Talk:List of countries by number of military and paramilitary personnel/Archive 2

Major issue with personnel numbers
Take a look at Russia:

Listed active personnel - 9,435,000. Reserve - 23,510,000. Sourced with only one (paid) publication.

Now view Russian Armed Forces page. Active personnel listed as 1,013,628. Six sources listed. Reserve - 2,572,500, three sources.

Not sure what to make of this exactly as I cannot access the source given.

EDIT: Also, just as one other example, China active personnel is given as 118,935,000 (!!), but People's Liberation Army gives 2,035,000. Something is very wrong here.

Lumentex (talk) 17:17, 21 February 2019 (UTC)

In actuality I think we should have the current active, reserve and paramilitary figures, but also a 'wartime strength'. The Finnish figures keep being changed from somewhere between 240000-300000 to 900000-1000000. This is because Finland has a wartime strength which can take losses and then have a trained reserve that can take its place. Some countries like Syria would have the wartime figure the same as their active. Wartime strength is in other words the expected active figure in case of crisis. While the reserve is the total trained pool of soldiers that can be used for replacement of losses. People editing this article don't seem to understand this. Kennet.mattfolk (talk) 07:36, 29 June 2020 (UTC)

paramilitary personnel in germany
I fail to understand why the estimate of the german paramilitary forces are given as 500. The source for the numbers on the list seems to be only arrivable for subscribers of the IISS service and are as such not accessible by the general public. So I would not see it as safe source. The last paramilitary force germany had was the Bundesgrenzschutz and they gave up on being a paramilitary when it was transferred into the Bundespolizei back in 2005. All readable on the respective wikipedia pages. Or does swats and riot police unit count as paramilitary units? In this case the number would have to be a lot higher... Anyway if someone could answer my question and calm my doubts I would be very happy. 91.21.136.64 (talk) 10:04, 7 January 2018 (UTC)

Paramilitary numbers for USA
There are far more than zero people employed by [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement], local police departments trained to use their automatic weapons, body armor and tanks, and other federal law enforcement agencies (US Marshals, ATF, etc). What is a paramilitary if not an organization trained in military weapons and tactics that are not 'warfighters'? Jlavezzo (talk) 15:57, 23 October 2020 (UTC)

Updates to the list
Hi, The list is based on "The Military Balance" (2017 edition) by IISS. Numbers for countries with other references might differ but we stick with a common source here for uniformity. This is in standard with other such list pages on Wikipedia where lists are based on a single source. This list is only updated when IISS will publish it's numbers for 2018. Adamgerber80 (talk) 17:14, 8 February 2018 (UTC)
 * I am referring to this discussion. Adamgerber80 (talk) 01:08, 13 February 2018 (UTC)


 * This issue has already been debated and resolved in 2010. Please refer here The end result was we will include the Reserve Numbers but add a note they could be out of date. This PDF file states that Pakistan has 513,000 Reserve Troops. And thus the agreement was reached in 2010 is to include that number but add a note that IISS was last able to verify in 2002. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mercenary2k (talk • contribs) 09:55, 13 February 2018 (UTC)
 * I don't think that was resolved in any means. Plus with global security there is a serious worry that it was a circular reference. If you wish to add it again please use the right source aka the one you mentioned above and not global security. Also, please update the footnote appropriately with the year which is 2002(and grossly outdated). Please do not edit incompletely. And just for reference, finish the discussion first before you revert/edit. Adamgerber80 (talk) 17:36, 13 February 2018 (UTC)

Add a new map for Active Per Capita
The existing map is interesting, but the numbers are greatly influenced by country populations. I believe this article would be greatly improved by adding another map, with colors graded according to the countries' data for "Per 1000 capita (active)". I presume the map would be based on BlankMap-World6.svg but don't know how to do it myself. Anybody want to take this on? — Molly-in-md (talk) 12:37, 11 February 2018 (UTC)

iran military
Hey my friend iran have 500000 police, 810000 army soldier, 150000 sepah soldier and 100000 basij NiMa HmZ (talk) 14:55, 25 March 2018 (UTC)
 * We need a reference. Plus this list is based of IISS Military Balance 2017. Adamgerber80 (talk) 15:29, 25 March 2018 (UTC)


 * Yes you sey right but i read this information in the Wikipedia and i find the 6 reference. NiMa HmZ (talk) 10:25, 28 March 2018 (UTC)


