Where U.S. Troops Are Based Around The World

The United States has the third largest number of active-duty troops (1.3 million) of any military worldwide, trailing China (2.2 million) and India (1.4 million). As well as substantially higher military spending, the U.S. military's unparalleled presence across the world also sets it apart from those nations. Earlier this year, it was reported that U.S. special forces alone deployed to 138 nations in 2016, an impressive 70 percent of the world.

The following infographic shows the global footprint of the U.S. military as a whole. Specifically, it shows countries with some form of U.S. military presence ranging from a single military attaché to the Marine Corps personnel providing security at American embassies. When every single country with some kind of U.S military presence is taken into account, nearly every country on the map has to be highlighted. According to the Defense Manpower Data Center, the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force and Coastguard have about 200,000 active-service members deployed to 170 countries worldwide.

Japan hosts the most U.S. troops with 39,000 in total while Germany comes second with 34,800. South Korea has the third-highest number of U.S. service members overseas with 23,468.