These are the 15 countries with the most troops ready to fight right now

us troops in georgia
US mechanized infantry troops at an official opening ceremony for joint US-Georgian exercise Noble Partner 2015 at the Vaziani training area outside Tbilisi, Georgia, May 11, 2015.
Reuters

Head-to-head comparisons of militaries are hard to make. Each force brings different capabilities to the table and excels in different environments.

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Global Firepower's 2017 Military Strength Ranking tries to compensate for those differences by drawing on more than 50 factors — among them diversity of weapons, available manpower, logistical capacity, and industrial base — to assign a Power Index score to 133 countries.

The number of troops and available personnel a country can draw on are central components of its military power. The list below is composed of the 15 militaries with the most active-duty personnel — the "ready to fight" units that would be the first to see combat:

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15. Turkey — 350,000 active personnel

Turkish Troops Kurdish Kobane
Turkish troops take cover during a skirmish with Kurdish protesters at the border near Kobane.
Murad Sezer/Reuters

Total population: 80,845,215

Manpower available: 41,640,000

Total military personnel: 710,565

Active personnel: 350,000

Reserve personnel: 360,565

Fit-for-service: 35,010,000

Reaching military age: 1,375,000

Overall military rank: No. 9

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14. Colombia — 369,100 active personnel

Colombia soldier border Venezuela
A Colombian soldier guards the border with Venezuela in Cucuta, Colombia, February 9, 2018.
REUTERS/Javier Andres Rojas

Total population: 47,698,524

Manpower available: 24,000,000

Total military personnel: 511,550

Active personnel: 369,100

Reserve personnel: 142,450

Fit-for-service: 19,015,000

Reaching military age: 845,000

Overall military rank: No. 45

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13. Myanmar — 406,000 active personnel

Myanmar army military soldier troops
A soldier on guard near a house burnt down amid recent violence in Maungdaw, Myanmar, August 30, 2017.
RETUERS/Soe Zeya Tun

Total population: 55,123,814

Manpower available: 30,000,000

Total military personnel: 516,000

Active personnel: 406,000

Reserve personnel: 110,000

Fit-for-service: 21,635,000

Reaching military age: 1,030,000

Overall military rank: No. 35

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12. Indonesia — 435,750 active personnel

Indonesia army military soldiers troops parade
Indonesian soldiers shout slogans during celebrations for the 72nd anniversary of the Indonesia military, in Cilegon, Indonesia Banten province, October 5, 2017.
REUTERS/Beawiharta

Total population: 260,580,739

Manpower available: 130,000,000

Total military personnel: 975,750

Active personnel: 435,750

Reserve personnel: 540,000

Fit-for-service: 107,540,000

Reaching military age: 4,500,000

Overall military rank: No.15

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11. Vietnam — 448,500 active personnel

Vietnam military army soldiers troops parade
Vietnamese soldiers march in a parade marking the 70th National Day at Ba Dinh Square in Hanoi, Vietnam, September 2, 2015.
REUTERS/Kham

Total population: 96,160,163

Manpower available: 50,650,000

Total military personnel: 5,488,500

Active personnel: 448,500

Reserve personnel: 5,040,000

Fit-for-service: 41,505,000

Reaching military age: 1,640,000

Overall military rank: No. 20

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10. Egypt — 454,250 active personnel

Egypt Army Soldiers Tank
Egyptian army soldiers take position with armored personnel vehicles during clashes with supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi in the Cairo suburb of Matariya, November 28, 2014.
REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

Total population: 97,041,072

Manpower available: 42,000,000

Total military personnel: 1,329,250

Active personnel: 454,250

Reserve personnel: 875,000

Fit-for-service: 35,306,000

Reaching military age: 1,535,000

Overall military rank: No. 12

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9. Algeria — 520,000 active personnel

algeria army
The Algerian Republican Guard is seen in front of the Presidential Palace in Algiers October 16, 2014.
Reuters

