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

• Argentina

  250 Cyprus (UNFICYP) (Jan 2021)

• Australia

  approximately 700 Middle East (2021)

• Austria

  290 Bosnia-Herzegovina (EUFOR stabilization force); 340 Kosovo (NATO/KFOR); 170 Lebanon (UNIFIL) (Oct 2021)

• Azerbaijan

  120 Afghanistan (NATO) (2021)

• Bangladesh

  Bangladesh is one of the leading contributors to UN peacekeeping missions since it joined the UN in 1974; as of mid-2021, it had about 5,300 troops deployed, including: 1,225 Central African Republic (MINUSCA); 1,400 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO); 115 Lebanon (UNIFIL); 1,330 Mali (MINUSMA); 1,450 South Sudan (UNMISS) (mid-2021)

• Belgium

  125 France (contributing member of EuroCorps); 100 Mali (EUTM/MINUSMA); 200 Lithuania (NATO) (2021)

• Benin

  250 Mali (MINUSMA) (Jan 2021)

• Burkina Faso

  900 Mali (MINUSMA) (Oct 2021)
  
  note - Burkina Faso is part of a five-nation anti-jihadist task force known as the G5 Sahel Group, set up in 2014 with Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger

• Burundi

  750 Central African Republic (MINUSCA); 5,400 Somalia (AMISOM) (Feb 2021)

• Cambodia

  200 Central African Republic (MINUSCA); 180 Lebanon (UNIFIL); 330 Mali (MINUSMA) (Oct 2021)

• Cameroon

  750 Central African Republic (MINUSCA) (Aug 2021)
  
  note: Cameroon has committed approximately 2,000-2,500 troops to the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) against Boko Haram; national MNJTF troop contingents are deployed within their own country territories, although cross‐border operations occur occasionally

• Canada

  up to 530 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) (2021)

• Chad

  note(s) - Chad is part of a five-nation anti-jihadist task force known as the G5 Sahel Group, set up in 2014 with Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger; Chad has committed 550 troops and 100 gendarmes to the force; in early 2020, G5 Sahel military chiefs of staff agreed to allow defense forces from each of the states to pursue terrorist fighters up to 100 km into neighboring countries; the G5 force is backed by the UN, US, and France; G5 troops periodically conduct joint operations with French forces deployed to the Sahel under Operation Barkhane; Chad hosts the headquarters of Operation Barkhane in N’Djamena
  
  Chad has committed approximately 1,000-1,500 troops to the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) against Boko Haram; national MNJTF troop contingents are deployed within their own territories, although cross‐border operations are conducted periodically; in 2019, Chad sent more than 1,000 troops to Nigeria’s Borno State to fight BH as part of the MNJTF mission

• China

  425 Mali (MINUSMA); 230 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO); 420 Lebanon (UNIFIL); 1,050 South Sudan (UNMISS); up to 2,000 Djibouti (Oct 2021)

• Colombia

  275 Egypt (MFO) (2021)

• Cote d'Ivoire

  800 Mali (MINUSMA) (Jan 2021)

• Czechia

  the Czechia military has small numbers of troops deployed under EU, NATO, and UN command in several countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Central African Republic, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, and Mali (2021)

• Denmark

  140 Middle East/Iraq (NATO) (2021)

• Djibouti

  960 Somalia (AMISOM) (2021)

• Egypt

  1,000 Central African Republic (MINUSCA); 1,050 Mali (MINUSMA) (Sep 2021)

• El Salvador

  175 Mali (MINUSMA) (Oct 2021)

• Estonia

  approximately 100 Mali (Operation Barkhane/MINUSMA/EUTM) (2021)

• Ethiopia

  prior to the 2020-21 Tigray conflict, up to 10,000 Somalia (4,500 for AMISOM; the remainder under a bilateral agreement with Somalia); 3,300 Sudan (UNISFA); 1,500 South Sudan (UNMISS) (2021)
  
  note - in August 2021, Sudan asked the UN to remove the Ethiopian troops from the UNISFA mission

