Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription).
Few nations, such as Israel, require a specific amount of military service from every citizen, except for special cases, such as limitation determined by a military physical or religious belief. Most countries that use conscription systems only conscript men; a few countries also conscript women. For example, Norway, Sweden, North Korea, Israel, and Eritrea conscript both men and women. Currently, four countries conscript women and men on the same formal conditions: Norway, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands (in the latter conscription is suspended during peacetime).Danish women to face conscription by lotteryDenmark Begins Drafting Women as Russian Threat Looms Some nations with conscription systems do not enforce them.
Nations which conscript for military service typically also rely on citizens choosing to join the armed forces as a career.
Some nations with armed forces do not conscript their personnel (e.g. most NATO and European Union states). Instead, they promote military careers to attract and select recruits; see military recruitment.
Some, usually smaller, nations have no armed forces at all or rely on an armed domestic security force (e.g. police, coast guard).
World summary In this summary, 195 countries are included.Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, Switzerland, 1997, via Nationmaster: http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/mil_con-military-conscription The CIA World Fact book – Military service age and obligation. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/fields/333.html J. Jih. Dual Nationality, Conscription, and Death Penalty. https://web.archive.org/web/20091027100908/http://geocities.com/jusjih/dncdp.html
No enforced conscription The following 106 countries and territories have been identified as having no enforced conscription:
(none only if quota is met) (de facto, Both compulsory and voluntary military service de jure)
(none only if quota is met)
(to be reintroduced in 2026)
(de facto, Can use The Article One, Section 8 of the Constitution to impose conscription in emergencies)
ndr.de. "Neues Wehrdienstgesetz - Fragen und Antworten". ndr.de (in German). Retrieved 2026-06-011.
Both compulsory and voluntary The following countries and regions have been identified as having both compulsory and voluntary military service:
Selective conscription The following 13 countries have been identified as having selective conscription:
Civilian, unarmed or non-combatant service option The following fifteen countries have been identified as having a civilian, unarmed or non-combatant service optional alternative to compulsory military service:
(9 months civilian, 6 months armed) (3 years civilian, 18 months or 1 year armed) (18 months civilian, 14 armed)
(1 year civilian, unarmed 9 months or 1 year, armed 6, 9 months or 1 year) (22 months including 2 months of armed training)
(1 year civilian, 245 days armed)
Compulsory for both genders
(2 years selective) (3 years for men. 1 year for women. Civilian service for the age of 21) <ref name="CIAMILITARYSERVICEAGEANDOBLIGATION" /> (2 years for both genders) (Indefinite period, usually up to 10 years for women and 15 years for men) (3 years for men and 2 years for women) (1 year)
(10 years for men, upon high school completion to 23 years of age, for women, 7 years) (19 months, selective)
Limited to 1 year or less The following twenty-five countries have been identified as having compulsory military service limited to 1 year or less:
(1 year) (1 year) (9 months-1 year, can be extended to a max of 7 years; the conscript may be discharged by excess of contingent) (1–2 years depending on MOS and branch) (2 months) (8–11 months) (6 months-1 year) (1–2 years) (1 year) (1 year) (11 months) (9 months) (45 days) (1 year) (1 year) (1 year) (1 year for Army, 2 years for Navy) (4 months-1 year) (1 year) (9–11 months) (1 year ) (1 year) (6 months-1 year) (3–5 months of basic military training) (1 year)
Limited to 18 months The following 11 countries have been identified to having compulsory military service limited to 18 months or less:
(between 1 and 2 years) (6 months-1 year for undergraduate school alumni)
(18 months civilian, 14 armed) (14 months service minimum obligation)
(16 months for high school diploma holders)
Longer than 18 months The following 25 countries have been identified as having compulsory military service terms longer than 18 months:
(2 years) (2 years plus a training period, civilian or non-combatant option available) (3 years men, 1 year women. Civil service available only for women) Cuba (2 years, both sexes) (18 months officially, in practice indefinite; see National Service in Eritrea) (2 years, selective) (2 years, selective) (2 years) (3 years for men, 2 years for women) (10 years for men, 7 years for women) (2 years) (2 years, selective) (2 years, selective) (2 years, selective) (2 years) (2 years, selective) (22 months to 2 years, without regard to Full-Time National Service in the Singapore Civil Defence Force or Singapore Police Force, under the Ministry of Home Affairs) (18 months for Army and Marines, 20 months for Navy, 21 months for Air Force and Social Service, 3 years for special Social Service) (1–2 years, both sexes) (2 years) (2 years for involuntarily drafted men,1 year for volunteers, 6 months for diploma) (2 years) (3 years, for high school dropouts) (2 years, selective) (2 years)
No defense force
The following 21 countries have been identified as having no defense forces or as having no standing army but having very limited military forces:
By country Non-mandatory Compulsory military service has declined considerably since 1970. A 2016 study finds "that the probability of a shorter military service time is positively associated with smaller country populations, smaller lagged army sizes, increases in primary schooling among young males, and having common law legal origins."
