Azerbaijan Military - 2022

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Military and security forces

Azerbaijan Armed Forces: Land Forces (Combined Arms Army), Air Forces, Navy Forces; Ministry of Internal Affairs: State Border Service (includes Coast Guard), Internal Security Troops (2022)

Military expenditures

5.2% of GDP (2021 est.)

5.4% of GDP (2020 est.)

3.8% of GDP (2019 est.) (approximately $3.4 billion)

3.6% of GDP (2018 est.) (approximately $3.2 billion)

3.8% of GDP (2017 est.) (approximately $3.26 billion)

Military and security service personnel strengths

information varies; approximately 65,000 active armed forces (55,000 Army; 2,000 Navy; 8,000 Air Force); approximately 15,000 Ministry of Internal Affairs troops (2022)

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

the military's inventory is comprised mostly of Russian and Soviet-era weapons systems with a small mix of equipment from other countries, including Israel and Turkey (2022)

Military service age and obligation

18-35 years of age for compulsory military service for men; 17-35 years of age for voluntary service for men and women (2022)

note: as of 2018, women made up an estimated 3% of the active duty military

Military - note

since November 2020, Russia has deployed about 2,000 peacekeeping troops to the area in and around Nagorno-Karabakh as part of a cease-fire agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan; fighting erupted between the two countries over the Nagorno-Karabakh region in September of 2020; Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan but has been under control of ethnic Armenian forces (the "Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army") backed by Armenia since a separatist war there ended in 1994; six weeks of fighting resulted in about 6,500 deaths and ended after Armenia ceded swaths of Nagorno-Karabakh territory; tensions remained high in 2022, and both sides have accused the other of provocations since the fighting ended; Armenia has accused Azerbaijani forces of a series of border intrusions and of seizing pockets of territory

NOTE: The information regarding Azerbaijan on this page is re-published from the 2022 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Azerbaijan 2022 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Azerbaijan 2022 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.