Countries With No Military: The Full List and Why They Work

Quick answer

21 sovereign countries currently have no standing military — no army, navy, or air force of their own. Some, like Iceland, rely on alliance partners for defense. Others, like Costa Rica, abolished their military constitutionally and redirected the budget into education and healthcare. This isn't a sign of weakness — several of these countries rank among the world's safest and most stable nations.

This list covers sovereign states with no standing military force, following the same criteria used in the standard reference list (see Sources at the end). Several still maintain small police-style security or coast guard units, which is noted country by country below. A few well-known edge cases — San Marino and Haiti — don't quite meet the criteria, and are explained separately.

The 21 countries with no standing military

• Costa Rica — abolished its army constitutionally in 1949, after a brief civil war
• Iceland — has never had a standing army since 1869, relying on NATO membership and a coast guard
• Panama — abolished its military in 1990 following the US invasion that removed Manuel Noriega
• Andorra — has a tiny ceremonial force with no real combat capability, relying on France and Spain for defense
• Liechtenstein — abolished its army in 1868, citing the cost as unjustifiable for a country its size
• Monaco — relies on France for external defense under a centuries-old agreement, keeping only a small ceremonial guard (the Prince's Carabiniers)
• Vatican City — protected by the Pontifical Swiss Guard, a ceremonial and personal security force rather than a conventional military; Italy handles external defense
• Samoa — has no standing army, relying on informal defense arrangements with New Zealand
• Kiribati — no military; policing is handled by a police force with a small maritime unit
• Tuvalu — no military, relying on its police force and a 2023 defense pact with Australia
• Nauru — no military since independence, with Australia informally providing defense support
• Palau — no standing army, with the United States responsible for its defense under a Compact of Free Association
• Marshall Islands — same Compact of Free Association arrangement with the United States
• Federated States of Micronesia — same defense arrangement with the United States
• Solomon Islands — disbanded its small paramilitary force in 2003 after civil unrest, now relies on police
• Vanuatu — has no standing military, only a police force with a small mobile unit
• Grenada — disbanded its army after the 1983 US-led intervention, now relies on a police force
• Mauritius — has no army, maintaining only a police and coast guard force since independence in 1968
• Dominica — no standing military, relying on regional security cooperation in the Caribbean
• Saint Lucia — no standing military, similarly reliant on regional Caribbean defense cooperation
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines — no standing military; participates in the Regional Security System alongside Saint Lucia and Dominica, using a police Special Service Unit and coast guard

Two well-known edge cases that don't quite make the list

• San Marino maintains small ceremonial and volunteer military corps for parades and state occasions — technically a step beyond a police force, which is why it's usually left off strict "no military" lists even though it has no combat-capable army. Italy handles its external defense.
• Haiti disbanded its army in 1995 after decades of military coups, relying on UN peacekeeping forces for over 20 years — but reconstituted a small military force in 2017, so it no longer belongs on a current list. It's a useful example of how fragile the "no military" model can be without stable governance.

How these countries actually handle defense

No standing army doesn't mean no security at all. In practice, these countries use one or more of three approaches:

• Alliance reliance — Iceland leans on NATO; Palau, the Marshall Islands, and Micronesia have formal Compact of Free Association defense agreements with the United States
• Regional cooperation — Dominica, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines pool security resources through the Caribbean's Regional Security System rather than maintaining individual armies
• Domestic policing — countries like Costa Rica and Panama rely entirely on police forces for internal law enforcement, with no military function at all

Why the model works for some countries

• Geographic isolation — island nations like Tuvalu and Nauru face a much lower risk of land invasion than countries with contested land borders
• Neighbour goodwill — Liechtenstein and Andorra sit between larger, stable, non-threatening neighbours with no history of territorial ambition against them
• Budget redirection — Costa Rica is frequently cited as a case study for redirecting military spending into public education and healthcare, contributing to its reputation for high literacy and life expectancy relative to its region

Why not every country can do this

Countries with contested borders, active regional tensions, or a history of invasion generally maintain a military regardless of cost, since the security risk of having none outweighs the budget savings. Haiti's history makes this concrete: its 1995 demilitarization didn't stick, precisely because internal instability — not an external threat — created pressure to rebuild a force. That's why the list above is dominated by islands, microstates, and countries surrounded by stable, larger neighbours: geography and political stability are both doing work that a military would otherwise have to do.

For more on how geography shapes a country's options, see our guide to landlocked countries and why it matters and the complete list of landlocked countries by continent. Many of these no-military states are also Commonwealth realms or former British territories — see our full list of the world's monarchies for the overlap.

Quick reference table

| Country | Defense approach | Standing army? |

|---|---|---|

| Costa Rica | Police-based, constitutionally demilitarized | No |

| Iceland | NATO alliance + coast guard | No |

| Panama | Police-based since 1990 | No |

| Palau | US Compact of Free Association | No |

| Vatican City | Swiss Guard (ceremonial) | No |

| San Marino | Ceremonial volunteer corps (edge case) | Not fully — usually excluded from strict lists |

| Haiti | Reconstituted military in 2017 | Yes, as of 2017 (was "no" from 1995–2017) |

Common mistakes people make

• Assuming "no military" means "no security force at all" — most of these countries still have police or coast guard units
• Confusing a small ceremonial guard (like the Vatican's Swiss Guard or San Marino's volunteer corps) with an actual combat-capable military
• Assuming the model would work for any country — geography, neighbours, and internal political stability all have to align for it to be viable, as Haiti's reversal shows
• Missing Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, which many shorter lists leave out despite it meeting the same criteria as Saint Lucia and Dominica

How we verified this list

This list follows the criteria used in Wikipedia's List of Sovereign States Without Armed Forces, cross-checked against World Population Review. Because a country's military status can change quickly — as Haiti's did in 2017 — treat this as a current snapshot rather than a permanent classification.

FAQs

How many countries have no military?

21 sovereign states currently operate with no standing army, though most still maintain police or coast guard forces.

Why did Costa Rica abolish its military?

Costa Rica abolished its army constitutionally in 1949 after a brief civil war, redirecting the funding toward education and healthcare.

Does Iceland have any defense force at all?

Iceland has no standing army but maintains a coast guard and relies on NATO membership for external defense.

Can a country with land borders realistically have no military?

It's rare — most no-military countries are islands or are surrounded by stable, non-threatening neighbours, since land borders generally carry higher security risk.

Is San Marino a country with no military?

It's a borderline case. San Marino maintains small ceremonial and volunteer corps rather than a combat-capable army, which is why it's usually left off strict "no military" lists even though it has no standing conventional force. Italy handles its external defense.

Has any country lost its "no military" status recently?

Yes — Haiti disbanded its army in 1995 but reconstituted a small military force in 2017 after over two decades without one, making it the most recent example of the model not holding.

Test yourself

Once the list feels familiar, guess before checking: does a given country have a standing military? Islands and microstates are your best bet for guessing "no" correctly — but watch out for San Marino and Haiti, the two cases that trip people up.