science

List of countries with overseas military bases

List of countries with overseas military bases is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand List of countries with overseas military bases rather than just read about it. In short: This is a list of countries with overseas military bases. Background The establishment of military bases abroad enables a country to project power, e.g., to conduct expeditionary warfare, to influence events abroad.

Key takeaways

List of countries with overseas military bases belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect List of countries with overseas military bases to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of List of countries with overseas military bases from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

This is a list of countries with overseas military bases.

Background

The establishment of military bases abroad enables a country to project power, e.g., to conduct expeditionary warfare, to influence events abroad. Depending on their size and infrastructure, they can be staging areas or for logistical, communications, and intelligence support. Many conflicts throughout modern history have resulted in overseas military bases being established in large numbers by world powers. These bases have helped them to achieve political and military goals. At one time, the establishment of coaling stations for naval ships was important. The United Kingdom and other colonial powers established overseas military bases in many of their colonies during the First and Second World Wars. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union established military bases within their respective spheres of influence. The war on terror has resulted in overseas military bases being established in the Middle East. While the overall number of overseas military bases has fallen since 1945, the United States, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Russia, India, and France still possess or utilize a substantial number of them. Smaller numbers of overseas military bases are operated by China, Iran, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. The United States is the largest operator of military bases abroad, with 38 "named bases" with active duty, national guard, reserve, or civilian personnel as of September 2014. Its largest, in terms of personnel, was Ramstein AB in Germany, with almost 9,200 personnel.

Argentina

Australia

Bangladesh

China

France

Germany

Greece

India

Israel

Italy

Japan

Pakistan

Russia

Singapore

Turkey

United Arab Emirates

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom has thirteen overseas military bases.

United States

The U.S. military maintains hundreds of military installations, both inside the United States and overseas, with at least 128 military bases in 55 countries and territories, as of February 2025. Some American bases are also NATO-led with forces from multiple countries. Camp Humphreys in South Korea is the largest overseas base in terms of area. Most of these foreign military installations are located in NATO countries, Middle East countries, South Korea and Japan. Countries with U.S. bases include:

Africa

Americas

Asia

Europe

Oceania

See also Power projection Mobile offshore base Military base Piardoba Airfield

Notes

Suspected/unconfirmed presence of Egyptian military bases in Eritrea, a Saudi island, and in Somalia.

References

Further reading Cooley, A.; Nexon, D. (2013). "The Empire Will Compensate You: The Structural Dynamics of the U.S. Overseas Basing Network". Perspectives on Politics. 11 (4): 1034–1050. doi:10.1017/S1537592713002818. JSTOR 43280929. Vine, David (25 August 2015). Base Nation: How U.S. Military Bases Abroad Harm America and the World. New York: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 978-1-62779-170-0.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with List of countries with overseas military bases

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what List of countries with overseas military bases claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to List of countries with overseas military bases before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about List of countries with overseas military bases ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of List of countries with overseas military bases

In research: List of countries with overseas military bases appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses List of countries with overseas military bases in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: List of countries with overseas military bases is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Lists of countries, Military lists, Overseas or abroad military installations, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for List of countries with overseas military bases outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study List of countries with overseas military bases in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what List of countries with overseas military bases means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
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Frequently asked questions

What is List of countries with overseas military bases in simple terms?

This is a list of countries with overseas military bases. Background The establishment of military bases abroad enables a country to project power, e.g., to conduct expeditionary warfare, to influence events abroad.

Why does List of countries with overseas military bases matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study List of countries with overseas military bases?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on List of countries with overseas military bases.