Amid speculation that there could be a World War III following the spark of new conflicts like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, many have been left questioning which African nation has the largest armed forces.
Using data from World Population Review, Business Insider Africa has put together a list of the top 10 African countries with the largest military personnel.
Which African country has the largest military?
Well, to answer that, we need to consider the three commonly measured categories of military personnel:
- Active military: Soldiers who work full-time for the army
- Military reserves: People who do not work for the army full-time but have military training and can be called up and deployed at any moment
- Paramilitary: Groups that aren’t officially military but operate in a similar fashion, such as the CIA or SWAT teams in the U.S.
We can now mention the top 10 African countries with the highest total number of military personnel.
1. Egypt
Total personnel – 1.3 million
Active military: 438.5K
Paramilitary: 397K
Reserves: 479K
2. Algeria
Total personnel – 467.2K
Active military: 130K
Paramilitary: 187.2K
Reserves: 150K
3. Morocco
Total personnel: 395.8K
Active military: 195.8K
Paramilitary: 50K
Reserve: 150K
4. Eritrea
