Countries With and Without Mandatory Military Service
| Country | Land area (km2) | GDP nominal (US$M) | Per capita GDP (US$) |
Population | Government | Conscription |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albania | 27,398 | $11,800 | $2,949.57 | 2,994,667 | Parliamentary Democracy | No (abolished in 2010) |
| Algeria | 2,381,740 | $159,000 | $3,948.01 | 34,994,937 | Republic | Yes |
| Angola | 1,246,700 | $85,810 | $5,003.43 | 13,338,541 | Republic; Multiparty Presidential Regime | Yes |
| Argentina | 2,736,690 | $351,000 | $8,662.99 | 41,769,726 | Republic | No. Voluntary; conscription may be ordered for specified reasons; per Public Law No.24.429 promulgated on 5 January 1995. |
| Australia | 7,617,930 | $1,220,000 | $44,474.51 | 21,766,711 | Constitutional monarchy that is also a parliamentary democracy and a federation | No (abolished by parliament in 1972) |
| Austria | 82,444 | $366,300 | $45,598.77 | 8,217,280 | Federal Republic | Yes (alternative service available) |
| Bahamas | 10,070 | $7,538 | $21,547.17 | 313,312 | Constitutional Monarchy with a parliamentary system of government | No |
| Bangladesh | 133,910 | $100,100 | $481.36 | 158,570,535 | Parliamentary Democracy | No |
| Belgium | 30,278 | $461,300 | $43,648.01 | 10,431,477 | Federal Parliamentary Democracy under Constitutional Monarchy | No (Conscription was abolished as of 1 January 1994 under the so-called Delacroix Bill of 6 July 1993)) Suspended (conscription suspended as of 1 January 1994) |
| Belize | 22,806 | $1,431 | $4,327.67 | 321,115 | Parliamentary Democracy | No. Military service is voluntary. |
| Bhutan | 47,000 | $1,397 | $561.89 | 708,427 | Constitutional Monarchy | No |
| Bolivia | 1,084,390 | $19,180 | $1,446.41 | 10,118,683 | Republic | Yes (when annual number of volunteers falls short of goal) |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 51,197 | $16,320 | $3,246.78 | 4,622,163 | Emerging Federal Democratic Republic | No (Abolished on January 1, 2006.) |
| Brazil | 8,456,510 | $2,024,000 | $6,915.40 | 203,429,773 | Federal Republic | Yes. |
| Bulgaria | 110,550 | $44,840 | $5,409.09 | 7,093,635 | Parliamentary Democracy | No (abolished by law on January 1, 2008) |
| Myanmar | 657,740 | $35,650 | $285.60 | 53,999,804 | Military Junta |
sources differ Yes but not enforced as of January 2011. No (FWCC) |
| Canada | 9,093,507 | $1,564,000 | $42,886.91 | 34,030,589 | constitutional monarchy that is also a parliamentary democracy and a federation | No |
| Chile | 748,800 | $199,200 | $10,058.50 | 16,888,760 | republic | Yes |
| China | 9,326,410 | $5,745,000 | $2,459.43 | 1,336,718,015 | Communist State | No, Legal under Constitution but has not yet been practiced in history |
| Croatia | 56,414 | $59,920 | $11,430.32 | 4,483,804 | presidential/parliamentary democracy | No (abolished by law in 2008) |
| Cuba | 110,860 | $57,490 | $4,000.34 | 11,087,330ã | Communist state | Yes |
| Cyprus | 9,240 | $22,750 | $27,014.79 | 1,120,489 | republic | Yes |
| Denmark | 42,394 | $311,900 | $57,039.71 | 5,529,888 | constitutional monarchy | Yes (alternative service available) |
| Djibouti | 22,980 | $1,139 | $1,694.29 | 757,074 | republic | No |
| Ecuador | 276,840 | $56,500 | $3,211.76 | 15,007,343 | republic | Yes |
| Egypt | 995,450 | $127,900 | $1,592.08 | 81,713,520 | republic | Yes |
| El Salvador | 20,720 | $21,800 | $2,931.75 | 6,071,774 | republic | No. Legal, not practiced. |
| Finland | 304,473 | $238,000 | $46,769.47 | 5,259,250 | republic | Yes (alternative service available) |
| France | 640,053 | $2,555,000 | $35,240.62 | 65,102,719 | republic | No (suspended in 2001) |
| Gambia | 10,000 | $1,040 | $386.77 | 1,797,860 | republic | No |
