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Countries That Don't Have An Army
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Mar 31, 2025
In this video I go through the countries in the world that do not have full standing armed forces, or armies! Understanding which they are, and why that is the case. Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GKonYoutube Become a member on Patreon & get exclusive content! https://www.patreon.com/generalknowledge Special mention to my patrons: Richard, Jeseenya, Francis, Edward, Stephen, MiFE, Rpgkillerspace, Wilhelm, Roland, Rami, Juan, Bruno, Albert, Lastmatix, Kalvin, Francisco, Tom, 43rpak, Chet, Ryan Keith, ou_lyss, Borton, Ryan McMurry, Pete, Cesar, Hendrick. Join the Discord Server: https://discord.com/invite/f4neAVWZfF Business Contact: [email protected] Thanks for watching, remember to subscribe to catch future videos!
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0:00
Bakers, Quartermaster and Line of Communications troops picked up their rifles and fought tenaciously against columns
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Armed forces. The forces that exist to defend a country, its people, territory and sometimes their foreign interests as well
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Out of the 195 countries that exist in the world, the vast vast majority of them have armed forces
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to serve precisely these purposes that I just mentioned. But there are a few exceptions. At
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least 21 countries throughout the world do not have armed forces. This means they have no standing
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army, even if they do have some type of military force. This number leaves out dependencies or
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semi-autonomous territories. So in this video, we're going to go through these 21 countries that
0:45
have none or very limited armed forces, understanding which they are and why this is the case for them
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focusing on a few specific cases that are particularly interesting. But let's quickly go over the entire list
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Here are the countries that don't have full standing armies. Andorra, Costa Rica, Dominica, Granada, Iceland, Kiribati, Liechtenstein, the Marshall Islands
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Mauritius, Monaco, Micronesia, Palau, Panama, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
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Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, the Vatican City and Vanuatu. Out of these 21, 15 have no official
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military forces, 6 others have no standing army but limited armed forces
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Let's start with those. Iceland has not had a standing army since 1869, even though they are
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an active member of NATO. The reasons why seem to be 1. their desire to be neutral and 2. there are
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no effective threats around them. They're an island in the middle of the northern Atlantic
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In 1918, Iceland regained sovereignty as a separate kingdom under the Danish king
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but it was financially impossible to establish a standing army. The government hoped that a
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Permanent neutrality would shield the country from invasion, but during the Second World War
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the government was concerned about a possible invasion and decided to expand the Icelandic
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National Police and its reserves into a military unit. In the meantime, the UK invaded to assure
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that the Germans didn't and then the US took over defense responsibilities. Since 1951
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there was an official defense agreement with the United States which maintained an Iceland
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Defense Force and a military base in the country having an obligation to defend it
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but this came to an end in 2006. The US left the Keflavik Naval and Air Base, but committed to
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return and defend Iceland if it ever became necessary. As a member of NATO, it also has
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agreements with Norway, Denmark, and other countries. Despite not having their own standing
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army, Iceland does have a military expeditionary peacekeeping force of 200 soldiers, 30 of which
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are active at a time. And their biggest concern seems to be their Coast Guard, which is extensive
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and militarized Costa Rica is different It has a public force with limited military capacities whose main role includes law enforcement internal security and the command of the Air Vigilance Service But Article 12 of their constitution forbids a standing army since 1949
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after their internal conflict was ended. Their president at the time and Nobel Peace Prize
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winner Oscar Arias Sanchez stated, military solutions to conflicts should be the last resort
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Here they are resolved at a negotiating table and the budget previously dedicated to the military is now dedicated to internal security, education and culture
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Their neighbor Panama is similar. Panama's first army was formed in 1903 when the commander of a brigade of the Colombian army defected to the pro-separation side during Panama's fight for independence from Colombia
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His brigade became the Panamanian army. After 87 years of military coups, dictatorships and other instabilities, they decided it was time to put an end to it
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having abolished their army in 1990 by a unanimous parliamentary vote. This came as a result of the overthrowing of a military dictatorship
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which ruled Panama from 1968 to 1989, fulfilled with the aid of the United States
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since the previous government was hostile towards the US. Instead, they have the Panamanian public forces
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which include the police, the border service, and other internal safety organizations
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Back in Europe, Monaco stopped having an army even earlier, renouncing military investment in the 17th century and the reason why is really interesting
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Monaco seems to never have had any expansionist ideas. They ruled their own small territory and
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their only military concern was to defend it. However, in the 17th century, they gave up
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stating that the advancement in artillery technology had rendered it defenseless. Eventually, they reached an agreement with France, which took over their defense responsibility
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In addition, two small military units are maintained. One protects the prince and the judiciary, while the other is responsible for civil defense and firefighting
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And then they have their police as well. In total, there are around 250 people employed as military personnel
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Vanuatu and Mauritius also have no standing army and only internal security forces, both focused on their police force
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Vanuatu only has a mobile force of around 300 volunteers and their main task is to assist the
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police in more challenging situations. They did however deploy an expeditionary force to Papua
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New Guinea in 1994 sending 50 people as a peacekeeping mission. Mauritius also has a special
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mobile force formed after the withdrawal of the British garrison in 1960. They are a paramilitary
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unit which is a part of the police of around 300 highly trained people. And then we have the other
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15, although they do in some cases also have specific security forces, so I don't really
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get the differentiation that is made on Wikipedia when listing these countries
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In Europe there are three more, Andorra, Liechtenstein and the Vatican, not coincidentally being
