Military deployments

This entry lists military forces deployed to other countries or territories abroad. The World Factbook defines deployed as a permanently-stationed force or a temporary deployment of greater than six months.  Deployments smaller than 100 personnel or paramilitaries, police, contractors, mercenaries, or proxy forces are not included. Numbers provided are estimates only and should be considered paper strengths, not necessarily the current number of troops on the ground.  In addition, some estimates, such as those by the US military, are significantly influenced by deployment policies, contingencies, or world events and may change suddenly. Where available, the organization or mission that at least some of the forces are deployed under is listed. The following terms and abbreviations are used throughout the entry: 

AMISOM - Africa Union (AU) Mission in Somalia; UN-supported, AU-operated peacekeeping mission

BATUS - British Army Training Unit Suffield, Canada

BATUK - British Army Training Unit, Kenya

CSTO - Collective Security Treaty Organization

ECOMIG - ECOWUS Mission in The Gambia; Africa Union-European Union peacekeeping, stabilization, and training mission in Gambia

EUTM - European Union Training Mission

EUFOR - European Union Force Bosnia and Herzegovina (also known as Operation Althea)

EuroCorps - European multi-national corps headquartered in Strasbourg, France, consisting of troops from Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, and Spain; Greece, Italy, Poland, Romania and Turkey are Associated Nations of EuroCorps

G5 Joint Force - G5 Sahel Cross-Border Joint Force comprised of troops from Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger

KFOR - the Kosovo Force; a NATO-led international peacekeeping force in Kosovo

MFO - Multinational Force & Observers Sinai, headquartered in Rome

MINOSCO - United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

MINUSCA - United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic

MINUSMA - United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali

MNJTF - Multinational Joint Task Force Against Boko Haram comprised of troops from Cameroon, Niger, and Nigeria with the mission of fighting Boko Haram in the Lake Chad Basin

NATO - North American Treaty Organization, headquartered in Brussels, Belgium

Operation Barkhane - French-led counterinsurgency and counter-terrorism mission in the Sahel alongside the G5 Joint Force; headquartered in N’Djamena, Chad and supported by Canada, Denmark, Estonia, the European Union, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the US

Operation Inherent Resolve - US-led coalition to counter the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and provide assistance and training to Iraqi security forces

UNAFIL - United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon

UNAMID - African Union - United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur, Sudan

UNDOF - United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, Golan (Israel-Syria border)

UNFICYP - United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus

UNISFA - United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (Sudan-South Sudan border)

UNMISS - United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan

UNSOM - United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia

• Albania

  100 Afghanistan (NATO) (June 2020)

• Argentina

  250 Cyprus (UNFICYP) (2020)

• Armenia

  120 Afghanistan (NATO); contributes one motorized rifle regiment (approximately 2,000 personnel) to CSTO's Rapid Reaction Force (2020)

• Australia

  200 Afghanistan (NATO); 750 Middle East (June 2020)

• Austria

  300 Bosnia-Herzegovina (EUFOR stabilization force); 320 Kosovo (NATO); 170 Lebanon (UNIFIL) (2020)

• Azerbaijan

  120 Afghanistan (NATO) (2020)

• Bangladesh

  1,300 Central African Republic (MINUSCA); 1,650 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO); 115 Lebanon (UNIFIL); 1,300 Mali (MINUSMA); 1,600 South Sudan (UNMISS) (2020)

• Belarus

  contributes about 2,000 personnel to CSTO's Rapid Reaction Force (2019 est.)

• Belgium

  125 France (contributing member of EuroCorps); 100 Mali (EUTM/MINUSMA); est. 260 Baltic States (NATO) (2020)

• Benin

  250 Mali (MINUSMA) (2020)

• Brazil

  220 Lebanon (UNIFIL) (2020)

• Bulgaria

  160 Afghanistan (NATO) (2020)

• Burkina Faso

  1,100 Mali (MINUSMA) (2020)

• Burundi

  750 Central African Republic (MINUSCA); 5,400 Somalia (AMISOM) (2020)

• Cambodia

  200 Central African Republic (MINUSCA); 180 Lebanon (UNIFIL); 330 Mali (MINUSMA) (2020)

• Cameroon

  750 Central African Republic (MINUSCA); MNJTF (approximately 2,000-2,500 troops committed; note - the national MNJTF troop contingents are deployed within their own country territories, although cross‐border operations occur occasionally) (2020)

• Canada

  540 Latvia (NATO); up to 200 Ukraine; up to 850 Middle East (multiple missions, including support to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS and NATO assistance mission Iraq; reduced considerably in 2020 because of COVID 19) (2020)

• Chad

  1,450 Mali (MINUSMA) (2020)

