As of May 2025, China had the largest armed forces in the world by active duty military personnel, with about *********** active soldiers. India, the United States, North Korea, and Russia rounded out the top five largest armies. Difference between active and reserve personnel Active personnel, also known as active duty in the United States and active service in the United Kingdom, are those individuals whose full-time occupation is being part of a military force. Active duty contrasts with a military’s reserve force, which are individuals who have both a military role and a civilian career. The number of active duty forces in the U.S. is much larger than its reserve membership. What is the strongest army? The strength of a country’s armed forces is not only determined by how many personnel they maintain, but also the number and quality of their military equipment. For example, looking only at personnel does not factor in the overwhelmingly higher number of nuclear warheads owned by Russia and the United States compared to other countries. One way to answer this question is to look at the total amount of money each country spends on their military, as spending includes both personnel and technology. In terms of countries with the highest military spending, the United States leads the world with an annual budget almost ***** times larger than second-placed China.

Over the course of the Second World War approximately 127.2 million people were mobilized. The world's population in 1940 was roughly 2.3 billion, meaning that between five and six percent of the world was drafted into the military in some capacity. Approximately one in every 25 people mobilized were women, who generally served in an administrative or medical role, although hundreds of thousands of women did see active combat. Largest armies In absolute numbers, the Soviet Union mobilized the largest number of people at just under 34.5 million, and this included roughly 35 percent of the USSR's male population. By the war's end, more Soviets were mobilized than all European Axis powers combined. However, in relative terms, it was Germany who mobilized the largest share of its male population, with approximately 42 percent of men serving. The USSR was forced to find a balance between reinforcing its frontlines and maintaining agricultural and military production to supply its army (in addition to those in annexed territory after 1941), whereas a large share of soldiers taken from the German workforce were replaced by workers drafted or forcibly taken from other countries (including concentration camp prisoners and PoWs). Studying the figures The figures given in these statistics are a very simplified and rounded overview - in reality, there were many nuances in the number of people who were effectively mobilized for each country, their roles, and their status as auxiliary, collaborative, or resistance forces. The British Empire is the only power where distinctions are made between the metropole and its colonies or territories, whereas breakdowns of those who fought in other parts of Asia or Africa remains unclear. Additionally, when comparing this data with total fatalities, it is important to account for the civilian death toll, i.e. those who were not mobilized.

In 2025, the United States had the largest number of active military personnel out of all North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries, with almost *** million troops. The country with the second-largest number of military personnel was Türkiye, at around ******* active personnel. Additionally, the U.S. has by far the most armored vehicles in NATO, as well as the largest Navy and Air Force. NATO in brief NATO, which was formed in 1949, is the most powerful military alliance in the world. At its formation, NATO had 12 member countries, which by 2024 had increased to 32. NATO was originally formed to deter Soviet expansion into Europe, with member countries expected to come to each other’s defense in case of an attack. Member countries are also obliged to commit to spending two percent of their respective GDPs on defense, although many states have recently fallen far short of this target. NATO in the contemporary world Some questioned the purposed of NATO after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the collapse of the Soviet Union a few years later. In 2019, French President Emmanuel Macron even called the organization 'brain-dead' amid dissatisfaction with the leadership of the U.S. President at the time, Donald Trump. NATO has, however, seen a revival after Russia's President Vladimir Putin decided to invade Ukraine in February 2022. Following the invasion, Sweden and Finland both abandoned decades of military neutrality and applied to join the alliance, with Finland joining in 2023, and Sweden in 2024.

India military size for 2020 was 3,068,000, a 0.76% increase from 2019.

<ul style='margin-top:20px;'>

<li>India military size for 2019 was <strong>3,045,000</strong>, a <strong>0.61% increase</strong> from 2018.</li>
<li>India military size for 2018 was <strong>3,026,500</strong>, a <strong>0.15% decline</strong> from 2017.</li>
<li>India military size for 2017 was <strong>3,031,000</strong>, a <strong>1.68% increase</strong> from 2016.</li>
</ul>Armed forces personnel are active duty military personnel, including paramilitary forces if the training, organization, equipment, and control suggest they may be used to support or replace regular military forces.

