Talk:List of countries by number of total troops

Most of this article has been made by The Honorable Kermanshahi

Seeing as China is referred to as the People's Republic of China and Taiwan as the Republic of China, I've changed North / South Korea to their official names, too.

this page shows that Iran has 900,000 total troops, but the page ranking by number of active men says that Iran has a total of 11,000,000 men. how come it's not #1 here?


 * I guess we had no reference. Now we have. CP/Mcomm |Wikipedia Neutrality Project| 11:56, 29 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Oh, no, not exactly. It was an IP who removed Iran, someone put it back a bit wrong. Restoring. CP/Mcomm |Wikipedia Neutrality Project| 12:00, 29 October 2006 (UTC)

Data out of Date
Much of this data here is totally out of date. Almost entire data needs to be redone. Europe especially, I was tempted to do it, but I just realized it is way to much for me to get in to this mess.

I could do Europe, but I'll need help with the rest, only if few more of you join and help out will I attempt to do anything about current state of the affairs. Anyone who is interested plz leave a note on my page and here, so we can coordinate things. Thanx, Mic of orion (talk) 18:05, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

Correct. Norway has almost no millitary left. Not long ago a Norwegian general said the Norwegian army could only possibly defend one suburb of Oslo. Nastykermit (talk) Norway should be right there with Iceland and Greenland. —Preceding comment was added at 15:52, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

Can anyone take the liberty to edit the TOTAL amount of troops for the WORLD plz? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.185.58.212 (talk) 12:25, 11 October 2008 (UTC)

United Kingdom
Somebody has grossly exaggerated the numbers for the United Kingdom. Who did it? Operaman215 Operaman215 (talk) 03:53, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

I don't know but I have undone it all. the UK most certainly does not have anything close to 20 million active troops LOL. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.194.22.5 (talk) 01:42, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

Changed Myanmars Numbers!!!
I changed Myanmars numbers as I already sayd on the list of countries by number of active troops, on CSIS page 35 there says that Myanmar has 428,250 troops not 375,250 so I have changed it, also you say on the Military of Myanmar page that the Myanmar police force (72,000) is classified as their Paramilitary so I have also added that wich makes a total of 500,250 troops wich ranks Myanmar 26 insead of 35, It also says that the Myanmar police force includes a fighting force of 45,000 so maybe we should only count that? if anyone has anyone has objecions than say it to let me know.Kermanshahi 14:46, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

Basji
The Basji is a civilian defence force. If the Basji's number is counted, then similar numbers must be counted for all the nation's civil defence forces.

Chanakyathegreat 13:51, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

It is classified by the Iranian goverment as paramilitary and i am not sure if all other nations have civil defence forces

Kermanshahi 10:18, 4 January 2007 (UTC)


 * The Basij is the only force of Iran during the Iran-Iraq war. In Iran they are not classified as "civil defense force" as you call it. They are military men that get military training. Noaccess2k (talk) 08:58, 3 January 2009 (UTC)

Merge
These two articles cover exactly the same information: the list of active troops also has total troops and it has a lot more countries. We should just have this article redirect to the active troop article. Makgraf 19:30, 17 December 2006 (UTC)

No we shouldn't because here you can see the order and I have just added up to 60 and I am hoping to add the rest later Kermanshahi 18:09, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

This Page should be merged with the list of active troops. It does or should contain the same information. The list of active troops is re-orderable by total troops size making this page redundant. See active troop article. Lawbringer (talk) 12:45, 16 July 2008 (UTC)

Israel
Why isn't Israel mentioned? The Israel Defense Forces list about 3 million "available" members, why aren't they counted? The available members should fit under either reserve or paramilitary.....

because those 3 milion are not in the army ore paramilitary but are just fit for military service, they are not reserves eighther otherwise you would have to count this by all other countries and than China would have about 300 milion soldiers.

Kermanshahi 18:07, 4 february 2007 (UTC)

The TA!?
Surely the Terriritorial Army that is employed by Britain should festure under the Paramilitary section —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Thelostlibertine (talk • contribs) 19:09, 24 January 2007 (UTC).