• European Union

  since 2003, the EU has launched more than 30 civilian and military crisis-management, advisory, and training missions in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, as well as counter-piracy operations off the coast of Somalia and a naval operation in the Mediterranean to disrupt human smuggling and trafficking networks and prevent the loss of life at sea (2021)

• Fiji

  170 Egypt (MFO); 160 Iraq (UNAMI); 130 Golan Heights (UNDOF) (2021)

• Finland

  160 Lebanon (UNIFIL) (Oct 2021)

• France

  5,100 Burkina Faso/Chad/Mali/Niger (Operation Barkhane, Task Force Takuba; note - in July 2021, France announced that it would withdraw about 2,000 personnel from this force by the beginning of 2022); approximately 300 Central African Republic; 900 Cote D'Ivoire; 1,400 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); 950 Lebanon (UNIFIL); 1,400-1,500 New Caledonia; 1,700 Reunion Island; 350 Senegal; 650 United Arab Emirates (2020-2021)
  
  note - France has been a contributing member of the EuroCorps since 1992

• Gabon

  450 Central African Republic (MINUSCA) (Sep 2021)

• Germany

  approximately 500 Middle East (NATO/Counter-ISIS campaign); 130 Lebanon (UNIFIL); 600 Lithuania (NATO); approximately 1,400 Mali (MINUSMA/EUTM); note - Germany is a contributing member of the EuroCorps (2021)

• Ghana

  150 Mali (MINUSMA); 875 Lebanon (UNIFIL); 850 South Sudan (UNMISS) (Sep 2021)

• Greece

  approximately 1,000 Cyprus; 110 Kosovo (NATO); 150 Lebanon (UNIFIL) (Sep 2021)

• Guatemala

  155 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) (Oct 2021)

• Guinea

  660 Mali (MINUSMA) (Sep 2021)

• Hungary

  160 Bosnia-Herzegovina (EUFOR stabilization force); 150 Iraq (counter-ISIS coalition); 430 Kosovo (NATO/KFOR) (2021)

• India

  1,850 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO); 200 Golan Heights (UNDOF); 850 Lebanon (UNIFIL); 2,350 South Sudan (UNMISS) (Oct 2021)

• Indonesia

  230 Central African Republic (MINUSCA); 1,030 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO); 1,230 Lebanon (UNIFIL) (Oct 2021)

• Iran

  est. 1,000 Syria (2021)
  
  note - Iran has recruited, trained, and funded thousands of Syrian and foreign fighters to support the ASAD regime during the Syrian civil war

• Ireland

  135 Golan Heights (UNDOF); 330 Lebanon (UNIFIL) (Oct 2021)

• Italy

  120 Djibouti; 1,100 Middle East/Iraq/Kuwait (NATO, counter-ISIS campaign, European Assistance Mission Iraq); 630 Kosovo (NATO/KFOR); 200 Latvia (NATO); 900 Lebanon (UNIFIL); 400 Libya; 290 Niger; 150 Somalia (EUTM) (2021)

• Japan

  approximately 175 Djibouti (2021)

• Jordan

  325 Mali (MINUSMA) (Oct 2021)

• Kenya

  3,650 Somalia (AMISOM) (2021)

• Korea, South

  250 Lebanon (UNIFIL); 250 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 (Sep 2021)

• Liberia

  150 Mali (MINUSMA) (Sep 2021)

• Lithuania

  contributes about 350-550 troops to the Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine joint military brigade (LITPOLUKRBRIG), which was established in 2014; the brigade is headquartered in Poland and is comprised of an international staff, three battalions, and specialized units (2021)

• Malawi

  700 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) (Sep 2021)

• Malaysia

  880 Lebanon (UNIFIL) (Oct 2021)

• Mali

  note - Mali is part of a five-nation anti-jihadist task force known as the G5 Sahel Group, set up in 2014 with Burkina Faso, Chad, Mauritania, and Niger