 * I am not sure what you are trying to refer to. If you mean that you read this information on Wikipedia then please provide the references this refers to. We cannot use a Wikipedia page as a reference to another Wikipedia page per WP:CIRCULAR. If you are trying to say that you cannot access the references for this page then IISS Military Balance 2017 is a paid book. Please have a look at WP:OFFLINE. Adamgerber80 (talk) 16:51, 28 March 2018 (UTC)

Hi Again please check this link - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basij- this is basij informations and in this page i read basij have 600000 available for mission NiMa HmZ (talk) 16:31, 19 April 2018 (UTC)

Figures of South and North Korea
Pranjal.3029 (talk) 10:48, 25 July 2018 (UTC)

Can somebody tell me where does the figure of Reserve Personnel of South Korea and North Korea come from? This figures are not what they are in their individual pages of Armed forces. South Korea should have 3,100,000 Reserve Personnel and North Korea 600,000 from the figures of their individual armed forces pages.

EDIT: I saw the Note 109 for North Korea's figures but South Korea figures are still not what they should be — Preceding unsigned comment added by Pranjal.3029 (talk • contribs) 10:58, 25 July 2018 (UTC)

Pranjal.3029 (talk) 11:15, 25 July 2018 (UTC) EDIT 2: I now have access to Military Balance 2018 and it clearly states the Worker/Peasant Red Guard as Reserve Paramilitary and not Reserve Military(if that's a distinction that matters). Also, the figures of South korea are as previously stated by me to be 3,100,000 Reserve personnel(pg. 278) and not 7,500,000 as shown in the list, which I am now editing

Paramilitary forces in Italy
Carabinieri e Guardia di Finanza are not paramilitary forces, but integral parts of the Italian Armed Forces. Carabinieri, in particular, are oneforce (Arma) among the Armed Forces, at the same level of the Army, the Air Force, the Navy. Also the Coastal Guard is part of the Armed Forces, being part of the Italian Navy.

Pakistan Armed Forces Reserves
(Badsaad10) On the wikipedia page of the Pakistan Armed Forces it clearly states that the Pakistani Armed Forces have 500000 reserves(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan_Armed_Forces#Troop_strength) .So, why does it say on this page that they do not have a sing reserve? —Preceding undated comment added 21:22, 3 March 2019 (UTC)

Pakistan Armed Forces personnel
World Bank data cites IISS as its source, gives 2017 total personnel as 936,000...table here indicates active as 653,000 ... I do not have access to the IISS publication...can this be checked, please so that the reserve figure can be clarified. --Goldsztajn (talk) 09:42, 2 July 2019 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 28 August 2019
Pakistan has 550,000 personnel as a reserve army. 62.215.64.2 (talk) 05:36, 28 August 2019 (UTC)
 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. &#8209;&#8209; El Hef  ( Meep? ) 13:14, 28 August 2019 (UTC)

North Korean and South Korean Military personnel incorrect
As I have studied, South Korea has 5.1M troops, on the other hand, the DPRK has 8.1M troops. FalcoMaxime (talk) 10:03, 1 January 2020 (UTC)

Rank section
Please also add rank section by numbers of activities personals Ytpks896 (talk) 10:11, 26 May 2020 (UTC)

Add a new column - whether the country has conscription/national service?
I think such a column would help explain why a particular country has a large number of military personnel...

Austria
For Austria, the number of reserve military personnel is given as "0", although this is definitely untrue, if "reserve military personnel" is considered such which is already militarily trained, not "kept under arms" and mobilized if necessary. Given the consistent history of conscription in Austria, the current number of reserve personnel (according to § 10 (1) Wehrgesetz 2001, consisting of every 17 to 50 year old man, who has completed his conscription service) is estimated more so at about 950,000. In addition, according to this site, current active personnel comprises roughly 14,000 men, militia personnel 25,000 men.

What should be done about this?

— JulkaK (talk) 02:17, 24 February 2021 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 10 June 2021
Sujann simkhada (talk) 03:53, 10 June 2021 (UTC)
 * Red question icon with gradient background.svg Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate.  Clog Wolf  Howl 04:38, 10 June 2021 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 13 August 2021
Bangladesh has the largest paramilitary around 6.8 million p. Active army = 204k, Total 7004k, personnel 193.32.85.253 (talk) 14:09, 13 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. &#8209;&#8209; El Hef  ( Meep? ) 16:44, 13 August 2021 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 16 August 2021
Pakistan army reserves are 550000 which is written zero here. 213.74.86.193 (talk) 12:51, 16 August 2021 (UTC)
 * ❌ You need to provide a reliable source to support those numbers. -  wolf  20:00, 16 August 2021 (UTC)