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Countries with the Most Military Troops

Name the twenty countries with the most active military troops.
As of 24 February 2020, according to Wikipedia
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Featured Quiz
Last updated: February 24, 2020
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First submittedMay 6, 2012
Times taken121,760
Rating4.91
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Troops
Country
2,035,000
China
1,444,500
India
1,359,450
United States
1,280,000
North Korea
900,000
Russia
653,800
Pakistan
625,000
South Korea
Troops
Country
523,000
Iran
482,000
Vietnam
438,500
Egypt
406,000
Myanmar
395,500
Indonesia
360,850
Thailand
355,200
Turkey
Troops
Country
334,500
Brazil
293,200
Colombia
277,150
Mexico
255,000
Sri Lanka
247,150
Japan
227,000
Saudi Arabia
Ithabise
+2
Level 33
May 13, 2012
Nice one!
leannexx
+2
Level 41
May 15, 2012
nice quiz :)
kariannepizza
+2
Level 54
May 23, 2012
Good quiz, I got them all!
ConfusedYeti
+10
Level 39
Jul 24, 2012
good quiz, surprised not to see the UK on there! well it seems our military punches above its weight then!
JackintheBox
+3
Level 67
Mar 3, 2019
Yes
AlexThirkell
+1
Level 56
Apr 6, 2020
Aye
EcceHomo
+1
Level 64
Jul 7, 2020
I guess Trident might be one of the reasons.
Rowand33
+3
Level 51
Dec 17, 2012
Syria and Colombia! C'mon! I always miss those two nations.
Ponderosa
+1
Level 77
Mar 30, 2014
I missed those exact ones!
Mogysht
+1
Level 45
May 9, 2014
I guess Colombia last and did not have time for Syria.. (facepalm)
Gubriel
+1
Level 47
Nov 22, 2019
troll
clr231
+13
Level 56
Jan 25, 2013
France! Ha! Cheese eating surrender monkeys.
Nytebreid
+32
Level 44
May 9, 2013
Third in military spending... how much do white flags cost these days?!?
TheWombat
+3
Level 74
Oct 9, 2013
A lot less than jack boots, which is why France spends less than the USA :o)
kalbahamut
+7
Level 80
May 24, 2016
What are you even talking about?
JackintheBox
+2
Level 67
Dec 1, 2019
You must be 'joking', right?
Jacktheguy
+14
Level 83
Feb 24, 2020
Guys, relax. It's a Simpsons reference.
benjaminmarker
+1
Level 67
Feb 27, 2020
Make cheese, not war!
kalbahamut
+4
Level 80
May 5, 2013
There are some countries with active reserves 10 or more times larger than some of these standing armies.

http://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/30947/countries-largest-military-reserves

ConfusedYeti
+5
Level 39
May 20, 2013
You can see who the developed countries are by looking at how precise their figures are. Turkey = 666,576 whereas Syria = 325,000 :)
alburquirky
+1
Level 59
Aug 31, 2013
The UK has 205,000 in active service and 182,000 in reserve
AlexThirkell
+1
Level 56
Apr 6, 2020
Haha, not even in 2013...!
thecoolestdude2
+13
Level 69
Sep 27, 2013
Liechtenstein isn't on here? I'm shocked!
Cahill2
+16
Level 37
May 9, 2014
I'm more shocked by the lack of Nauru on the quiz. Nauru has a massive, well trained army, that is a severe threat to places like the Marshall Islands and Kiribati. I think we might see a war erupt thanks to Nauru's militarism.
PatoPotato
+1
Level 47
Dec 23, 2015
Liechtenstein doesn't have an army. Though they supplied men to the NAZI forces on Operation Barbossa.
JackintheBox
+2
Level 67
Apr 5, 2020
It's Barbarossa*
Sulps
+11
Level 59
May 24, 2016
What about the Vatican? They are surrounded by friendly Italy, they need to actively protect themselves at all times!
JBlouw1850
+4
Level 47
Apr 24, 2017
I am more surprised by the fact that Andorra is not here. After all, it is surrounded by Spain and France, both of which have significantly more people, land, and money.
Malbaby
+2
Level 70
Dec 18, 2017
They get round that problem by calling the President of France 'The Prince of Andorra' shares a co-principality with the Catholic Bishop of Urgell (Catalonia, Spain). (that must make the President of France a reigning Monarch)
cbp
+2
Level 50
Mar 3, 2018
You may like this 1960s tribute to Andorra's defense budget