| Germany | 349,223 | $3,306,000 | $40,315.05 | 81,471,834 | federal parliamentary republic | No (suspended for peacetime by federal legislature effective from 1 July 2011) |
| Greece | 130,800 | $302,000 | $29,384.60 | 10,760,136 | parliamentary republic | Yes |
| Grenada | 344 | $645 | $6,557.67 | 108,419 | parliamentary democracy | No (no military service) |
| Hungary | 92,340 | $132,300 | $13,901.01 | 9,976,062 | parliamentary democracy | No (Peacetime conscription abolished in 2004) |
| India | 2,973,190 | $1,099,000 | $972.68 | 1,147,995,904 | federal republic | No |
| Indonesia | 1,826,440 | $695,100 | $1,844.53 | 245,613,043 | republic |
sources differ Yes, selective conscription (FWCC) No |
| Iran | 1,636,000 | $337,900 | $4,497.11 | 77,891,220 | theocratic republic | Yes |
| Israel | 20,330 | $201,300 | $25,191.86 | 7,473,052 | parliamentary democracy | Yes |
| Italy | 294,020 | $2,037,000 | $33,599.20 | 61,016,804 | unitary parliamentary constitutional republic | "No" (De Facto from 2005) but also "Yes" (by law "legge Martino 23 August 2004, n. 226) |
| Jamaica | 10,831 | $13,740 | $4,032.18 | 2,868,380 | constitutional parliamentary democracy | No |
| Japan | 374,744 | $5,391,000 | $34,402.26 | 126,475,664 | constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary government | No |
| Jordan | 91,971 | $27,130 | $2,644.89 | 6,508,271 | constitutional monarchy |
Yes. The government decided in 2007 to reintroduce conscription, which had been suspended in 1999. |
| North Korea | 120,538 | $28,000 | $1,800.00 | 24,457,492 | Communist state one-man dictatorship | Yes |
| South Korea | 98,190 | $986,300 | $19,514.81 | 48,754,657 | republic | Yes |
| Kuwait | 17,820 | $117,300 | $44,421.22 | 2,595,628 | constitutional emirate | Yes |
| Lebanon | 10,230 | $39,150 | $6,276.90 | 4,143,101 | Sources differ | No (abolished in 2007)) |
| Libya | 1,759,540 | $77,910 | $9,451.85 | 6,597,960 | Caretaker government as of October 2011 | Yes |
| Lithuania | 65,300 | $35,730 | $10,725.96 | 3,535,547 | parliamentary democracy | No (Suspended on September 15, 2008) |
| Luxembourg | 2,586 | $52,430 | $104,451.69 | 503,302 | constitutional monarchy | No |
| Macedonia | 24,856 | $9,170 | $3,646.55 | 2,077,328 | parliamentary democracy | No (abolished in 2006) |
| Malaysia | 328,550 | $219,000 | $7,513.71 | 28,728,607 | constitutional monarchy | No |
| Maldives | 300 | $1,433 | $2,842.58 | 394,999 | republic | No |
| Malta | 316 | $7,801 | $18,460.73 | 408,333 | republic | No |
| Mexico | 1,923,040 | $1,004,000 | $8,218.88 | 113,724,226 | federal republic | Yes |
| Moldova | 33,371 | $5,357 | $978.36 | 4,314,377 | republic | Yes |
| Nepal | 143,181 | $15,110 | $333.09 | 29,391,883 | democratic republic | No |
| Netherlands | 33,883 | $770,300 | $46,389.35 | 16,847,007 | constitutional monarchy | Yes. Compulsory attendance suspended. Legal, suspended since 1997 (except for Curaçao and Aruba). See also: Conscription in the Netherlands |
| New Zealand | 268,021 | $138,000 | $31,124.18 | 4,290,347 | parliamentary democracy | No, Conscription Abolished in December 1972. |
| Norway | 307,442 | $413,500 | $84,595 | 4,691,849 | constitutional monarchy | Yes |
| Pakistan | 778,720 | $174,800 | $872.88 | 187,342,721 | federal republic | No |
| Philippines | 298,170 | $188,700 | $1,582.17 | 101,833,938 | republic | Yes. Legal. |
| Poland | 304,459 | $470,000 | $10,911.71 | 38,441,588 | republic | No (ended in 2009) |
| Portugal | 91,951 | $223,700 | $20,981.25 | 10,636,979 | parliamentary republic | No (abolished in 2004 but there remains a symbolic military obligation to all 18-year-old people, from both sexes. It called National Defense Day, (Dia da Defesa Nacional in Portuguese)). |