• Mauritania

  450 Central African Republic (MINUSCA) (Sep 2021)
  
  note - Mauritania is part of a five-nation anti-jihadist task force known as the G5 Sahel Group, set up in 2014 with Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, and Niger

• Mongolia

  870 South Sudan (UNMISS) (Oct 2021)
  
  note - from 2003 to July 2021, some 3,300 Mongolian troops served in Afghanistan, including about 1,300 since 2015 under the NATO-led mission Resolute Support Mission

• Morocco

  870 Central African Republic (MINUSCA); 920 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) (Sep 2021)

• Nepal

  Nepal has about 5,500 total troops deployed on UN peacekeeping missions, including: 615 Central African Republic (MINUSCA); 900 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO); 400 Golan Heights (UNDOF); 870 Lebanon (UNIFIL); 230 Liberia (UNSMIL); 200 Mali (MINUSMA); 1,750 South Sudan (UNMISS) (Sep 2021)

• Netherlands

  270 Lithuania (NATO) (2021)

• New Zealand

  up to 220 Antarctica (summer season only) (2021)

• Niger

  870 Mali (MINUSMA) (Sep 2021)
  
  note - Niger is part of a five-nation anti-jihadist task force known as the G5 Sahel Group, set up in 2014 with Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, and Mauritania

• Nigeria

  200 Ghana (ECOMIG); Multinational Joint Task Force (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) (2021)

• Norway

  120 Lithuania (NATO) (2021)

• Pakistan

  1,300 Central African Republic (MINUSCA); 1,975 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO); 215 Mali (MINUSMA) (Oct 2021)

• Peru

  220 Central African Republic (MINUSCA) (Oct 2021)

• Poland

  240 Kosovo (NATO/KFOR); up to 175 Latvia (NATO); 250 Lebanon (UNIFIL) (2021)
  
  note: Poland contributes about 2,500 troops to the Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine joint military brigade (LITPOLUKRBRIG), which was established in 2014; the brigade is headquartered in Poland and is comprised of an international staff, three battalions, and specialized units

• Portugal

  200 Central African Republic (MINUSCA/EUTM); up to 120 Baltic States (NATO) (2021)

• Qatar

  in 2021, Turkey agreed to train Qatari fighter pilots and allow the temporary deployment of up to 36 Qatari military aircraft and 250 personnel

• Romania

  up to 120 Poland (NATO) (2021)

• Russia

  information varies; est. 3,000-5,000 Armenia; est. 1,500 Belarus; est. 7,000-10,000 Georgia; est. 100 Central African Republic; est. 500 Kyrgyzstan; est. 1,500-2,000 Moldova (Trannistria); est. 3,000-5,000 Syria; est. 5,000-7,000 Tajikistan; est. 25,000-30,000 Ukraine (including Crimea) (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 2021, Russia was assessed to have 1-2,000 private military contractors in Libya and as many as 2,300 private military contractors in the Central African Republic 

• Rwanda

  2,150 Central African Republic (approximately 1,400 for MINUSCA; an additional 750 sent bilaterally in August, 2021); 1,000 Mozambique (deployed mid-2021 to assist with combating insurgency); 2,775 South Sudan (UNMISS) (2021)

• Saudi Arabia

  est. 2,500-5,000 Yemen (varies depending on operations, which continued into 2021) (2021)

• Senegal

  750 Gambia (ECOMIG); 1,000 Mali (MINUSMA) (2021)
  
  note - in 2021, Senegal also had over 700 police deployed on UN missions

• Serbia

  200 Lebanon (UNIFIL) (Sep 2021)

• Singapore

  maintains permanent training detachments of military personnel in Australia, France, and the US (2021)