For most of the Second World War, the Soviet Union had the largest number of active military personnel each year, peaking at over 12 million people in the war's final years. The Soviet Union's ability to draw from its larger population was decisive in its eventual victory over Germany in 1945, whose eastern forces were greatly diminished by 1944 after it had already suffered heavy losses fighting the Soviets and was then forced to fight on the western front.

Each of the Great Powers had varying conscription systems in place that allowed them to draft citizens into the military. In the U.S., over 50 million men aged 18-45 would register for the draft before the war's end, and over 10 million of these were inducted into the military (alongside volunteers and those already in service). Conscription in Japan grew more aggressive as the war progressed, and its armed forces doubled in size in the final two years of the war.

In the mid-eighteenth century, the largest army in northern and western Europe belonged to France. During this time, France had a much larger population than all other European nations and states at this time (and it had roughly double the population of Britain and Ireland combined). The army sizes in the 1740s increased greatly due to the War of Austrian Succession (1740-1748), and again in the late 1750s because of the Seven Years War (1756-1763). Although Britain was one of the strongest military powers of the 1700s, their army size was much smaller than the other 'Great Powers' of Europe, however their naval strength was unparalleled during this time.

South Africa military size for 2020 was 89,000, a 1.11% decline from 2019.

<ul style='margin-top:20px;'>

<li>South Africa military size for 2019 was <strong>90,000</strong>, a <strong>0.39% increase</strong> from 2018.</li>
<li>South Africa military size for 2018 was <strong>89,650</strong>, a <strong>12.06% increase</strong> from 2017.</li>
<li>South Africa military size for 2017 was <strong>80,000</strong>, a <strong>1.72% decline</strong> from 2016.</li>
</ul>Armed forces personnel are active duty military personnel, including paramilitary forces if the training, organization, equipment, and control suggest they may be used to support or replace regular military forces.

At the end of the fiscal year of 2024, it is estimated that there will be ** Generals serving the United States Army, and a total of ******* enlisted personnel. Military personnel The military departments in the United States are: the U.S. Army, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Marine Corps, and the U.S. Coast Guards. The President of the United States is the military’s overall head and forms the military policy with the U.S. Department of Defense. The U.S. military is one of the largest militaries in term of number of personnel. The largest branch of the United States Armed Forces is the United States Army. The United States Army is responsible for land-based military operations. The active duty U.S. Army personnel number has decreased from 2010 to 2021. In 2010, there were ******* active duty U.S. Army members, as compared to ******* in 2021. The number of active duty U.S. Navy personnel has decreased slowly over the past 20 years. In 2021, there were ******* active duty Navy members in the United States Navy. The United States Navy personnel are enlisted sailors, commissioned officers, and midshipmen. Sailors have to take part in Personnel Qualification Standards, to prove that they have mastered skills. The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States. The active duty U.S. Air Force personnel numbers also decreased between 1995 and 2015, although has started to increase slightly since 2015. The number decreased again in 2021, when the Air Force had ******* personnel.

Abstract

IPUMS-International is an effort to inventory, preserve, harmonize, and disseminate census microdata from around the world. The project has collected the world's largest archive of publicly available census samples. The data are coded and documented consistently across countries and over time to facillitate comparative research. IPUMS-International makes these data available to qualified researchers free of charge through a web dissemination system.

The IPUMS project is a collaboration of the Minnesota Population Center, National Statistical Offices, and international data archives. Major funding is provided by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the Demographic and Behavioral Sciences Branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Additional support is provided by the University of Minnesota Office of the Vice President for Research, the Minnesota Population Center, and Sun Microsystems.

Geographic coverage

National coverage

Analysis unit

Census household

UNITS IDENTIFIED: - Dwellings: No - Vacant units: No - Households: Yes - Individuals: Yes - Group quarters: Yes

UNIT DESCRIPTIONS: - Dwellings: A structure used for habitation with walls and a roof or mobile housing such as a nomad tent, boat, or train car occupied at the time of the census. - Households: A household is a group of individuals, related or not, who are living together under the same roof and under the responsibility of a head of household whose authority is recognized by all members of the household. - Group quarters: An institutional household is a group of persons living together for reasons of study, health, work, travel, discipline or common interest.