| Qatar | 11,437 | $126,500 | $74,688.97 | 848,016 | emirate | No |
| Romania | 230,340 | $158,400 | $7,451.95 | 21,904,551 | republic | No (ended in 2007) |
| Russia | 16,995,800 | $1,290,000 | $9,124.49 | 140,702,096 | federation | Yes (alternative service available) |
| Rwanda | 24,948 | $5,693 | $335.10 | 10,186,063 | republic; presidential | No |
| Saudi Arabia | 2,149,690 | $434,400 | $13,622.68 | 26,131,703 | monarchy | No |
| Seychelles | 455 | $919 | $10,621.21 | 89,188 | republic | Yes |
| Singapore | 682.7 | $233,900 | $35,427.12 | 4,740,737 | parliamentary republic | Yes |
| Slovenia | 20,151 | $46,440 | $22,933.99 | 2,000,092 | parliamentary republic | No |
| Sweden | 410,934 | $444,600 | $50,414.75 | 9,088,728 | Constitutional monarchy, Unitary parliamentary representative democracy | No (ended in 2010) |
| South Africa | 1,219,912 | $354,400 | $6,423.04 | 49,004,031 | republic | No (ended in 1994, formalized in 2002) |
| Spain | 499,542 | $1,375,000 | $35,576.37 | 46,754,784 | parliamentary monarchy | No (abolished by law on December 31, 2001) |
| Swaziland | 17,203 | $3,165 | $2,591.20 | 1,370,424 | monarchy | No |
| Switzerland | 39,770 | $522,400 | $56,111.06 | 7,639,961 | a confederation only in name, legally and structurally a federal republic | Yes (Alternative service available) |
| Syria | 184,050 | $59,630 | $1,954.98 | 19,747,586 | republic under an authoritarian military-dominated regime | Yes |
| Taiwan | 32,260 | $427,000 | $16,768.11 | 23,071,779 | multiparty democracy | Yes (alternative service available) An all-volunteer force is planned by the end of 2014, but conscription will remain in practice thereafter. |
| Thailand | 511,770 | $312,600 | $3,776.0 | 66,720,153 | constitutional monarchy | Yes |
| Tonga | 718 | $301 | $1,873.06 | 105,916 | constitutional monarchy | No |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 5,128 | $21,200 | $19,590.99 | 1,227,505 | parliamentary democracy | No |
| Turkey | 770,760 | $729,100 | $9,322.83 | 78,785,548 | republican parliamentary democracy | Yes |
| Ukraine | 603,700 | $136,600 | $3,034.57 | 45,134,707 | Republic | Yes |
| United Kingdom | 241,590 | $2,259,000 | $45,626.38 | 62,698,362 | constitutional monarchy and Commonwealth realm | No (abolished December 31, 1960, except Bermuda Regiment) |
| United States | 9,161,923 | $14,620,000 | $45,958.70 | 313,232,044 | federal republic | No Draft abolished in 1975 by President Gerald Ford; however Males between 18–25 need to register with the U.S. Selective Service System. |
| Vanuatu | 12,200 | $721 | $2,146.52 | 224,564 | parliamentary republic | No |
| Venezuela | 882,050 | $285,200 | $9,084.09 | 27,635,743 | federal republic | Yes |
Read more about this topic: Conscription
Famous quotes containing the words countries, mandatory, military and/or service:
“The man who loves other countries as much as his own stands on a level with the man who loves other women as much as he loves his own wife.”
—Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919)
“Off south, the bison multiply so fast
a slaughter’s mandatory every spring
and every spring the creeks get fat
and Kicking Horse fills up.”
—Richard Hugo (1923–1982)
“Personal prudence, even when dictated by quite other than selfish considerations, surely is no special virtue in a military man; while an excessive love of glory, impassioning a less burning impulse, the honest sense of duty, is the first.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“Books can only reveal us to ourselves, and as often as they do us this service we lay them aside.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)