Added even more
I have added up to 80 now by adding: Canada, Netherlands, Democratic Republic of Kongo, Guatlemala, Lebanon and The Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia very soon I will be adding unp yo 99 that are all the army's larger than 50,000 soldiers. 🇮🇷 Kermanshahi 14:47, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

I have now added up to 99, after getting all these stars and medals for my contributions I might aswel do some more work for it so here it is the list is even larger, i hope you enjoy it 🇮🇷 Kermanshahi 15:28, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

Well Tunesia is on it so now it is exactly the top 100 the next 64 will hopefully be added this weekend, They are from 101.Kuwait with 46.100 troops until 164.Antigua and Barbuda with 245 soldiers and I have to say that as Iranian I am extremely proud seeing my country ranked first. 🇮🇷 Kermanshahi 19:14, 16 March 2007 (UTC)

Added up to 120 now 🇮🇷 Kermanshahi 15:19, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Changed Iran's numbers
and update source to more reliable source http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2005/09/f93d378c-9321-4d56-a459-64cc54743f7f.html Macutty 03:02, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

I wasn't realy happy with your changing so good job it has been changed and Iran is nr1 again although the nurmbers are not realy the same anymore. Kermanshahi 13:52, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

I've reverted the page for a second time due to anon users editing without explaination or citing sources. Also added protection plag to prevent further vandalism. If you don;t like the numbers as are provide some feedback on the discussion page and include references from reliable sources. Macutty 18:07, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

well i didn't edit it and everyone knows that Basij has 11milion members you could have also red it on the old source, In Iran we even say that Basij has 20,000,000 members you could have at least added the ther 1,000,000 that can be mobilized according to the americans and don't say I vandilized this page because I made the whole thing there was only a top 10 first Kermanshahi 22:55, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

The CSIS repot states that claims made by Iran are highly suspect and that actual intelligence puts the number at about 390,000 with the potential to mobilize up to 1 million. The numbers of 11-20,000,000 are in no way credible and do not meet wiki standards. The only sources that mention these numbers are from Iran which also claims they are the military superior to the United States which you will also find is not accepted by anyone in the world outside Iran (and even in Iran few people actually believe this).I could agree the with a number of 1,000,000 but you and I as well as many more reputable sources know that anything beyond that is propaganda at best and a flat out lie at worst. I'll give yuou a chance to respond before making any further reversions but please provide some credible (read: meets wik standars) sources to back up your claim. If not I think we should adjust the numbers to 1,000,000 in the next few days.

I have a hard time understanding why the CSIS numbers are deemed credible for most of teh other countries on this list but you insist on disregarding them in favour of an unverified claim.

If nothing else there should be a footnote to mention that Basij membership comprises mainly boys, old men, and those who recently finished their military service.

And please register and sign your posts if you are going to make this many edits. Macutty 00:44, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

I agree that th claim that basij has 20,000,000 members is an Iranian Exaggeration. there are always 3 options what the Iranians say what the americans say and what is true, you should also not believe the american claims because they always try to show how superior amrica is to all other country's and these claims are to low ore in case of casualties of their enemy's to high, like the hizbollah-Israel war ehere hezbollah claims to have 200 casualies the americans and Israeli's claim it is 600 but it is actually about 500. And Iran might not be military superior to america but neighter was Vietnam and they won to, I think that Iran will probably able to defeat america if they get attacked but they can definetly not invade the US. And CSIS numbers are credible for Basij to but you just understood it wrong th number of 390,000 are the active members and reserves, Iran says they have another 20,000,000 membres but experts estimate basij has got another 11,000,000 members, that 1,000,000 is not their total members but how much they will probably be able to mobilize in case of war, 11,000,000 is just to much to mobilize at once but they are still members.

And when there is said old men, how old? if they are 70 I accept they can't fight, but 40 year old men can fight in a war. the same goes with young boys, how young? if they ae 4 year old than they can't fight but if they are 16 they probably can.