• China

  425 Mali (MINUSMA); 220 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO); 360 Sudan (UNAMID); 410 Lebanon (UNIFIL); 1,050 South Sudan (UNMISS); est. 250 Djibouti (2020)

• Colombia

  275 Egypt (MFO) (Dec. 2019)

• Cote d'Ivoire

  800 Mali (MINUSMA) (2020)

• Denmark

  110 Afghanistan (NATO); 130 Middle East/Iraq (NATO/Operation Inherent Resolve) (2020)

• Djibouti

  960 Somalia (AMISOM) (2020)

• Egypt

  1,000 Central African Republic (MINUSCA); 1,050 Mali (MINUSMA); 150 Sudan (UNAMID) (2020)

• El Salvador

  200 Mali (MINUSMA) (2020)

• Estonia

  approximately 100 Mali (Operation Barkhane/MINUSMA/EUTM) (2020)

• Ethiopia

  10-15,000 Somalia (4,500 for AMISOM); 800 Sudan (UNAMID); 3,600 Sudan (UNISFA); 2,100 South Sudan (UNMISS) (2020)

• European Union

  180 Central African Republic (EUTM); 600 Bosnia-Herzegovina (EUTM); 700 Mali (EUTM); 200 Somalia (EUTM) (2020)

• Fiji

  170 Egypt (MFO); 170 Iraq (UNAMI); 130 Golan Heights (UNDOF) (2020)

• Finland

  200 Lebanon (UNIFIL) (2020)

• France

  5,100 Burkina Faso/Chad/Mali/Niger (Operation Barkhane); 900 Cote D'Ivoire; 1,450 Djibouti; 300 Baltics (NATO); 2,000 French Guyana; 900 French Polynesia; 1,000 French West Indies; 350 Gabon; est. 500 Middle East (Iraq/Jordan/Syria); 780 Lebanon (UNIFIL); 1,400-1,500 New Caledonia; 1,700 Reunion Island; 350 Senegal; 650 United Arab Emirates; note - France has been a contributing member of the EuroCorps since 1992 (2020)

• Gabon

  450 Central African Republic (MINUSCA) (2020)

• Gambia, The

  130 Sudan (UNAMID) (2020)

• Georgia

  860 Afghanistan (NATO) (2020)

• Germany

  1,300 Afghanistan (NATO); approximately 100-200 Middle East (NATO/Counter-ISIS campaign); 110 Lebanon (UNIFIL); 500 Lithuania (NATO); 400 Mali (MINUSMA); 350 Mali (EUTM); note - Germany is a contributing member of the EuroCorps (2020)

• Ghana

  140 Mali (MINUSMA); 180 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO); 875 Lebanon (UNIFIL); 850 South Sudan (UNMISS) (2020)
  
  note: Ghana has pledged to maintain about 1,000 military personnel in readiness for UN peacekeeping missions

• Greece

  est. 1,000 Cyprus; 110 Kosovo (NATO); 140 Lebanon (UNIFIL) (2020)

• Guatemala

  150 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) (2020)

• Guinea

  1,500 Mali (MINUSMA) (2020)

• Hungary

  160 Bosnia-Herzegovina (EUFOR stabilization force); 150 Iraq (counter-ISIS coalition); 400 Kosovo (NATO) (2020)

• India

  1,900 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO); 190 Golan Heights (UNDOF); 780 Lebanon (UNIFIL); 2,350 South Sudan (UNMISS) (2020)

• Indonesia

  200 Central African Republic (MINUSCA); 1,025 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO); 1,250 Lebanon (UNIFIL) (2020)

• Iran

  est. 1,000 Syria (2020)
  
  note: Iran has recruited, trained, and funded thousands of Syrian and foreign fighters to support the ASAD regime during the Syrian civil war

• Ireland

  130 Golan Heights (UNDOF); 340 Lebanon (UNIFIL) (2020)

• Italy

  900 Afghanistan (NATO); 120 Djibouti; 1,100 Middle East/Iraq/Kuwait (NATO, counter-ISIS campaign, European Assistance Mission Iraq); 620 Kosovo (NATO); 200 Latvia (NATO); 1,050 Lebanon (UNIFIL); 400 Libya; 290 Niger; 150 Somalia (EUTM); 100 United Arab Emirates (April 2020)

• Japan

  approximately 170 Djibouti (2020 )

• Kazakhstan

  120 Lebanon (UNIFIL); as of mid-2019, Kazakhstan contributed a brigade to CSTO's Rapid Reaction Force (2020)

• Kenya

  3,600 Somalia (AMISOM) (2020)

• Korea, South

  280 Lebanon (UNIFIL); 270 South Sudan (UNMISS); 170 United Arab Emirates; note - since 2009, the ROK has kept a naval flotilla with approximately 300 personnel in the waters off of the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula (2020)

• Kyrgyzstan

  contributes a battalion-sized unit to CSTO's Rapid Reaction Force (2019 est.)

