For those of you who don't subscribe to the bimonthly print edition of Foreign Policy, you're missing a great feature: the FP Quiz. It has eight intriguing questions about how the world works.
The question I'd like to highlight this week is:
How many people worldwide serve in the military?
a) 10.5 million b)
20.5 million c) 40.5 million
Answer after the jump …
Answer:
B, 20.5 million.
Worldwide in 2009, there were 20.5
million people -- or one out of every 330 -- serving in the armed forces, according
to the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) report, "The Military Balance 2009." There were also an
estimated 49.8 million reservists and 7 million serving in paramilitary units.
China had the biggest military, with 2.185 million in the armed services.
(Above, Chinese People's Liberation Army sailors march past Beijing's Tiananmen
Square on Oct. 1, 2009, during the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the founding
of the People's Republic of China.)
Here are the countries with at least half a million military personnel, according to the aforementioned IISS report:
-
China: 2.185 million
-
United States: 1.54 million
-
India: 1.281 million
-
North Korea: 1.106 million
- Russia: 1.027 million
-
South Korea: 687,000
-
Pakistan: 617,000
-
Iraq: 577,000
-
Iran: 523,000
-
Turkey: 511,000
Here are the countries with a least half a million reservists, according to the IISS. I'm guessing some smaller countries are showing up due to rules about mandatory service.
- Russia: 20 million
- Vietnam: 5 million
-
North Korea: 4.7 million
-
South Korea: 4.5 million
-
Taiwan: 1.657 million
-
Brazil: 1.34 million
-
India: 1.155 million
-
Ukraine: 1 million
-
United States: 979,000
-
China: 800,000
-
Israel: 565,000
For more questions about how the world works, check out the rest of the FP Quiz.
Read More
(0)
HIDE COMMENTS LOGIN OR REGISTER REPORT ABUSE