© RIA Novosti / Ilya Pitalev
China has the largest army in the world – about 2 million troops. China’s armed forces remain the largest in the world due to the country’s huge population and a multi-year military modernization program.
India ranks second with 1.4 million troops, reflecting both the scale of the country’s population and its persistent regional security threats.
TheU.S. maintains a military strength of approximately 1.3 million, while having the largest defense budget in the world.
The DPRK remains one of the most militarized countries. With a population of about 27 million, approximately 1.3 million people – nearly 5% of the country’s total population – serve in the military. This emphasis on military power is due to decades of international isolation and ongoing tensions on the Korean Peninsula. At the same time, the DPRK has an army almost as large as the U.S., despite a population more than ten times smaller.
States with unusually large militaries relative to population include Taiwan and Eritrea, both of which are under severe regional security pressure.
A large population alone does not guarantee a large army. For example, Indonesia and Brazil each have populations of over 200 million, but their active military forces do not exceed 450,000 troops. While demographics play an important role in building an army, geopolitical priorities, regional conflicts and the level of national security threats are equally important.