• Liberia

  150 Mali (MINUSMA) (2020)

• Lithuania

  contributes about 350 troops to the Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine joint military brigade (LITPOLUKRBRIG), which was established in 2014; the brigade is headquartered in Warsaw and is comprised of an international staff, three battalions, and specialized units (2019)

• Malawi

  730 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) (2020)

• Malaysia

  820 Lebanon (UNIFIL) (2020)

• Mauritania

  450 Central African Republic (MINUSCA) (2020)

• Mongolia

  850 South Sudan (UNMISS); 230 Afghanistan (NATO) (2020)

• Morocco

  750 Central African Republic (MINUSCA); 960 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) (2020)

• Nepal

  720 Central African Republic (MINUSCA); 880 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO); 400 Golan Heights (UNDOF); 870 Lebanon (UNIFIL); 230 Liberia (UNSMIL); 150 Mali (MINUSMA); 1,700 South Sudan (UNMISS) (2020)

• Netherlands

  160 Afghanistan (NATO); 270 Lithuania (NATO) (2020)

• New Zealand

  up to 220 Antarctica (summer season only) (2020)

• Niger

  860 Mali (MINUSMA) (2020)

• Nigeria

  200 Ghana (ECOMIG); MNJTF (1 brigade or approximately 3,000 troops committed; note - the national MNJTF troop contingents are deployed within their own country territories, although cross‐border operations are conducted periodically) (2020)

• Norway

  120 Lithuania (NATO) (2020)

• Pakistan

  1,230 Central African Republic (MINUSCA); 1,950 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO); 140 Mali (MINUSMA); 900 Sudan (UNAMID) (2020)

• Peru

  200 Central African Republic (MINUSCA) (2020)

• Poland

  360 Afghanistan (NATO); 230 Kosovo (NATO); up to 200 Latvia (NATO); 220 Lebanon (UNIFIL); contributes about 3,500 troops to the Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine joint military brigade (LITPOLUKRBRIG), which was established in 2014; the brigade is headquartered in Warsaw and is comprised of an international staff, three battalions, and specialized units (2020)

• Portugal

  190 Afghanistan (NATO); 200 Central African Republic (MINUSCA/EUTM); up to 120 Baltic States (NATO) (2020)

• Romania

  740 Afghanistan (NATO); 240 Mali (MINUSMA/EUTM); up to 120 Poland (NATO) (2020)

• Russia

  est. 3,000-5,000 Armenia; est. 1,500 Belarus; est. 7,000-10,000 Georgia; Central African Republic (est. 300); est. 500 Kyrgyzstan; est. 1,500 Moldova; est. 4,000-5,000 Syria; est. 5,000-7,000 Tajikistan; est. 25,000-31,000 Ukraine; contributes approximately 8,000 personnel to CSTO's Rapid Reaction Force (2020)
  
  note(s): since November 2020, Russia has deployed about 2,000 peacekeeping troops to the area in and around Nagorno-Karabakh as part of a truce agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan; fighting erupted between the two countries over the Nagorno-Karabakh region in September of 2020
  
  as of the Fall of 2020, it was assessed that there were approximately 2,000 personnel from a Russian Government-backed private military company in Libya supporting Libyan National Army forces; in addition, there were approximately 2,000 Russian-backed Syrian fighters in Libya
  

• Rwanda

  1,370 Central African Republic (MINUSCA); 1,090 Sudan (UNAMID); 2,750 South Sudan (UNMISS) (2020)

• Saudi Arabia

  est. 2,500-10,000 Yemen (probably varies depending on operations) (April 2020)

• Senegal

  1,000 Mali (MINUSMA) (2020)

• Serbia

  175 Lebanon (UNIFIL) (2020)

• Singapore

  maintains permanent training bases and detachments of military personnel in Australia, France, and the US (June 2020)

• Slovakia

  240 Cyprus (UNFICYP); up to 150 Latvia (NATO) (2020)

• Slovenia

  230 Kosovo (NATO) (2020)

• South Africa

  1,050 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) (2020)

• Spain

  150 Iraq (training mission, counter-ISIS coalition); 350 Latvia (NATO); 600 Lebanon (UNIFIL); 180 Mali (EUTM); 150 Turkey (NATO) (2020)

• Sri Lanka

  110 Central African Republic (MINUSCA); 140 Lebanon (UNIFIL); 240 Mali (MINUSMA); 170 South Sudan (UNMISS) (2020)

• Sudan

  estimates vary; approximately 1,000-3,000 Libya; approximately 1,000-2,000 Yemen (2020)

