Introduction
For most nations, a standing army feels as fundamental as a flag or a currency. Yet more than 20 sovereign states maintain no standing military at all — among them Costa Rica, Iceland, Panama, Mauritius, Samoa, and Vanuatu. Some abolished their armies by deliberate constitutional choice after civil wars or coups; others never created one in the first place.
This is not pacifist symbolism. It is a calculated security strategy in which defense is outsourced to geography, treaties, and police forces, while the money that would fund tanks and jets is redirected to schools, hospitals, and economic development. The results, in several cases, have been strikingly successful.
Costa Rica: The Country That Abolished Its Army
The most famous case is Costa Rica. After a bloody 44-day civil war in 1948, the victorious junta leader José Figueres made an astonishing decision: rather than use the army to cement his power, he abolished it. On December 1, 1948, he symbolically smashed a section of the wall of the Bellavista barracks with a mallet, and the 1949 constitution formally banned a standing army in Article 12. The barracks were converted into the National Museum.
The gamble paid off. While military coups toppled governments across Latin America throughout the twentieth century, Costa Rica became one of the region's most stable democracies. Money that would have gone to defense was poured into education and public health; today the country has a literacy rate above 97 percent and a universal healthcare system. In 1983, President Luis Alberto Monge went further, proclaiming permanent, active, and unarmed neutrality.
Other Countries Without Armies
Iceland is the most surprising case: it has had no standing army since 1869, yet it is a founding member of NATO, protected by the alliance's mutual defense clause. It maintains a coast guard, a crisis response unit, and hosted a US air base at Keflavík from 1951 until 2006. Panama abolished its military in 1990, after the United States invaded in 1989 to remove dictator Manuel Noriega — the very armed forces that had propped him up. A 1994 constitutional reform made the abolition permanent.
Island nations make up most of the rest of the list. Mauritius, Samoa, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu rely on police forces and regional partners. The Pacific microstates of Palau, the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia are defended by the United States under the Compact of Free Association. Europe's tiny states do similar deals: Andorra's defense is the responsibility of France and Spain under agreements dating back to 1278, while Monaco relies on France and Liechtenstein on neutrality and Swiss ties.
How Defense Works Without an Army
No-army countries are not undefended; they are defended differently. Most maintain well-equipped police forces with paramilitary capabilities. Costa Rica's Fuerza Pública handles border security and counter-narcotics, and the country has repeatedly taken border disputes — including with Nicaragua — to the International Court of Justice rather than the battlefield, and won.
Treaties do the heavy lifting. Iceland leans on NATO's Article 5 guarantee. Panama and Costa Rica are covered by the 1947 Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, the Rio Treaty, which treats an attack on one American state as an attack on all. Geography matters too: an island nation with no land borders and no resource worth a war faces few realistic invaders. The honest caveat is that this model depends on a stable international order — a country without an army is betting that law, alliances, and diplomacy will hold.
Why It Works
The deeper logic is historical. In many developing countries, the army has been a greater threat to the nation's own government than to any foreign enemy. Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East saw dozens of military coups in the twentieth century. Abolishing the army removes the coup risk entirely — you cannot be overthrown by a military that does not exist.
The economic argument is equally strong. Global military spending exceeded 2.4 trillion US dollars in 2023, and even small armies consume 1 to 3 percent of GDP. Costa Rica routinely ranks at or near the top of the Happy Planet Index and Latin American quality-of-life surveys, and its demilitarization has become a source of national identity and soft power — a country that negotiates rather than threatens. For a small state, that reputation can be worth more than any battalion.
Sources
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — history of Costa Rica's abolition of the army and its political development
- Constitute Project — full text of Costa Rica's constitution, including Article 12 banning the army
- Wikipedia — comprehensive list of states without standing armed forces and their defense arrangements
FAQ
How many countries have no standing army?
Depending on how strictly you count, between 21 and 26 sovereign states have no standing military. The list includes Costa Rica, Iceland, Panama, Mauritius, Samoa, Vanuatu, and most of the small Pacific and European microstates.
Does Costa Rica have any armed forces at all?
Costa Rica has no army, navy, or air force, but it maintains the Fuerza Pública, a police force of roughly 14,000 officers with paramilitary-style units for border security, counter-narcotics, and riot control.
Who defends Iceland if it has no military?
Iceland is a founding NATO member, so an attack on it would trigger the alliance's Article 5 collective defense clause. It also has a coast guard, and NATO allies periodically run air policing missions from Keflavík.
Could a country without an army be invaded?
In principle yes — Panama's own history shows small states can be overrun by great powers. That is exactly why these countries rely on treaties like the Rio Treaty and NATO, plus international courts and diplomacy, as their real defense.
Is Japan considered a country without an army?
No. Although Article 9 of Japan's postwar constitution renounces war, its Self-Defense Forces, founded in 1954, number around 247,000 personnel with one of the world's largest defense budgets, so Japan does not qualify as demilitarized.
About the Author
doyouknow.app Editorial Team — We reference constitutional records, treaty documents, and historical research to explain why some countries thrive without a standing army.
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