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOCWTRJCnf0

isdaril
+1
Level 47
Dec 2, 2019
Also the palce isn't of any particular value... Monaco on the other hand...
JackintheBox
+1
Level 67
Apr 5, 2020
Liechtenstein, Nauru and the Vatican either do not have their own armies, or have very small ones due to the minute size of these countries and their populations.
powdamonkeyy
+3
Level 37
Oct 9, 2013
guiz.. weres costa rica?
ChocolateMoose
+1
Level 35
Dec 18, 2015
Costa Rica doesn't have an army
angusr
+22
Level 35
May 24, 2016
I think you might have missed the sarcasm there...
Jackninja5
+2
Level 55
Nov 14, 2018
The joke flew over your head. RIP.
Jacktheguy
+4
Level 83
Feb 24, 2020
To be fair though, it was a pretty bad joke.
JackintheBox
+2
Level 67
Feb 25, 2020
a) It's guys*, and b) it's in North America.
JackintheBox
+2
Level 67
Apr 5, 2020
Oh, and where's*. Maybe learn to spell before making a joke? remark?
Quetzalcoatl
+1
Level 23
Dec 8, 2013
Yo!!!! Quizmasterastan, you really need to change Burma to Myanmar. I know you accepted Myanmar, but use correct terminology. I checked on the website and it said Burma, so it's not really your fault.
Gyrenaica
+1
Level 37
Dec 10, 2013
Only Thailand and Vietnam for me. Meh- it k
ander217
+1
Level 79
May 9, 2014
What about Kronos, the Klingon homeland?
ajbeck
+4
Level 58
Sep 23, 2019
You mean Q'onos?
Landon
+1
Level 41
May 12, 2014
I only got 2 wrong! 19/21 90%
Malbaby
+1
Level 70
Nov 30, 2014
Why would Brazil need Three Hundred and Twenty Seven Thousand soldiers?
ander217
+5
Level 79
Mar 3, 2018
Brazil has a large coastline to patrol and borders ten countries, some of which have huge drug cartels. Their military also works on infrastructure projects. It's a huge area and those numbers don't seem extraordinary to me.
orangeajgreen
+2
Level 55
Aug 6, 2015
Taiwan is technically part of China (Peoples republic of)
Malbaby
+20
Level 70
May 24, 2016
perhaps you should go there 'Orangeajgreen' and explain it to the Taiwanese people.
JackintheBox
+3
Level 67
Feb 25, 2020
Yeah, especially now.
FrostExplosion
+1
Level 43
Oct 16, 2020
"Technically"

I disagree, Taiwan has its own Military, Economy, even a passport. Taiwan is a Democratic State while China is a Communist State. Its essentially calling Cuba part of the US.