I would however agree to your Idea to make a footnote that Basij membership comprises mainly boys, old men, and those who recently finished their military service. Kermanshahi 11:54, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

Well I'm glad this argument is over, I hope it has ended now Kermanshahi 18:28, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

I concede that there is no perfect estimate of the true strength of the Basij, but I can't help but be skeptical of 11 million figure. The cited page does indeed quote the Basij commander as having estimated over 11 million members, but the very next paragraph (rather vaguely) gives estimates of 90,000 active personnel, 300,000 reservists, and--presumably limited to some uncertain time period--a mobilization capacity of 1 million. Instead of a footnote qualifying the make-up of the Basij forces, as suggested above, perhaps a footnote noting the uncertainty of the force's size would be appropriate. Unfortunately, due to the nature of these forces and the nature of the current regional and international situation, it is unlikely that there will ever be a solid answer as to their size, so if the current estimate doesn't trouble anyone else, I won't complain. 76.182.80.61 (talk) 00:58, 19 April 2008 (UTC)

May we please change the Iran paramilitary forces number? I'm not questioning the patriotism of Iranians, or the idea that they would fight invaders but I would like if Wikipedia would come up with a better source (as previously noted source is contradictory) or go with the sources estimate: "There are about 90,000 active-duty Basij members who are full-time uniformed personnel; they are joined by up to 300,000 reservists." I think that a war (by definition) involves the possibility of offense and doubt Iran could muster 11 million to attack another country, even if you take into account woman, old, young etc.

98.148.190.82 (talk) 23:38, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

New Contribution by Kermanshahi
Hey guys I have just added a Map for the list of countries by number of total troops. I made it myself and it is like the map of the list of countries by number of active troops only then with the numbers of total troops but it has the same colours and thing. Even more is coming soon and I hope you enjoy my article. 🇮🇷 The Honorable Kermanshahi 13:03, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

Well I'm gonna be adding even more now. 🇮🇷 The Honorable Kermanshahi 07:39, 22 April 2007 (UTC)

vandalism
I suggest that editing on this page be suspended due to vandalism on the link to the Iranian military page. See my edit note.

Helsinki Jambox 00:43, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

It is already fixed. kermanshahi 12:06, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

Updates
Very impressive (and useful) list. And as difficult factoring in all the information may be, the article without constant updates is useless. Once again very nice, Bogdan 02:16, 26 April 2007 (UTC)

If anyone finds any troop size has changed, change it. 🇮🇷 The Honorable Kermanshahi 09:03, 28 April 2007 (UTC)

Nearly finished
Good news, the artickle is nearly finished. This weekend I'll be adding the final countries and the artickle will be finished. The Honorable Kermanshahi 21:08, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

Finished!!!
Heey guys, I finally finished it! The Honorable Kermanshahi 11:46, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

A lot of work needed
A lot of work is needed on this page. I don't know if it's due to vandalism or what, but the troop totals among the top entries seem wildly off (especially if their rankings are considered accurate). --Managerpants (talk) 21:14, 28 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Update: I started checking the sources, and in many cases, the numbers just don't match. I'm going to start changing them, unless somebody tells me where the current numbers are coming from. Thanks! --Managerpants (talk) 11:44, 29 February 2008 (UTC)

China, the Koreas, et al
This is copied-and-pasted from above: "Seeing as China is referred to as the People's Republic of China and Taiwan as the Republic of China, I've changed North / South Korea to their official names, too." I'm not sure who wrote that, but I have changed the Koreas back (twice). For consistency's sake, we should keep the countries' names the same as on their main WP articles. Either that, or change all of them to their "official" names (e.g. United States -> United States of America; United Kingdom -> United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; etc.). Seeing how unwieldy that would look, I think just the standard names will be fine. Regards, Managerpants (talk) 12:21, 5 March 2008 (UTC)

The thing is that China and Taiwan (and I also think North and South Korea, but I am usure about this one) claim each other's territory. Taiwan is not a country, the Republic of China is supposed to be the ruler of the whole of China but after defeat in the civil war they only rule the Island of Taiwan. Same goes with the People's Republic of China. The Honorable Kermanshahi (talk) 18:40, 5 March 2008 (UTC)
 * That may be, but it's all unrelated to my point. My whole issue is just with consistency, not with politics. :-)  --Managerpants (talk) 19:13, 5 March 2008 (UTC)

citation for Unites States is a 404
In case no one noticed, the citation 13 for the United States is not working. Could you help fix it, please? Kushal 11:03, 6 March 2008 (UTC)

