a military force. In the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations, the equivalent term is active service. India The Indian Armed Forces are considered to be o ...
that are currently serving full-time in their military capacity. * The number of military personnel in the reserve forces that are not normally kept
under arms Under arms describes a state of military readiness (actual or ceremonial). Typically, troops are considered "under arms" when they are in uniform A uniform is a variety of clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in t ...
, whose role is to be available to mobilize when necessary. * The number of personnel in paramilitary forces: armed units that are not considered part of a nation's formal military forces. * The total number of active, reserve, and paramilitary personnel. * The ratio per thousand inhabitants of total military (active, reserve, and paramilitary). * The ratio per thousand inhabitants of active military only. As military forces around the world are constantly changing in size, no definitive list can ever be compiled. All of the 172 countries listed here, especially those with the highest number of total soldiers such as the two
Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
s and
Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
, include a large number of paramilitaries, civilians and policemen in their reserve personnel. Some countries, such as
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
and Japan, have only volunteers in their armed forces. Other countries, such as
Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...
and
Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...
, have no national armies, but only a paramilitary force.


Tooth-to-tail ratio

The numbers of military personnel listed include both support personnel (supplies, construction, and contracting) and actual combat personnel. For a typical country, the proportion of this total that comprises actual combat forces is about 26% (so, for every soldier there will be around three support personnel). This proportion is referred to as the "tooth-to-tail ratio". Some countries have a considerably smaller tooth-to-tail ratio: For example, the
United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is ...
has a tooth-to-tail ratio of 17%, meaning that for every combat unit there are around five support units.


List by the International Institute for Strategic Studies

Not included in the list are the militaries of Abkhazia,
Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...
, Artsakh,
Transnistria Transnistria, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), is an unrecognised breakaway state that is internationally recognised as a part of Moldova. Transnistria controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dniester riv ...
,
Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...
, Comoros, Eswatini,
Maldives Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...
,
Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
, Northern Cyprus, Sahrawi,
San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...
,
Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis (), officially the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis, is an island country and microstate consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain ...
, São Tomé and Príncipe, Somaliland,
Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...
,
Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...
, and
Vatican City Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—' * german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ') * pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—' * pt, Cidade do Vati ...
.


See also

*
List of countries by level of military equipment This is a list of countries by level of military equipment, including naval ships, fighter aircraft and nuclear weapons. This list is indicative only, as strict comparisons cannot accurately be made. List States marked 'TC' are widely consid ...
* List of countries by military expenditures *
List of countries by military expenditure per capita This is a list of countries by military expenditure per capita, the amount spent by a nation on its military per capita in a given year. This list is sourced from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) for the year 2020. As o ...
*
List of countries by Global Militarization Index This list of countries by Global Militarization Index is based on the 2017 Global Militarization Index of the Bonn International Center for Conversion.__TOC__ Global Militarization Index The Global Militarization Index (GMI) depicts the relativ ...
*
List of countries without armed forces This is a list of countries without armed forces. The term ''country'' here means sovereign states and not dependencies (e.g., Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Bermuda) whose defense is the responsibility of another country or an army alternative ...
*
List of militaries by country This is a list of militaries by country, including main branches of ground, naval and air forces. A Afghanistan ;Afghan Armed Forces *Afghan Army *Afghan Air Force Albania ;Albanian Armed Forces * Albanian General Staff * Albanian Air Force *Al ...
*
List of militaries that recruit foreigners This is a list of militaries that recruit foreign applicants. This includes any individuals who are Alien (law), aliens of the polity whose armed forces they are being recruited to join by Military recruitment, professional recruiters. The foreigne ...
* List of countries that prohibit paramilitary organizations outside government armed forces * List of countries and dependencies by number of police officers


Notes


References


Bibliography

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Further reading

* * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Countries By Number of Military And Paramilitary Personnel, List Of Personnel