The U.S. Maintains ~750 Military Bases in Over 80 Countries. Here's the Full Picture.
From Okinawa to Djibouti to the plains of Poland, the United States operates the largest overseas military infrastructure in human history. This is where those bases are, who's paying, and what it costs.
An 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 fewer than 50 overseas military installations. 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 30,000+ 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.
The number that shocked me: Japan still has 113 U.S. military sites. South Korea has 83. Germany has 174. These wars ended 70-80 years ago. We won. We stayed. The original justification - rebuilding and deterrence - has long since been replaced by inertia, strategic habit, and the fact that nobody in Washington wants to be the one to propose closing a base near the DMZ or the Taiwan Strait.
Where the Bases Are: An Interactive World Map
Circle size = troop count. Color = region. Hover or tap any circle for country details.
Top 30 Countries by U.S. Military Presence
| # | Country | Region | Troops | Known Bases | Largest Installation | Since |
|---|
The 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.
The largest U.S. base outside the continental United States. South Korea paid ~$10.7B of the $11B build cost. Has its own school system, hospital, golf course, and bowling alley.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
What 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.
"Since the onset of the Global War on Terror in 2001, the total cost of our garrisoning policies has probably reached $1.8 trillion to $2.1 trillion." - Prof. David Vine, American University
| Country | Annual Contribution | % of Costs Covered | Agreement | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | ~$4.0B / yr | ~75% | Host Nation Support Agreement | Covers labor, utilities, construction. Renewed every 5 years; latest through 2027. |
| South Korea | ~$1.2B / yr | ~40-50% | Special Measures Agreement | Also paid 90% of Camp Humphreys build cost. Trump pushed for $5B/yr. |
| Germany | ~$1.0B / yr | ~25% | NATO Cost-Sharing | Via NATO infrastructure fund and direct payments. |
| NATO Members (combined) | ~$3.0B / yr | varies | NATO Common Fund | Distributed across 30+ member nations for shared infrastructure. |
| Qatar / Gulf States | ~$500M+ / yr | ~30% | Bilateral Agreements | Qatar paid $1.8B for Al Udeid expansion. |
The U.S. vs Every Other Military Power
| Country | Overseas Bases | Countries w/ Presence | Annual Defense Budget | Scale |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | ~750 | 80+ | $997B (2024) | |
| United Kingdom | ~145 | ~40 | $81B | |
| France | ~30 | ~13 | $58B | |
| Russia | ~15 | ~10 | ~$109B | |
| China | ~5 | ~3 | $225B |
Bases That Closed, Opened, or Changed Since 2000
| Year | Event | Country | Scale | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001-2003 | Central Asia expansion | Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan | 550+ at peak | Post-9/11 War on Terror. Afghanistan briefly became the largest single-country basing operation in U.S. history. |
| 2005 | Uzbekistan expulsion | Uzbekistan (K2 Base) | 1 major base | U.S. criticized the Andijan massacre. Uzbekistan gave 180-day eviction notice. |
| 2014 | Kyrgyzstan closure | Manas Air Base | 1 transit hub | Key staging base for Afghanistan. Kyrgyz government ended lease under Russian pressure. |
| 2019-2024 | Africa reversals: Niger, Chad | Niger, Chad | 3 bases lost | Post-coup military juntas expelled U.S. forces. Niger had received a new $110M drone base at Agadez just 5 years prior. |
| 2021 | Afghanistan full withdrawal | Afghanistan | ~100 facilities closed | All forces and installations closed by Aug 31, 2021, including Bagram Air Base. |
| 2022-present | Eastern Europe buildup | Poland, Romania, Baltic States | +20,000 troops | Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Poland now hosts ~10,000 U.S. troops, up from near-zero. |
| 2024 | Philippines expansion | Philippines | 9 base access points | EDCA expanded U.S. access from 5 to 9 Philippine military bases. Driven by South China Sea tensions. |
The 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.
I'm not here to tell you whether 750 bases in 80 countries is right or wrong. That's legitimately complicated. What I will say is this: it should be a bigger part of the national conversation than it is. When was the last time a presidential debate included a question about why we still have 174 military sites in Germany? We spend more maintaining these bases than every other nation on earth spends defending itself - and most Americans have no idea.
Key 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