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The army of which country – Bahrain or Madagascar – is stronger?

Which country - Bahrain or Madagascar - is military stronger? As it’s known, the basic components, which form the army strength and the state’s defense capability, are a) people b) money c) weapon. Let’s address each aspect.

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The armies’ comparison by the size

The army size directly depends on the country’s population and its mobilization potential. In the table below there is the information about human resources, mobilization potential and armed forces size of Bahrain and Madagascar in 2025.

 Indicator   Bahrain   Madagascar 
 The country’s population size   1643,3 thousand people   32,74 million people 
 The number of citizens who are potentially fit for military service    721 000 people   7 952 000 people 
 The number of citizens who yearly reach military service age   17 100 people   547 000 people 
 The army size   18400 people   13 500 people 

Thus, Bahrain surpasses Madagascar in the number of soldiers in service but it’s inferior by its mobilization potential.

Let’s note that the above mentioned data show only the quantitative characteristics without taking into account the professional level of military personnel and the quality (basic skills, physical condition, etc.) of the mobilized and conscripts.

It’s more difficult to estimate such parameters as motivation, combat spirit and soldier’s steadfastness, the ability and wish to perform their duties up to the end.

The comparison of military budgets    up

The military financing greatly depends on the country’s wealth – the stronger the economy is developed, the more finance can be allocated for the military expenses. As for the economy size, Bahrain with its GDP of 107 billion dollars (which was calculated by purchasing power parity) surpasses Madagascar with its GDP of 60,2 billion dollars in times.

Bahrain and Madagascar send 1,5 % and 0,19 % of GDP to the military expenses, respectively. As a result, the military budget of Bahrain is 1.6 billion dollars and of Madagascar is 0.112 billion dollars.

Hence, the military expenses of Bahrain are times higher than in Madagascar.

The comparison of armament     up

In the table below there is the information about some types of armament which are at the disposal of Bahrain and Madagascar (we account the total amount of weapons in 2025, without considering modifications, the year of release and departmental affiliation):

 The types of armament   Bahrain   Madagascar 
 Planes   132   5 
 Military helicopters   80   5 
 Tanks   150   6 
 Towered artillery   26   9 

The comparison by the combat power index    up

While contrasting the armed forces of Bahrain and Madagascar one can orient on military strength ranking from GlobalFirepower (GFP). The GFP experts have analyzed more than 60 different factors which affect the defense ability of different countries and the effectiveness of their armed forces. As a result, they have calculated the combat power index. The lower it is, the stronger in the military sense the country is.

As of 2024, the countries under consideration take the following positions in GlobalFirepower rating:

Bahrain - 81 position in the world according to the combat power index 1.7448;

Madagascar - 130 position in the world according to the combat power index 3.0609;

Thus, according to the GlobalFirepower, the more combat-ready are the armed forces of Bahrain.

Do you want to compare other countries? Fill them in the proper gaps and chose the criteria for comparison:





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