Total population: 40,969,443

Manpower available: 20,400,000

Total military personnel: 792,350

Active personnel: 520,000

Reserve personnel: 272,350

Fit-for-service: 17,250,000

Reaching military age: 675,000

Overall military rank: No. 23

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8. Iran — 534,000 active personnel

Iran army parade
Iranian soldiers march during the annual army day military parade in Tehran, April 17, 2008.
Majid/Getty Images

Total population: 82,021,564

Manpower available: 47,000,000

Total military personnel: 934,000

Active personnel: 534,000

Reserve personnel: 400,000

Fit-for-service: 39,570,000

Reaching military age: 1,400,000

Overall military rank: No. 13

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7. South Korea — 625,000 active personnel

south korean soldiers training angry screaming
South Korean special warfare forces scream during winter mountain training exercises on January 10, 2007 in PyeongChang, South Korea.
Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images

Total population: 51,181,299

Manpower available: 25,610,000

Total military personnel: 5,827,250

Active personnel: 625,000

Reserve personnel: 5,202,250

Fit-for-service: 21,035,000

Reaching military age: 690,000

Overall military rank: No. 7

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6. Pakistan — 637,000 active personnel

Pakistan Soldiers Bacha Khan University
Soldiers gather outside Bacha Khan University, where an attack by militants took place, in Charsadda, Pakistan, January 20, 2016.
REUTERS/Fayaz Aziz

Total population: 204,924,861

Manpower available: 95,000,000

Total military personnel: 919,000

Active personnel: 637,000

Reserve personnel: 282,000

Fit-for-service: 75,325,000

Reaching military age: 4,345,000

Overall military rank: No. 17

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5. North Korea — 945,000 active personnel

North Korea
A school boy walks among soldiers at the end of a work day on Tuesday, July 25, 2017, in Pyongyang, North Korea.
Wong Maye-E (Associated Press)

Total population: 25,248,140

Manpower available: 13,000,000

Total military personnel: 6,445,000

Active personnel: 945,000

Reserve personnel: 5,500,000

Fit-for-service: 10,100,000

Reaching military age: 415,000

Overall military rank: No. 18

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4. Russia — 1,013,628 active personnel

Russian Victory Day Soldiers
Russian servicemen march during the Victory Day Parade in Moscow's Red Square, May 9, 2014.
Sergei Karpukhin/REUTERS

Total population: 142,257,519

Manpower available: 70,000,000

Total military personnel: 3,586,128

Active personnel: 1,013,628

Reserve personnel: 2,572,500

Fit-for-service: 47,000,000

Reaching military age: 1,355,000

Overall military rank: No. 2

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3. United States — 1,281,900 active personnel

us army, plane, soldiers
US soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division wait in a C-17 Globemaster to perform personnel airdrops at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
U.S. Army / U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Asha Harris

Total population: 326,625,791

Manpower available: 145,215,000

Total military personnel: 2,083,100

Active personnel: 1,281,900

Reserve personnel: 801,200

Fit-for-service: 120,025,000

Reaching military age: 4,220,000

Overall military rank: No. 1

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2. India — 1,362,500 active personnel

India Soldiers
Indian soldiers take part in a laughter yoga session during their rehearsal for the Republic Day parade on a winter morning in New Delhi, India January 11, 2018.
REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

Total population: 1,281,935,911

Manpower available: 616,000,000

Total military personnel: 4,207,250

Active personnel: 1,362,500

Reserve personnel: 2,844,750

Fit-for-service: 489,600,000

Reaching military age: 22,900,000

Overall military rank: No. 4

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1. China — 2,183,000 active personnel

China soldiers
China's People's Liberation Army troops prepare for the military parade commemorating the 90th anniversary of the foundation of the army, at Zhurihe military training base in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China.
Reuters/China Daily CDIC

Total population: 1,379,302,771

Manpower available: 750,000,000

Total military personnel: 2,693,000

Active personnel: 2,183,000

Reserve personnel: 510,000

Fit-for-service: 619,000,000 

Reaching military age: 19,550,000

Overall military rank: No. 3

 

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