• Sweden

  200 Mali (MINUSMA and EUTM; plans to send an additional 150 personnel to the Sahel/Mali in early 2021) (2020)

• Switzerland

  165 Kosovo (NATO) (2020)

• Tajikistan

  contributes troops to CSTO's Rapid Reaction Force (2019)

• Tanzania

  450 Central African Republic (MINUSCA); 750 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO); 120 Lebanon (UNIFIL); 330 Sudan (UNAMID) (2020)

• Thailand

  270 South Sudan (UNMISS) (2020)

• Togo

  920 Mali (MINUSMA) (2020)

• Turkey

  600 Afghanistan (NATO); est. 200 (Azerbaijan; monitoring cease-fire, clearing mines); 250 Bosnia-Herzegovina (EUFOR); est. 25-35,000 Cyprus; 300 Kosovo (NATO); 170 Lebanon (UNIFIL); est. 200 Qatar; est. 200 Somalia (training mission); est. 5-10,000 Syria (2020)
  
  note(s): Turkey has deployed troops into northern Iraq on numerous occasions to combat the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK), including operations involving thousands of troops in 2007, 2011, and 2018; its most recent incursion was in June 2020; in 2020, Turkey deployed an undetermined number of Turkish military troops and an estimated 3,500-5,000 Syrian fighters to Libya to support the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA)

• Uganda

  6,200 Somalia (AMISOM); 620 Somalia (UNSOM); 250 Equatorial Guinea (2020)

• Ukraine

  250 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO); contributes about 550 troops to the Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine joint military brigade (LITPOLUKRBRIG), which was established in 2014; the brigade is headquartered in Warsaw and is comprised of an international staff, three battalions, and specialized units (2020)

• United Arab Emirates

  est. 1,000 Eritrea (maintains a military base in the port of Assab); est. 3-4,000 Yemen (2019)

• United Kingdom

  950 Afghanistan (NATO); approximately 1,000 Brunei; more than 400 Canada (BATUS); est. 2,200 Cyprus; 250 Cyprus (UNFICYP); 900 Estonia (NATO); approx. 1,200 Falkland Islands; est. 200 Germany (note - previously about 2,500, but the UK pledged to remove all but 200 troops by the end of 2020); 570 Gibraltar; approx. 1,300 Middle East (coalition against ISIS; NATO); up to 350 Kenya (BATUK); 400 Mali (EUTM, MINUSMA, and Operation Barkhane; 150 Poland (NATO) (2020)

• United States

  4,500 Afghanistan (NATO; note - the US has pledged to further reduce the number of troops in Afghanistan to 2,500 in January 2021); 5,000 Africa (mostly in Djibouti, with approximately 700-1,000 in other countries of East Africa and about 700 in West Africa); 1,000 Australia; 1,150 Belgium; 150 Bulgaria; 250 Diego Garcia; 150 Canada; 750 Cuba; 270 Egypt (MFO); 34,000 Germany (note - in July 2020, the US pledged to reduce the number of troops in Germany by about 12,000); 400 Greece; 150 Greenland; 6,000 Guam; 380 Honduras; 12,000 Italy; 54,000 Japan; 660 Kosovo (KFOR); approximately 10-15,000 assigned with an additional estimated 20-30,000 deployed in the Middle East (Bahrain/Iraq/Israel/Jordan/Kuwait/Oman/Qatar/Saudi Arabia/Syria/United Arab Emirates); 400 Netherlands; 700 Norway; 200 Philippines; 4,500 Poland; 250 Portugal; 26,500 Republic of Korea; 1,100 Romania; 200 Singapore; 3,200 Spain; 100 Thailand; 1,700 Turkey; 9,300 United Kingdom (2020)

  US military rotational policies affect deployed numbers; for example, the US deploys ground and air units to select countries for 6-12 month rotational assignments on a continuous basis; in South Korea, for example, the US continuously rotates combat brigades (3,000-4,000 personnel) for 9 months at a time; contingencies also affect US troop deployments; for example, since May 2019, the US has deployed more than 15,000 additional military personnel to the Middle East for an undetermined period of time; in addition, some overseas US naval bases, such as the headquarters of US Naval Forces Central Command (USNAVCENT) in Manama, Bahrain, are frequented by the crews of US ships on 6-9 month deployments; a US carrier strike group with an air wing and supporting ships typically includes over 6-7,000 personnel (2020)

• Uruguay

  900 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MINUSCO); 210 Golan Heights (UNDOF) (2020)

• Zambia

  920 Central African Republic (MINUSCA) (2020)