Universe

All persons residing in the national territory, excluding diplomats and their families temporarily in Mali, foreign diplomats and their families, army personnel and military police, household members who left more than six months prior to the census.

Kind of data

Census/enumeration data [cen]

Sampling procedure

MICRODATA SOURCE: National Directorate of Statistics and Informatics

SAMPLE DESIGN: Systematic sample of every 10th household with a random start, drawn by the Minnesota Population Center

SAMPLE UNIT: Dwelling

SAMPLE FRACTION: 10%

SAMPLE SIZE (person records): 991,330

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

A single form with sections on dwellings, individuals, and birth and death events.

Abstract

IPUMS-International is an effort to inventory, preserve, harmonize, and disseminate census microdata from around the world. The project has collected the world's largest archive of publicly available census samples. The data are coded and documented consistently across countries and over time to facillitate comparative research. IPUMS-International makes these data available to qualified researchers free of charge through a web dissemination system.

The IPUMS project is a collaboration of the Minnesota Population Center, National Statistical Offices, and international data archives. Major funding is provided by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the Demographic and Behavioral Sciences Branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Additional support is provided by the University of Minnesota Office of the Vice President for Research, the Minnesota Population Center, and Sun Microsystems.

Geographic coverage

National coverage

Analysis unit

Census household

UNITS IDENTIFIED: - Dwellings: No - Vacant units: No - Households: Yes - Individuals: Yes - Group quarters: No

UNIT DESCRIPTIONS: - Dwellings: A structure used for habitation with walls and a roof or mobile housing such as a nomad tent, boat, or train car occupied at the time of the census. - Households: A household is an individual or a group of individuals, related or not, who are living under the same roof under the responsibility of a head of household whose authority is recognized by all members of the household. - Group quarters: A communal household is a group of persons living together for reasons of study, health, work, travel, discipline, or common interest.

Universe

All persons residing in the national territory, excluding diplomats and their families temporarily in Mali, foreign diplomats and their families, army personnel and military police, household members who left more than six months prior to the census.

Kind of data

Census/enumeration data [cen]

Sampling procedure

MICRODATA SOURCE: National Directorate of Statistics and Informatics

SAMPLE DESIGN: Systematic sample of every 10th household with a random start, drawn by the Minnesota Population Center

SAMPLE UNIT: Dwelling

SAMPLE FRACTION: 10%

SAMPLE SIZE (person records): 1,451,856

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

A single form with sections on dwellings, individuals, emigration, and death events.

Abstract

IPUMS-International is an effort to inventory, preserve, harmonize, and disseminate census microdata from around the world. The project has collected the world's largest archive of publicly available census samples. The data are coded and documented consistently across countries and over time to facillitate comparative research. IPUMS-International makes these data available to qualified researchers free of charge through a web dissemination system.

The IPUMS project is a collaboration of the Minnesota Population Center, National Statistical Offices, and international data archives. Major funding is provided by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the Demographic and Behavioral Sciences Branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Additional support is provided by the University of Minnesota Office of the Vice President for Research, the Minnesota Population Center, and Sun Microsystems.

Geographic coverage

National coverage

Analysis unit

Dwelling

UNITS IDENTIFIED: - Dwellings: No - Vacant units: No - Households: Yes - Individuals: Yes - Group quarters: Yes

UNIT DESCRIPTIONS: - Dwellings: Place in which people are living/ being sheltered, or are present on census day like a detached house; an apartment flat; a prefabricated house; a tent, a shack, etc.; a hotel, motel, hostel; a train, a boat, a bus, a terminal, etc.; a hospital, a health clinic; a military post, garrison, an officer's club, etc.; a boarding school, a dormitory; a child daycare facility, an orphanage, a nursing home; a prison, a reform school, or other places (a factory, an official office, an embassy, etc.). - Households: Social entities made up of one or more persons, whether bound by kinship or not, living in the same dwelling or in a portion of the same dwelling, participating in the provision of service or management to the household, who make no distinctions among themselves in terms of their income or expenses. - Group quarters: Places such as a hotel, a motel, a hostel, a train, a boat, a bus, a train station, a terminal, a port, a hospital, a health clinic, a military post, a garrison, an officer's club, a boarding school, a dormitory, a nursing home, a child daycare facility, an orphanage, a jail, a reform school, and others (a factory, an official office, an embassy, etc.).