I noticed, and the number of reservists is completely wrong-- according to there are 189,005 reservists, not 1.4 million and change. This is the reference for the WP article "United States Army Reserve," see. Suntzucanadia (talk) 04:21, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Vandalism
Over the years a lot of vandalism has been done to this article, one of these days I'm going to go threw all the sources and make the article back to how it's supposed to be. The Honorable Kermanshahi (talk) 18:54, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

Urgent Changes!
First off, Nagorno-Karabakh is unregonized in the world, its a seperatist country, its the only seperatist country in the list and thus its misleading and POV, if we are going to include unregonized states to the list we should admit them all or remove this Nagorno-Karabakh, it simply does not belong here, so I removed this to avoid problems and POV.

Second, Azerbaijan has 126.400 military personnel of whom 95,000 are in the army. I also corrected this number in the list Baku87 (talk) 11:32, 22 April 2008 (UTC)


 * I was unable to correct these changes, can somebody please ensure these are corrected in the articleBaku87 (talk) 11:39, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

It doesn't matter if it's recognised or not, it still has a military. The Honorable Kermanshahi (talk) 20:04, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Historical list
Is anyone willing to slog through a LOT of history and make a list regarding the largest armies a country has ever fielded? For example, most of the nations on this list have shrunk thier militaries in the past decade or so, and most of them had much larger militaries during various wars (WWII comes to mind). Also, some countried have changed/disappeared (Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, etc.). While it would be a large undertaking, I think it would be interesting to compare, say, the US at its height against the USSR at its height, since the current list contains only current numbers. ''' bahamut0013 ♠  ♣  15:41, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Ireland
...is missing. 89.100.20.244 (talk) 13:57, 29 May 2008 (UTC)


 * fixed. Nohomers48 (talk) 20:49, 6 March 2009 (UTC)

Germany
I've updated the number of German troops. The paramilitary forces of Germany have been set to 0 by me. The former number referred to the Bundesgrenzschutz (Federal Border Guard), which is nowadays called Bundespolizei (Federal Police). They are not combatants any more, and are not radically different from ordinary state (Bundesländer) level police, so I don't think they should be counted as paramilitary forces.

I doubt the number of reserve troops, which is currently given as 358,650, as the Bundeswehr has been substantially downsized since the end of the cold war, but I have no source how many reserve troops there are nowadays, so I didn't change that number. --87.79.65.207 (talk) 21:28, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

Cite Notes Disrupting Sorting
When trying to sort the coloums, the cite note numbers are being counted as the actual numbers. This results in inaccurate sorting. 99.158.228.90 (talk) 23:44, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

Ethiopian troop number
The Ethiopia number is right for active troops 182,000 but total it is estimated to be 252,000-300,000 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.105.67.58 (talk) 18:47, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

North Korea
I worked on the accurate number of troops of both North and South Korea based on "military factbook" named 국방백서 by Ministry of South Korea (version 2008), then someone just changed it back to where it was before (which means out of date/incorrect information). I believe that 국방백서 2008 is the most accurate military factbook for both Koreas.

Colour of World Map
The color for Canada on the World Map at the top of the page needs to be changes from 50,000+ troops to 100,000+ troops. (65,000 + 26 000 + 9350 = 100,350) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.12.69.162 (talk) 16:33, 11 April 2009 (UTC)

Iran and in fact paramilitaries in general
Righty ho, looking at this it appears the world's largest army is Iran, which is a bit wierd to say the least. On investigation it appears this is because they have the very precise figure of 11,390,000 paramilitaries. On further investigation it appears that this figure is basically based on the IRGC commander saying he's got more than 11 million men, which somehow became the more precise figure above. What I'll do is redress the figure to the more realistic 400,000 mentioned in the source, but I think this is a general problem. There needs to be some consensus on what constitutes a paramilitary, if anyone who has ever held or owned a gun and might start shooting if they got invaded counts then we might as well include the NRA in the US figures. If I do similar changes to other Paramilitaries and people think they're unwarranted please discuss here. cheers. Billsmith453 (talk) 18:18, 10 June 2009 (UTC)