BlackJohn
+2
Level 66
Aug 8, 2015
No hope of world peace with all these countries and their armies :(
jmellor13
+5
Level 65
May 24, 2016
There is a school of thought in political science that the only way to achieve peace is through building armies. The thinking is basically that if you knew you might have to go up against a powerful army of five million, you'd probably behave yourself rather than risk the fight. Basically, if you bumped into a menacing, 280-pound guy in a bar, you'd probably apologize rather than pick a fight. I think it's a simplistic position, but it makes some sense.
loganite
+3
Level 82
May 24, 2016
To put it succinctly; si vis pacem, para bellum. ;)
Malbaby
+5
Level 70
Jan 27, 2017
Then again, you may go away, find a group of 280 pound bullies and go back to the bar and beat the ' bejabers'out of the bar bully.
MinecraftSteve
+1
Level 55
Oct 1, 2020
There is never a realistic hope of world peace. It would be glorious, but extremely unrealistic
Malbaby
+2
Level 70
May 9, 2016
Many of these countries receive financial aid, and then go on to build massive armies and buy jet aircraft etc. .......... does nobody find this sickening?
Corrode
+7
Level 60
May 24, 2016
That is the point of financial aid. The UK (for example) invests in the Indian space programme, and the Indian government buys aerospace equipment from BAE Systems, a UK-based company, which creates jobs in the UK. It's not us altruistically giving money to help poorer nations because we're nice, it's investment in overseas markets which increases opportunities for the UK. The same applies elsewhere.
Malbaby
+2
Level 70
Jan 27, 2017
Great idea but it doesn't really work. UK are the 17th greatest exporters to India. Even a country such as Belgium (1/6th the size of UK) exports more to India and they don't give umpteen millions in aid to India to get the benefit.
canadry
+1
Level 60
May 12, 2020
Ah, that's totally not sickening then. :PP
kalbahamut
+3
Level 80
May 24, 2016
YAY!!! DPRK and ROK work finally. Thank you QM.
charlie33
+1
Level 66
May 24, 2016
=/ I could have sworn I typed in south korea, but I guess not
tripsaplenty
+2
Level 59
May 27, 2016
Please accept Republic of China for "Taiwan" There is no country on Earth that calls itself Taiwan. There might be a Republic of Taiwan in the future but there isn't one yet. As of now Taiwan is a geographic location but it is technically not a political one.
DasCreamy109
+5
Level 53
Dec 17, 2017
You're right, no other country calls themselves "Taiwan," or else it would be 196 Taiwans of the World.
kenpo17
+2
Level 67
Dec 19, 2017
His point is that Taiwan don't call themselves Taiwan either.
CardinalSin
+1
Level 71
Apr 5, 2020
tripsaplenty, you have been brainwashed by the Commies.
shazs317
+1
Level 55
May 27, 2016
I said south Korea like a million times and it still didn't accept it
Sputnix
+27
Level 62
Apr 21, 2017
Maybe you should try writing it instead?
Malbaby
+2
Level 70
Oct 6, 2017
+1
grantdon
+4
Level 72
Oct 8, 2018
or even typing it
JackintheBox
+1
Level 67
Mar 3, 2019
Yep
Soph1
+1
Level 45
May 29, 2016
First quiz I think that I have got above average score on. Certainly wouldnt have guessed it would have been this one of all of them. Any where there are a few usa-based questions/answers then I will be lower than average.

Thank you questionmaster for updating it too!

I have to agree with the others about myanmar. Finally it has been updated.

YantheMan
+1
Level 65
Dec 19, 2016
I'm very surprised not to see Israel on this list. I thought they were all about their army.
keiwi
+3
Level 47
Dec 19, 2016
The list is not per capita so obviously Israel isn't on the list with their population of 8 million.
Landon
+1
Level 41
Jan 11, 2017
Got all except Myanmar! nice quiz
idontlikeit2
+4
Level 70
Jun 5, 2017
Surprised I didn't see Eritrea here.
Nick16
+1
Level 50
Oct 6, 2017
How did I miss Taiwan lol would have had 100%
azzyclark
+2
Level 65
Dec 18, 2017
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_military_and_paramilitary_personnel
Majic
+3
Level 45
Jan 28, 2018
missed on sri lanka
kalbahamut
+1
Level 80
Mar 3, 2018
Took me a while to get that one, too.
Fishbone
+1
Level 52
Jun 9, 2020
Sri Lanka is a somewhat surprising one for me as well, not immediately intuative.
starfast
+2
Level 61
Mar 3, 2018
Only missed two. I was going to guess Sri Lanka, but then second guessed myself and didn't think it would be on here. I don't know why I didn't think to guess Syria though.
gamingblox
+2
Level 13
Mar 4, 2018
wow sri lanka?~
Findlay
+1
Level 73
Mar 15, 2018
Surprised Taiwan misses out. Also amazing how small European militaries have become - once this list would have been completely dominated by Europe.
ChaosLord
+2
Level 68
May 20, 2018
Quality over quantity. The most powerful European countries now prefer professionalism and training over numbers.
joeythelemur
+4
Level 83
Feb 27, 2020
Also subsidized by US force projection in Germany and elsewhere. Much less need to maintain their own troops.
Malbaby
+1
Level 70
Apr 11, 2018
China has 0.227 soldiers per square Km. USA has 0.137 S per Km2, Russia 0.06 S per Km2, North Korea 9.87 soldiers per Km2.... interesting yes?
tmaster52
+1
Level 58
Apr 26, 2018
See if the Countries with the most troops are also on the list of the 50 Most Powerful Military Nations
IXON009
+2
Level 42
Apr 29, 2018
I've lost a point because of Srí Lanka. Danke schön!
Gassu
+1
Level 72
Sep 9, 2018
Can someone explain why Japan can have 250,000 soldiers when the 9th article of the Japanese Constitution forbids it? Also, is China such a big threat to Japan that they need so many soldiers?
grantdon
+5
Level 72
Oct 8, 2018
As far as I understand it, their army is purely for defence and that is allowed. The military may be used in law and order, disaster response and as a form of welfare giving youth some training and discipline...