Albania Albania had compulsory military service. Albania's armed forces announced an objective to create a professional army by the end of 2010.Albanian Forces , General Staff of Albanian Army forces .
Argentina
Argentina suspended military conscription in 1995 and replaced it with a voluntary military service, yet those already in service had to finish their time in service. source: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, Switzerland, 1997. Data collected from the nations concerned, or as otherwise indicated.
This came as a result of political and social distrust of the military, dwindling budgets which forced the military to induct fewer conscripts every year, the experience of the 1982 Falklands War which proved the superiority of professional servicemen over conscripts and a series of conscription-related brutality scandals which came to a head with the murder of Omar Carrasco, a 20-year-old conscript, at an Army base in 1994 following a brutal disciplinary treatment and torture.
Military conscription has not been abolished; the Mandatory Military Service Law is still in the books and might be enforced in times of war, crisis or national emergency.
Conscription was known in Argentina as la colimba. The word colimba is a composite word made from the initial syllables of the verbs correr (to run), limpiar (to clean) and barrer (to sweep), as it was perceived that all a conscript did during service was running, cleaning and sweeping. Conscripts themselves were known and referred to as "colimbas".
Australia
Australians participated in the Second Boer War (1899–1902) as volunteer forces. Two conscription referendums were defeated during World War I, and military service during WWI was voluntary (First Australian Imperial Force). Military service was initially voluntary in World War II (Second Australian Imperial Force). Volunteer militia units (part-time civilian soldiers) were to be used only within the Commonwealth of Australia. In 1942, some militia units were deployed to Papua New Guinea, as it was considered part of Australia at that time, to fight the advancing and later withdrawing Japanese invasion army. Various levels of conscription (National Service) were in force during the 1950s, but only for service in Australia during times of conflict. In 1964, compulsory national service for 20-year-old males was introduced under the National Service Act 1964. Australian troops were later deployed in the Vietnam War, with over 500 men killed in action and thousands wounded in action. The Vietnam War was lost on 1 May 1975, over three years after the Australian Defence Force withdrew in late 1971. All forms of conscription were abolished by the Whitlam government in later 1972. Conscription can be reactivated at any time should war break out; first upon mere declaration by the Governor General, followed by final approval 90 days later as a retrospective action by parliament. The defense act of 1903 clearly states this.
Barbados Barbados has no conscription. The country has set the minimum age for voluntary recruitment into the Barbados Defence Force at 18. Younger recruits may be conscripted with parental consent.
Belgium Belgium suspended conscription on 31 December 1992 by amending the 1962 Law on Conscription, which became applicable only to conscripts drafted in 1993 and earlier. In practice this meant that the law no longer applied to those born in 1975 and later. Since 1 March 1995 the Belgian armed forces consist of professional volunteers only.
Belize Belize has set minimum age for voluntary recruitment into the Armed Forces at 18. (According to the Section 16 of the Defense Act of the Defence Ordinance of 1977.) Conscription has never been prescribed in the Defense Act, but is at the Governor General's discretion.
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina abolished compulsory military service as of 1 January 2006.
Bulgaria Bulgaria abolished compulsory military service. The last conscripts were sent home on 25 November 2007.
Previously there was mandatory military service for male citizens from 18 to 27 years of age. Duration of the service depended on the degree of education. For citizens studying for or holding a bachelor's degree or higher the service was six months, and for citizens with no higher education it was nine months."Bulgarian military service reduced ", BBC News, 17 May 2000. Retrieved 31 May 2006. The duration of service was two years in 1992, and was dropping steadily, until it was finally abolished.
Canada
Compulsory service in a sedentary militia was practiced in Canada as early as 1669. In peacetime, compulsory service was typically limited to attending an annual muster, although they were mobilized for longer periods during war. Compulsory service in the sedentary militia continued until the late 19th century when Canada's sedentary Reserve Militia system fell into disuse. The legislative provision that formally made every male inhabitant of military age a member of the Reserve Militia was removed in 1904, replaced with provisions that made them theoretically "liable to serve in the militia".
Conscription into a full-time military service had only been instituted twice by the government of Canada, during both world wars. Conscription into the Canadian Expeditionary Force was practiced in the last year of the First World War in 1918. During the Second World War, conscription for home defence was introduced in 1940 and for overseas service in 1944. Conscription has not been practiced in Canada since the end of the Second World War in 1945.
Chile