The map above supposedly comes from the IISS (The International Institute for Strategic Studies) and shows which countries in 1900 (using modern borders) had more active miliary personnel than the United Kingdom in 1900 compared to today.
Getting data for the numbers in 1900 is actually difficult (can’t find them published online), but Data Is Beautiful has estimates that vary slightly from the map which you can see below:
Largest Militaries In 1900 (Based on Active Personnel)
- Russian Empire: 1,062,000
- Germany (German Empire): 628,400
- France: 623,400
- United Kingdom (British Empire): 431,800
- Qing China: 364,151
- Austria-Hungary: 309,200
- Italy: 278,000
- Ottoman Empire: 277,000
- Empire of Japan: 180,000
- Ethiopia: 162,500
- United States: 137,000
- Spain: 124,400
- Sweden: 69,800
- Romania: 62,200
- Belgium: 48,720
Largest Militaries In 2026 (Based on Active Personnel)
- China: 2,035,000
- India: 1,500,700
- United States: 1,340,150
- North Korea: 1,280,000
- Russia: 1,264,000
- Ukraine: 677,000
- Pakistan: 660,000
- Iran: 610,000
- Ethiopia: 503,000
- South Korea: 450,000
- Vietnam: 450,000
- Egypt: 438,500
- Indonesia: 433,700
- Brazil: 374,500
- Thailand: 360,850
- Turkey: 355,200
- Eritrea: 301,750
- Mexico: 301,000
- Colombia: 285,000
- Sri Lanka: 260,450
- Saudi Arabia: 257,000
- Japan: 247,150
- France: 203,900
- Morocco: 195,800
- Iraq: 193,000
- Germany: 179,850
- Poland: 173,000
- Afghanistan: 172,000
- Bangladesh: 171,250
- Taiwan: 170,600
- Israel: 169,500
- Philippines: 162,450
- Italy: 160,400
- Nigeria: 143,000
- United Kingdom: 141,100
- Algeria: 139,000
- Myanmar: 134,000
- Greece: 131,650
- Democratic Republic of the Congo: 128,350
- Cambodia: 124,300
The list above does come from IISS data via Wikipedia.
So down from 4th or 5th in 1900 to 35th today. But still higher than Argentina.
You can watch the numbers change over time in the video below:
What do you think?
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