And yes, China is threatening the stability of east Asia

FadKrashmor
+1
Level 66
Mar 18, 2020
This has been an interesting subject to me; it is rather misleading to discount paramilitary forces. Japan for example has quite small paramilitary forces, so presumably the military takes on tasks which in other countries it might not. Italy on the other hand has military forces that are not small by European standards but also has a large paramilitary force (Carabinieri) which in the eventuality might well be deployed to a war zone in a way that another country's paramilitary would not (but then perhaps Italy's 'civilian' police forces are correspondingly smaller). Having said that, both these countries attempt to avoid doing any such thing, and sometimes it is hard to argue that they are wrong.
Sifhraven
+1
Level 67
Jan 17, 2019
This quiz would be nice per capita! (Or countries with the leadt military troops
Eliotbliss
+1
Level 72
Feb 2, 2019
This quiz says it was updated January 2018 but it appears that Sudan's listed active military is still combining Sudan and South Sudan's military numbers. South Sudan has 185,000 active while Sudan only has 104,300.
JackintheBox
+1
Level 67
Mar 3, 2019
Seems like the Sudanese military is now stronger than the British or the French!
JackintheBox
+1
Level 67
Mar 3, 2019
Joking of course
JackintheBox
+1
Level 67
Mar 3, 2019
I got all except Sudan
lazydaisee
+2
Level 47
Sep 30, 2019
sad sad world
FatSpartanJediLlama
+3
Level 45
Sep 30, 2019
Only missed Sudan and Sri Lanka. Honestly wouldn't have ever guessed the latter.
NauruPalau
+2
Level 54
Feb 21, 2020
Wow I got Sudan somehow but missed Sri Lanka. Don’t understand those two at all
jayhiatt
+1
Level 67
Feb 25, 2020
Just created a similar quiz looking at the countries with the most active military troops per capita (https://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/108298/countries-with-the-most-military-troops-per-capita). Makes for a much different list, though with a couple countries that cross over.
22jacksh
+1
Level 18
Feb 25, 2020
15/20 first try good quiz
Iluvbread123
+4
Level 68
Mar 22, 2020
Im sry, little sri lanka
StealthyNinja
+2
Level 35
Apr 6, 2020
Good one
Beppe0
+1
Level 31
Apr 5, 2020
Felice che l'Italia non ci sia
Geab
+3
Level 26
Apr 5, 2020
Didn't expect Sri Lanka here tbh it was the one that i was missing
WildStrawberries
+2
Level 45
Apr 5, 2020
Got them all. Hope the US is proud being on here with all those military dictatorships.
alboot
+1
Level 37
Apr 6, 2020
lmaoooo why do you think we need them all? Freedom isn't cheap
carrow
+2
Level 47
Apr 7, 2020
I'm sure Iran is about to launch a sneak attack on Washington any day now.
Edy4gaona
+2
Level 28
Apr 15, 2020
Why does Sri Lanka have so many troops?
kalbahamut
+1
Level 80
May 26, 2020
you gotta fight for your right to படி
mizu
+2
Level 49
Aug 14, 2020
The sri lankian govt has been fightning the tamil tigers for decades. they also are close to several massive military nations with indonesia, burma, india, pakistan and iran.
mapgeek
+3
Level 46
Jul 30, 2020
I never knew Sri Lanka had that many troops
Xenobiologista
+1
Level 56
Nov 13, 2020
So the lesson is: Laos is screwed?
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