The question remains, will troop strength trump military might?

The top employer in the world is the Chinese military with an estimated 8,740,000 personnel involved in active, reserve, and paramilitary positions. Out of the top 16 militaries in the world, the U.S. only manages an 8^th place ranking based on troop strength. Below is a listing of the top militaries in the world.

When it comes to percentage of a county’s population involved in the military, the hand’s down leader is North Korea with 24.9%, followed by Cuba with 10.9%, Lithuania with 10.1%, Singapore with 9.9%, and Finland with 9.7%. The percentage of the U.S. population is considerably lower at little more than 1%.

Here is a list of the world’s top 16 militaries based on troop strength and personnel.

1. China – 8,740,000
2. North Korea – 5,995,000
3. Vietnam – 5,992,000
4. India – 4,514,300
5. Russia – 3,796,100
6. Iran – 3,675,000
7. South Korea – 3,579,500
8. U.S. – 3,385,400
9. Brazil – 2,405,122
10. Taiwan – 1,965,500
11. Pakistan – 1,480,000
12. Ukraine – 1,260,500
13. Cuba – 1,231,500
14. Egypt – 1,109,000
15. Turkey – 1,075,000
16. Indonesia – 1,007,000

With over 75 million people involved in militaries around the world, it becomes much easier to understand the sheer influence being wielded by the military machine on politics around the world.

Link:  Military Population Stats