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The army of which country – Cuba or Mauritania – is stronger?

Which country - Cuba or Mauritania - 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 Cuba and Mauritania in 2025.

 Indicator   Cuba   Mauritania 
 The country’s population size   10,94 million people   5,32 million people 
 The number of citizens who are potentially fit for military service   4 737 000 people   1 182 000 people 
 The number of citizens who yearly reach military service age   143 000 people   80 700 people 
 The army size   45 500 people   31 540 people 

ТThus, Cuba leaves behind Mauritania by the number of soldiers in the service and 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, Cuba with its GDP of 137 billion dollars (which was calculated by purchasing power parity) surpasses Mauritania with its GDP of 37,4 billion dollars in times.

Cuba and Mauritania send 3,29 % and 0,7 % of GDP to the military expenses, respectively. As a result, the military budget of Cuba is 4.51 billion dollars and of Mauritania is 0.261 billion dollars.

Hence, the military expenses of Cuba are times higher than in Mauritania.

The comparison of armament     up

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

 The types of armament   Cuba   Mauritania 
 Planes   31   24 
 Military helicopters   13   4 
 Tanks   113   25 
 Towered artillery   130   75 

The comparison by the combat power index    up

While contrasting the armed forces of Cuba and Mauritania 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:

Cuba - 67 position in the world according to the combat power index 1.3286;

Mauritania - 123 position in the world according to the combat power index 2.7977;

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

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





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