Universe

All the persons present at places that constitute a household, that do not constitute a household like dormitories, military quarters, prisons, hospitals, hotels, etc., and the nomadic population (thus all the population within the boundaries of the country on the census day).

Kind of data

Census/enumeration data [cen]

Sampling procedure

MICRODATA SOURCE: State Institute of Statistics of Turkey

SAMPLE DESIGN: Systematic random sampling by province

SAMPLE UNIT: Households, otherwise individuals if enumerated in non-household places on census day.

SAMPLE FRACTION: 5%

SAMPLE SIZE (person records): 3,388,218

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

Single form with 4 sections: address information, dwelling type information, household questions, and personal characteristics.

During the Second World War, the three Axis powers of Germany, Italy, and Finland mobilized the largest share of their male population. For the Allies, the Soviet Union mobilized the largest share of men, as well as the largest total army of any country, but it was restricted in its ability to mobilize more due to the impact this would have on its economy. Other notable statistics come from the British Empire, where a larger share of men were drafted from Dominions than from the metropole, and there is also a discrepancy between the share of the black and white populations from South Africa.

However, it should be noted that there were many external factors from the war that influenced these figures. For example, gender ratios among the adult populations of many European countries was already skewed due to previous conflicts of the 20th century (namely WWI and the Russian Revolution), whereas the share of the male population eligible to fight in many Asian and African countries was lower than more demographically developed societies, as high child mortality rates meant that the average age of the population was much lower.

Abstract

IPUMS-International is an effort to inventory, preserve, harmonize, and disseminate census microdata from around the world. The project has collected the world's largest archive of publicly available census samples. The data are coded and documented consistently across countries and over time to facillitate comparative research. IPUMS-International makes these data available to qualified researchers free of charge through a web dissemination system.

The IPUMS project is a collaboration of the Minnesota Population Center, National Statistical Offices, and international data archives. Major funding is provided by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the Demographic and Behavioral Sciences Branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Additional support is provided by the University of Minnesota Office of the Vice President for Research, the Minnesota Population Center, and Sun Microsystems.

Geographic coverage

National coverage

Analysis unit

UNITS IDENTIFIED: - Dwellings: No - Vacant units: No - Households: Yes - Individuals: Yes - Group quarters: Yes

UNIT DESCRIPTIONS: - Dwellings: A house or compound is a structurally separate and independent place of abode. An enclosure may be considered as separate if it is surrounded by walls, fences, etc. so that a person or group of persons can isolate themselves from other persons in the community for the purpose of sleeping, preparing and taking their meals, or protecting themselves from hazards of climate such as storms and the sun. Any shelter used as living quarters at the time of the census, e.g. a hut or a group of huts, should be counted as a house or compound. - Households: A person or a group of persons who live together in the same house or compound, share the same house-keeping arrangements and are catered for as one unit. - Group quarters: The following are institutions: (a) Educational institutions, e.g., boarding schools, universities, training colleges, blind schools, seminaries, convents, children's homes, orphanages, nurseries, hostels (YWCA), etc.; (b) Hospitals, including mental hospitals, maternity homes, divine healers' and herbalists' establishments, rehabilitation centres and similar institutions for the physically and mentally handicapped, and convalescent homes; (c) Prisons, including borstal institutions, remand homes and industrial schools; (d) Service barracks, including army camps, military academies, police training schools and colleges. - Special populations: The floating population is comprised of the following: (a) Persons who on census night were travelling in lorries, trains or on foot and therefore did not sleep in any house or compound on that night, e.g. cattle drivers; (b) Persons who spent census night in hotels, rest houses, transit quarters, road camps and labour transit camps; (c) Persons at airports, on ships, ferries, at international border stations; (d) Soldiers on field training; (e) Fishermen and other persons who were at sea in Ghana's territorial waters on census night; (f) All persons who slept in lorry parks, markets, in front of stores and offices, public bathrooms, petrol filling stations, railway stations, verandahs, pavements and all such places which are not houses or compounds; (g) Watchmen; (h) Beggars and vagrants (mad or otherwise).