• Slovakia

  240 Cyprus (UNFICYP); up to 175 Latvia (NATO) (2021)

• Slovenia

  230 Kosovo (NATO) (2021)

• South Africa

  950 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) (Sep 2021)
  
  note - in 2021, South Africa sent a contingent of about 300 troops to Mozambique as part of a Southern African Development Community (SADC) force to help quell an insurgency

• Spain

  approximately 200 Iraq (training mission, counter-ISIS coalition); 350 Latvia (NATO); 625 Lebanon (UNIFIL); approximately 400 Mali (EUTM); 150 Turkey (NATO) (2021)

• Sri Lanka

  110 Central African Republic (MINUSCA); 125 Lebanon (UNIFIL); 240 Mali (MINUSMA) (Sep 2021)

• Sudan

  Sudan joined the Saudi-led coalition that intervened in Yemen in 2015, reportedly providing as many as 40,000 troops during the peak of the war in 2016-17, mostly from the Rapid Support Forces; by 2020-21, Sudan had reduced the size of the force to about a brigade (1-2,000) (2021)

• Sweden

  approximately 450 Mali (EUTM, MINUSMA, Task Force Takuba) (2021)

• Switzerland

  165 Kosovo (NATO/KFOR) (2021)

• Tanzania

  450 Central African Republic (MINUSCA); 830 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO); 125 Lebanon (UNIFIL) (Sep 2021)

• Thailand

  275 South Sudan (UNMISS) (Oct 2021)

• Togo

  925 Mali (MINUSMA) (Sep 2021)

• Turkey

  est. 200 (Azerbaijan; monitoring cease-fire, clearing mines); 250 Bosnia-Herzegovina (EUFOR); est. 25-35,000 Cyprus; 300 Kosovo (NATO/KFOR); 100 Lebanon (UNIFIL); est. 3-5,000 Qatar; est. 200 Somalia (training mission); est. 10-20,000 Syria (2021)
  
  note(s) - between 2016 and 2020, Turkey conducted four major military campaigns in northern Syria; Turkey also has deployed troops into northern Iraq on numerous occasions to combat the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK), including large operations involving thousands of troops in 2007, 2011, and 2018; its most recent incursions were smaller-scale raids in April and February of 2021; 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)
  
  in October of 2021, Turkey’s parliament extended the military’s mandate to launch cross-border operations in Iraq and Syria by two more years

• Uganda

  6,200 Somalia (AMISOM); 620 Somalia (UNSOM); 250 Equatorial Guinea (2021)

• Ukraine

  250 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) (Oct 2021)
  
  note - Ukraine contributes about 500 troops to the Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine joint military brigade (LITPOLUKRBRIG), which was established in 2014; the brigade is headquartered in Poland and is comprised of an international staff, three battalions, and specialized units

• United Arab Emirates

  estimates vary; reportedly a few hundred remain in Yemen (2021)

• United Kingdom

  approximately 1,000 Brunei; approximately 400 Canada (BATUS); approximately 2,200 Cyprus; 250 Cyprus (UNFICYP); 830 Estonia (NATO); approx. 1,200 Falkland Islands; est. 200 Germany (note - previously about 2,500, but the UK withdrew all but 200 troops by the end of 2020); 570 Gibraltar; approx. 1,400 Middle East (coalition against ISIS; NATO); up to 350 Kenya (BATUK); approx. 400 Mali (EUTM, MINUSMA, and Operation Barkhane); 150 Poland (NATO) (2021)

• United States

  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; 400 Greece; 150 Greenland; 6,000 Guam; 380 Honduras; 12,000 Italy; 54,000 Japan; 630 Kosovo (NATO/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 (2021)
  
  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, in 2019, the US deployed more than 15,000 additional military personnel to the Middle East for an extended 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

• Uruguay

  815 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO); 210 Golan Heights (UNDOF) (Oct 2021)

• World

  as of September 2021, the UN had about 76,000 peacekeepers deployed worldwide

• Zambia

  925 Central African Republic (MINUSCA) (Sep 2021)