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the three smaller states of the continent. The Vatican City is a neutral nation which has not engaged in any war since its formation in 1929 by the Lateran Treaty which was an agreement between the Kingdom of Italy and the Holy See in 1929
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It officially ended the Papal States and established the Vatican as a smaller independent
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nation. This rule of neutrality is still in place and only two internal forces exist in
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the smallest country in the world. The Pontifical Swiss Guard, which is an armed unit charged
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with protecting the Pope, although technically they are controlled by the Holy See itself
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and at the state of the Vatican, and then the Gendarmerie Corps, which internally policed the
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territory. There also used to be a Palatine Guard and a Noble Guard, Infantry and Cavalry respectively
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but they were abolished in 1970 due to being unnecessary. Andorra has no standing army
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but has signed treaties with Spain and France for its protection. Its small volunteer army
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is purely ceremonial in function. The army's role in internal security was largely taken over
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by the formation of the police corps in 1931. In 1933, there was a small civil disturbance after
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local elections and the French National Gendarmerie had to intervene. A year after that, Andorra
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reformed its army, but it didn't last long. Today, only a small 12-man ceremonial unit remains as
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the only permanent section of the Andorran army. The army hasn't fought for over 700 years and its
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main responsibility is to present the flag of Andorra at official ceremonial functions. It's
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also apparently funded through public donations, even though technically all able-bodied men
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remain available for military service. And Liechtenstein. The army of Liechtenstein was
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abolished after the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, in which Liechtenstein fielded an army of 80 men
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Although they were not involved in any fighting, no casualties were taken, and in fact, the unit
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grew to 81 soldiers upon return due to an Austrian military liaison who accompanied the army back
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home. The demise of the German confederation in that war freed Liechtenstein from its obligation
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to maintain an army, and the parliament seized the opportunity to refuse to provide funding for one
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justifying it as too costly. An army is only permitted in times of war, but that situation
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has never occurred. They were, however, accidentally attacked slash invaded by Switzerland
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twice. During the 1980s, the Swiss army fired off shells during an exercise and mistakenly burned a
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patch of forest inside Liechtenstein and in 2007, a 170-soldier Swiss infantry unit got lost during
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a training exercise and accidentally crossed 1.5 kilometers into Liechtenstein. Today, Austria and
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Switzerland provide defense assistance and internally, police assure security. The only small European nation missing from this lack of armed forces is San Marino. It seems to exist in
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very similar conditions to these other three, but on paper it does exist and is slightly larger in
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size, the Samarines Armed Forces are one of the smallest in the world and count with around 450
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people divided among 7 to 8 branches one of which is the historic Crossbow Corpse the oldest military formation in the Republic still using medieval uniforms since the 13th century Today it is purely ceremonial All the way in the Caribbean Grenada has not had a standing army since the 1983 disbandment
8:58
of the People's Revolutionary Army after a US-led invasion which seeked to overthrow
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the government and succeeded in doing so. Dominica has also not had a standing army
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since 1981 and their defense is the responsibility of the regional security system, an international
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Agreement for the Defense and Security of the Eastern Caribbean Region, Aruba and St. Vincent
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of the Grenadines, are also part of this system. In addition, if proclaimed by the authorities
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the Dominican Police Force can become a military force for state defense. In the Pacific and Oceania
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are the remaining countries with no official military forces. Kiribati's constitution permits
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no security forces except the police, only their Maritime Surveillance Unit is equipped with small
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arms and most of the defense needs are fulfilled by Australia and New Zealand. Now, Odo has the
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same situation with Australia being responsible for its safety. However, it has a relatively large
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armed police force. Samoa has no military force since its foundation. The maritime units are also
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equipped with small arms and in accordance to a 1962 Treaty of Friendship, New Zealand is
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responsible for the island's defense. Tuvalu is exactly the same except neither Australia or New
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Zealand are officially involved in their defense. The Solomon Islands are interesting because it had
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a paramilitary force until a heavy ethnic conflict in which Australia, New Zealand and other Pacific
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countries intervened to restore law and order. Since then, no military force has been maintained
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however there is a relatively large police force as well and a maritime surveillance unit too
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And finally, Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands have their
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defense guaranteed by the United States. All three of these have a compact of free association with
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the US which guarantees this defensive assistance. As a result, these countries are sometimes known
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as the freely associated states and all of them since their foundation allow for no military
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forces except the police and maritime patrol units. So, those are the countries in the world
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without an army or without armed forces. Some didn't have them since their foundation, others
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were forced to remove them due to revolution or foreign invasion and others chose to put an end
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to them for various reasons throughout history. The vast majority of them still have internal
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police forces and other important security organizations like the Coast Guard and many
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others also have small military or paramilitary divisions that aid the police or are sent abroad
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in peacekeeping missions. Some see no need for any type of defense strategy, others are part of
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regional pacts and others trust greater military powers like the US, France or Australia to assure
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their defense against possible external threats. Do you know of any other countries that don't have
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a military? Let me know in the comments. Thanks so much for watching this video
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Subscribe if you want and I will see you next time for more general knowledge
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