Universe

Every person who spent the night of 11 March 1984 in a household, institution, or outdoors in the country

Kind of data

Census/enumeration data [cen]

Sampling procedure

MICRODATA SOURCE: Ghana Statistical Service

SAMPLE DESIGN: Systematic sample of every tenth private dwelling drawn by the Minnesota Population Center from 100% microdata.

SAMPLE UNIT: household

SAMPLE FRACTION: 10%

SAMPLE SIZE (person records): 1,309,352

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

Two enumeration forms were used. Form H, collected information on individuals living in private households, and Form G collected information on individuals living in institutions and the floating population. Some enumeration documents are dated 1982, but the census was actually conducted in March of 1984.

In the fiscal year of 2019, 21.39 percent of active-duty enlisted women were of Hispanic origin. The total number of active duty military personnel in 2019 amounted to 1.3 million people.

Ethnicities in the United States The United States is known around the world for the diversity of its population. The Census recognizes six different racial and ethnic categories: White American, Native American and Alaska Native, Asian American, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander. People of Hispanic or Latino origin are classified as a racially diverse ethnicity.

The largest part of the population, about 61.3 percent, is composed of White Americans. The largest minority in the country are Hispanics with a share of 17.8 percent of the population, followed by Black or African Americans with 13.3 percent. Life in the U.S. and ethnicity However, life in the United States seems to be rather different depending on the race or ethnicity that you belong to. For instance: In 2019, native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders had the highest birth rate of 58 per 1,000 women, while the birth rae of white alone, non Hispanic women was 49 children per 1,000 women.

The Black population living in the United States has the highest poverty rate with of all Census races and ethnicities in the United States. About 19.5 percent of the Black population was living with an income lower than the 2020 poverty threshold. The Asian population has the smallest poverty rate in the United States, with about 8.1 percent living in poverty.

The median annual family income in the United States in 2020 earned by Black families was about 57,476 U.S. dollars, while the average family income earned by the Asian population was about 109,448 U.S. dollars. This is more than 25,000 U.S. dollars higher than the U.S. average family income, which was 84,008 U.S. dollars.

The United States led the ranking of the countries with the highest military spending in 2023, with 916 billion U.S. dollars dedicated to the military. That constituted over 40 percent of the total military spending worldwide that year, which amounted to 2.4 trillion U.S. dollars. This amounted to 3.5 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), placing the U.S. lower in the ranking of military expenditure as a percentage of GDP than for instance Saudi Arabia, Israel, Algeria, and Russia. China was the second largest military spender with an estimated 296 billion U.S. dollars spent, with Russia following in third. Defense budgetAccording to the U.S. Congressional Budget Office, the outlays for defense will rise to 1.1 trillion U.S. dollars by 2033. The largest parts of the budget are dedicated to the Departments of the Navy and the Air Force. The budget for the U.S. Air Force for 2024 was nearly 260 billion U.S. dollars.Global military spendingThe value of military spending globally has grown steadily in the past years and reached 2.44 trillion U.S. dollars in 2023. Reasons for this are the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, the war in Gaza, as well as increasing tensions in the South China Sea. North America is by far the leading region worldwide in terms of expenditure on the military.

Russia's military capabilities outnumbered those of Ukraine for most indicators as of 2025. For example, the number of aircraft at the disposal of the Russian Army was close to 4,300, while the Ukrainian Armed Forces possessed 324 aircraft. Russia's naval fleet was 4.7 times larger than Ukraine's. Moreover, Russia was one of the nine countries that possessed nuclear weapons. As of early 2024, Russia held the world's largest inventory of nuclear warheads. How many soldiers does Ukraine have? Ukraine's Army counted approximately 2.2 million military personnel as of 2025. Of them, 900,000 were active military staff. Furthermore, 1.2 million soldiers were part of the country's reserve forces. To compare, Russia had approximately 1.32 million active military personnel and two million of reserve military personnel. Russia's active soldier count was the fourth-largest worldwide, while Ukraine's ranked sixth. Ukraine's tank strength Ukraine's Armed Forces possessed over 1,100 tanks as of 2025, which was more than five times less than Russia's. To support Ukraine during the Russian invasion, several Western countries made commitments to deliver tanks to Ukraine, including Leopard 2, Challenger 2, and M1 Abrams. Furthermore, Ukraine received other types of armored vehicles from Western countries, such as M133 armored personnel carriers from the United States and Mastiff (6x6) protected patrol vehicles from the United Kingdom.

