These Countries Have the World’s Longest Military Service Requirements

Service length: Up to 24 months

Demographic: Men aged 20 to 45 years old

“Angola’s length of service can vary depending on the needs of the military,” the legal publication Law Gratis reported, and the country may allow for non-combat or civil service for conscientious objectors.

Service length: Varies, 14-24 months

Demographic: Men and women aged 18 to 35 years old

Conscription is compulsory under Cabo Verde’s constitution, but per the US Department of State, a law allows for conscientious objection on religious grounds.

Service length: 18-36 months for men; 12 months for women

Demographic: Men at least 20 years old; women at least 21 years old

Information varies on Chad’s military conscription. Soldiers who finish active duty service remain in the reserves until age 50.

Service length: 24 months

Demographic: Men aged 17 to 28 years old

For men who have finished high school and are planning to attend higher education, only 12 months are required, per the US Department of State.

Service length: Varies, up to 36 months

Demographic: Men aged 18 to 30 years old

Length of mandatory service in Egypt varies based on education, with high-school dropouts serving three full years and those who received higher education serving less. The CIA World Factbook notes that a sizable portion of Egypt’s military consists of conscripts.

Service length: 18-24 months

Demographic: Men aged 18 years old

Equatorial Guinea has selective compulsory military service by law, although conscription in the West African nation is uncommon.

Service length: At least 18 months, but often significantly longer

Demographic: Men and women aged 18 to 40 years old

While the minimum service duration on the books in Eritrea is 18 months, most conscripts serve years in practice, with effectively an open-ended mandatory service duration.

Service length: Estimates vary, possibly 24 months

Demographic: Men and women aged 18 to 25 years old

Neighboring Guinea-Bissau also has selective compulsory service. The service requirement in 1991 was two years, according to Amnesty International, though it’s unclear if this has been amended since.

Service length: Up to 24 months

Demographic: Men aged 18 to 40 years old

Conscription length in Iran can vary based on region and other factors. The CIA World Factbook notes that conscripts serve in both wings of Iran’s army, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Artesh, as well as in law enforcement.

Service length: Varies, usually 32 months for men, 24 months for women; officers can serve up to 48 months

Demographic: Men and women 18 years of age

Conscription in Israel can depend on ethnicity. Jews, Druze, and Circassians are conscripted, while service is voluntary for Christians and some Muslims.

Lynch said that in countries with modern democratic governments, the public’s acceptance of conscription can depend on how it’s carried out.

“In democracies and westernized nations, the more coercion you put into conscription, the less support you’re going to have,” he said. Lynch also said that a sense of nationalism contributes to support for conscription.

Service length: 24 months

Demographic: Men and women aged 18 years old

Following two coups in 2020 and 2021, Mali has been ruled by a military junta. The current status of conscription is unclear.

Service length: Five to six years

Demographic: Men and women aged 18 to 35 years old

Beginning in 2024, Mozambique’s parliament raised the duration of service from 2 years to 6 years or more in an effort to increase its military might, per DNE Africa.

According to the US Department of State, the country recognizes the right to conscientious objection, but also reserves the right to suspend it during times of war or emergency.

Service length: At least 24 months

Demographic: Men aged 18 to 35 years; women aged 18 to 27

After a 2021 coup sparked widespread armed resistance and civil unrest in Myanmar, conscription was enacted in 2024 to help make up for significant losses on the battlefield, according to IISS’ 2026 Military Balance report.

Service length: 24 months

Demographic: Men and women aged 18 years old

Niger requires two years of mandatory military service by law. While the current status of service requirements is unclear after a 2023 coup, the ruling military junta, the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland, has approved a “general mobilization” that orders military conscription, Al Jazeera reported in 2025.

Service length: Heavily varies, 5 to 13 years

Demographic: Men and women aged 17 years old

North Korea has the lengthiest official conscription program in the world, requiring 5 to 13 years of service. The CIA World Factbook noted that conscripts in combat units could serve up to 10 years, while those in units such as missile forces could serve up to 13 years. Women are required to serve shorter tenures than men. Part-time service is compulsory until age 40, per IISS.

The CIA reported “as many as 20% of North Korean males between the ages of 16 and 54 are in the military at a given time,” and the military is mostly comprised of conscripts.

According to Lynch, conscription serves a unique purpose in autocratic countries.

“In a lot of authoritarian countries, conscription serves as a method of control,” he said. “It’s the idea of, ‘We don’t want guns in the hands of people who could rise up against us, so let’s make them our army.'”

Service length: 24 months

Demographic: Men and women aged 19 years old

The IISS report notes that Senegal has selective conscription, and a 2001 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees report noted that enlistment is largely voluntary.

Lynch said that for a military, impassioned volunteers are almost always preferred over conscripts.

“Generally speaking, a volunteer force is going to be better than draftees, because human nature is to push against what you’re forced to do,” he said.

Service length: 24 months

Demographic: Men aged 18 to 21 years old

The CIA World Factbook reported that some conscripts serve in Singapore’s Police Force or Civil Defense Force rather than the military. Conscripts make up more than half of the country’s armed forces.

Service length: 12-24 months

Demographic: Men aged 18 years old

South Sudan has received scrutiny for its recruitment of child soldiers, per Human Rights Watch.

Service length: 24 months

Demographic: Men and women aged 18 to 30 years old

Sudan has 104,300 active troops and 60,000 gendarmerie and paramilitary, per IISS.

Service length: 24 months

Demographic: Men aged 18 to 27 years old

In Tajikistan, men can pay a fee to the government and complete a one-month military training course to avoid conscription.

Service length: Varies, typically 24 months

Demographic: Men aged 21 years old

The duration of mandatory service in Thailand can vary based on educational qualifications.

Thailand’s draft takes the form of a lottery system, in which eligible draftees can choose between 6 to 12 months of voluntary military service or enter a conscription lottery.

Service length: 24 months

Demographic: Men aged 18 to 27 years old

In Turkmenistan, the president signs decrees ordering conscription. In 2022, the government required that all students studying abroad must return for military service despite being exempted from conscription by law, Radio Free Europe reported.

Service length: Varies, up to 36 months

Demographic: Men aged 18 to 30 years old

Service duration in the UAE varies by education. For men who haven’t completed secondary education, the obligation is three years.

Service length: 24-36 months

Demographic: Men aged 18 to 27 years old

Service length in Vietnam varies by branch of the military, with the country’s army and air defense requiring two years, and the navy and air force requiring three.