The U.S. Maintains ~750 Military Bases in Over 80 Countries. Here's the Full Picture.

01An Empire of Bases Most Americans Know Almost Nothing About

The United States has, by a significant margin, more military bases on foreign soil than any nation in history. Britain, France, Russia, and China combined have about 195 by the estimates in the comparison table below, most of them British - roughly a quarter of the U.S. total. The U.S. has somewhere between 750 and 800 - and even that number is contested, partly because the Pentagon stopped publishing a full Base Structure Report and partly because many facilities are classified entirely.

These bases range from massive cities-within-cities - Camp Humphreys in South Korea covers 3,454 acres and has its own hospital, schools, golf course, and 40,000+ residents - to tiny radar installations in remote locations with five people and a satellite dish. The Pentagon officially categorizes them as "Large" (30 worldwide), "Medium," and "Small/Lily Pad" - but the taxonomy is somewhat misleading since the Pentagon defines "small" as having a replacement value of under $1 billion.

02Where the Bases Are: An Interactive World Map

Circle size = troop count. Color = region. Hover or tap any circle for country details.

U.S. Military Presence by Country - 2024 Data

Sources: Defense Manpower Data Center (Dec 2025), Pentagon Base Structure Report 2024, Congressional Report (July 2024). Troop figures exclude contingency deployments.

03Top 30 Countries by U.S. Military Presence

US Troops Abroad, Year by Year Since 1950

U.S. Troops Overseas - Top 20 Countries

Active-duty military only. Source: DMDC, December 2025. Bars coloured by region (legend above).

04The Big Ones: Notable U.S. Overseas Bases

The 30 "Large" bases the Pentagon officially acknowledges are genuine cities with hospitals, schools, movie theaters, and entire residential neighborhoods.

Camp Humphreys

The largest U.S. base outside the continental United States. South Korea paid about 90% of the roughly $10.7B build cost. Has its own school system, hospital, golf course, and bowling alley.

Ramstein Air Base

HQ for U.S. Air Forces in Europe and NATO Allied Air Command. The Landstuhl hospital next door is the largest U.S. military hospital outside the United States.

Kadena Air Base

Largest USAF base in the Pacific. Okinawa is 0.6% of Japan's land area but hosts 70% of U.S. military facilities in Japan. Locals have protested for decades.

Al Udeid Air Base

Largest U.S. installation in the Middle East. Qatar paid over $1B to expand the base. Hosts the longest runway in the region at 12,000 feet.

Camp Lemonnier

The only officially acknowledged permanent U.S. base in Africa. Primary staging ground for drone strikes across East Africa and Yemen. China's first overseas base is 8 miles away.

NSF Diego Garcia

Perhaps the most controversial U.S. base worldwide. Britain forcibly expelled the entire indigenous Chagossian population in the early 1970s to allow construction. The ICJ ruled against British possession in 2019.

05What Does All This Actually Cost?

The Pentagon is legally required to produce an annual "Overseas Cost Summary" - but has been known to undercount in significant ways. The reported figure is $22.1 billion per year. Independent researchers who did the full accounting came up with something very different.

The Three Numbers Nobody Can Agree On

Annual Cost: Pentagon Official vs Full Estimate

All figures in billions USD. Full estimate methodology from Vine/Quincy Institute.

What Do Host Countries Pay?

06The U.S. vs Every Other Military Power

Overseas Military Bases: Global Comparison

The U.S. figure dwarfs every other nation combined. Sources: Quincy Institute, David Vine, IISS.

07Bases That Closed, Opened, or Changed Since 2000

08The Question Nobody in Washington Wants to Ask

The case for this network comes down to deterrence, alliance management, and force projection capability. Having bases in Japan means we can respond to a Taiwan crisis in hours, not weeks. Having Ramstein meant we controlled Ukraine logistics without putting troops on the ground. That's real strategic value.

But the honest argument against is also real: the U.S. is the only country on earth paying $150 billion a year to maintain this kind of permanent global presence, and it's not obvious the threat environment today justifies 1950s Cold War-era basing strategy. The Soviet Union that justified most of these bases has been gone for 35 years.

09Key Sources

• Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) - Personnel by Country, December 2025
• U.S. Department of Defense Base Structure Report, 2024
• Congressional Research Service - "U.S. Military Bases Abroad," July 2024
• David Vine, "Base Nation" (Metropolitan Books, 2015) & 2021 data update
• Quincy Institute - "Drawdown: Improving U.S. and Global Security Through Military Base Closures Abroad" (2021)
• RAND Corporation - "Overseas Basing of U.S. Military Forces" (2013)
• Watson Institute, Brown University - Costs of War Project
• International Institute for Strategic Studies - Military Balance 2024