As of 2024, Egypt was considered the most powerful African country by its conventional fighting capacity, achieving a score of ****. The country also placed **** in the global military power ranking. Following this were Algeria and South Africa, each with an index of **** and ****, respectively. A military strength with an index score of ****** is seen as the most powerful.

As of 2025,the combined forces of NATO had approximately 3.44 million active military personnel, compared with 1.32 million active military personnel in the Russian military. The collective military capabilities of the 32 countries that make up NATO outnumber Russia in terms of aircraft, at 22,377 to 4,957, and in naval power, with 1,143 military ships, to 419. In terms of ground combat vehicles, NATO had an estimated 11,495 main battle tanks, to Russia's 5,750. The combined nuclear arsenal of the United States, United Kingdom, and France amounted to 5,559 nuclear warheads, compared with Russia's 5,580. NATO military spending In 2024, the combined military expenditure of NATO states amounted to approximately 1.47 trillion U.S. dollars, with the United States responsible for the majority of this spending, as the U.S. military budget amounted to 967.7 billion dollars that year. The current U.S. President, Donald Trump has frequently taken aim at other NATO allies for not spending as much on defense as America. NATO member states are expected to spend at least two percent of their GDP on defense, although the U.S. has recently pushed for an even higher target. As of 2024, the U.S. spent around 3.38 percent of its GDP on defense, the third-highest in the alliance, with Estonia just ahead on 3.43 percent, and Poland spending the highest share at 4.12 percent. US aid to Ukraine The pause in aid to Ukraine from the United States at the start of March 2025 marks a significant policy change from Ukraine's most powerful ally. Throughout the War in Ukraine, military aid from America has been crucial to the Ukrainian cause. In Trump's first term in office, America sent a high number of anti-tank Javelins, with this aid scaling up to more advanced equipment after Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. The donation of around 40 HIMARs rocket-artillery system, for example, has proven to be one of Ukraine's most effective offensive weapons against Russia. Defensive systems such as advanced Patriot air defense units have also helped protect Ukraine from aerial assaults. Although European countries have also provided significant aid, it is unclear if they will be able to fill the hole left by America should the pause in aid goes on indefinitely.

Over the course of the Second World War, approximately 44.5 percent of the Soviet population and 8.7 of Soviet territory was occupied by the Axis forces at some point. Despite being allied in the war's early stages, with both countries invading Poland in 1939 via the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Germany would launch Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the USSR, in 1941, which would become the largest military invasion in history. Movement of the Eastern Front The surprise invasion began on June 22, and Axis forces caught the Soviets off-guard, quickly pushing their way eastward along a frontline that stretched from the Baltic to Black seas. The length of the front-line allowed Axis forces to execute pincer movements around cities and strongholds, which cut off large numbers of Soviet soldiers from their supply lines, as well as preventing reinforcements; in this process millions of Soviet troops were taken as prisoner. Within three weeks, the Germans had taken much of present-day Poland, Belarus, and the Baltic states, before taking Moldova and Ukraine in September, and pushing into western Russia between September and December. The front lines had reached the outskirts of Moscow by November, before exhaustion and cold weather helped Soviet forces hold the line and stall the German offensive. The Red Army was then able to regroup and turning the Germans' own tactics against them, using two-pronged attacks to encircle large numbers of troops, although harsh weather made this stage of the conflict much slower.

The lines remained fairly static until mid-1942, when the Germans focused their offensive on the south, concentrating on the Caucasian oil fields and the Volga River. By November 1942, Axis forces had pushed into these regions, establishing what would ultimately be the largest amount of occupied Soviet territory during the war. Once again, winter halted the Axis advance, and allowed the Red Army to regroup. Learning from the previous year, the Axis command strengthened their forces near Moscow in anticipation of the Soviet counter-offensive, but were caught off-guard by a second counter-offensive in the south, most famously at Stalingrad. The Battle of Stalingrad would come to epitomize the extreme loss, destruction, and brutality of war on the eastern front, with conflict continuing in the city months after the rest of the Axis forces had been pushed west. As 1943 progressed, the Red Army gained momentum by targeting inferiorly-trained and equipped non-German regiments. The spring then became something of a balancing act for the Axis powers, as the Soviets consistently attacked weak points, and German regiments were transferred to reinforce these areas. In the summer of 1943, the front line was static once more, however the momentum was with the Soviets, who were able to capitalize on victories such as Kursk and gradually force the Axis powers back. By 1944, the Red Army had re-captured much of Ukraine, and had re-taken the south by the summer. When the Western Allies arrived in France in June, the Soviets were already pushing through Ukraine and Belarus, towards Berlin. In August 1944, the last Axis forces were pushed out of Soviet territory, and Soviet forces continued their push towards the German capital, which fell in May 1945. Soviet death toll In addition to the near-five million Soviet troops who died during Operation Barbarossa, millions of civilians died through starvation, areal bombardment, forced labor, and systematic murder campaigns. Due to the nature and severity of Soviet losses, total figures are difficult to estimate; totals of 15-20 million civilians and 7-9 million military deaths are most common. Further estimates suggest that the disruption to fertility, in addition to the high death toll, meant that the USSR's population in 1946 was 40 million lower than it would have been had there been no war.

Abstract

IPUMS-International is an effort to inventory, preserve, harmonize, and disseminate census microdata from around the world. The project has collected the world's largest archive of publicly available census samples. The data are coded and documented consistently across countries and over time to facillitate comparative research. IPUMS-International makes these data available to qualified researchers free of charge through a web dissemination system.

The IPUMS project is a collaboration of the Minnesota Population Center, National Statistical Offices, and international data archives. Major funding is provided by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the Demographic and Behavioral Sciences Branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Additional support is provided by the University of Minnesota Office of the Vice President for Research, the Minnesota Population Center, and Sun Microsystems.

Geographic coverage

National coverage

Analysis unit

Household, enterprise

UNITS IDENTIFIED: - Dwellings: Yes - Vacant units: No - Households: Yes - Individuals: Yes - Group quarters: No - Special populations: Persons without any normal residence, foreign nationals, and people in barracks of military and para-military forces, orphanages, rescue homes, ashram and vagrant houses are not covered by survey.

UNIT DESCRIPTIONS: - Households: A group of persons normally living together and taking food from a common kitchen will constitute a household. The members of a household may or may not be related by blood to one another.

Universe

All population in India, except for foreigners, the homeless, or people in barracks of military and para-military forces, orphanages, rescue homes, ashram, and vagrant houses.

Kind of data

Census/enumeration data [cen]

Sampling procedure

MICRODATA SOURCE: National Sample Survey Organization, Government of India

SAMPLE DESIGN: Two-stage, stratified samples drawn by the country, coupled with rotation sampling scheme for the central sample. (1) Stage 1: In the central sample, 10,384 first stage units (rural and urban combined) were selected from stratified states in proportion to poluation. Among them, 3,900 of which were revisted. (2) Stage 2: households and enterprises were selected from second-stage strata(hamlet-groups or sub-blocks) by circular systematic sampling with equal probability. (3) Under the rotation sampling scheme which was adopted for the first time in the National Sample Survey, 50% of the sample first stage units in the central sample were revisited in the subsequent three-month period. In state samples, the first stage units were only visited once.

SAMPLE UNIT: Household

SAMPLE FRACTION: .07%

SAMPLE SIZE (person records): 596,688

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

A single form that consists of 8 sections: 1) identification of sample household, 2) household characteristics, 3) demographic and migration particulars, 4) usual principal activity, 5) subsidiary activity, 6) current work activity during the preceding week, 5) follow-up questions for the unemployed, 6) availability for work to working persons, 7) job change of working persons, and 8) questions for females.

Response rate

COVERAGE: 100% of the Indian Union excepting (1) Ladakh and Kargil districts of Jammu and Kashmir, (2) interior villages of Nagaland situated beyond 5 kms. of a bus route, and (3) villages of Andaman and Nicobar Islands remaining inaccessible throughout the year. Also excluded were all the uninhabited villages according to 1991 census.