Military service
Summary of military service around the world: In this summary, 195 countries are included.

No enforced conscription: The following 107 countries and territories have been identified as having no enforced conscription:

Both compulsory and voluntary military service: The following countries and regions have been identified as having both compulsory and voluntary military service:

Selective conscription: The following 13 countries have been identified as having selective conscription:

Civilian, unarmed or non-combatant service option: The following fifteen countries have been identified as having a civilian, unarmed or non-combatant service optional alternative to compulsory military service:

Compulsory military service for both genders: 

Military service limited to 1 year or less: The following twenty countries have been identified as having compulsory military service limited to 1 year or less:

Military service limited to 18 months: The following 11 countries have been identified to having compulsory military service limited to 18 months or less:

Military service longer than 18 months: The following 26 countries have been identified as having compulsory military service terms longer than 18 months:

No defense force: The following 19 countries have been identified as having no defense forces or as having no standing army but having very limited military forces:

* Countries having no standing army, but having very limited military forces.

Countries without mandatory military service: Compulsory military service has declined considerably since 1970. A 2016 study finds "that the probability of a shorter military service time is positively associated with smaller country populations, smaller lagged army sizes, increases in primary schooling among young males, and having common law legal origins."

Albania: Albania had compulsory military service. Albania's armed forces announced an objective to create a professional army by the end of 2010.

Argentina: Argentina suspended military conscription in 1995 and replaced it with a voluntary military service, yet those already in service had to finish their time in service.
This came as a result of political and social distrust of the military, dwindling budgets which forced the military to induct fewer conscripts every year, the experience of the 1982 Falklands War which proved the superiority of professional servicemen over conscripts and a series of conscription-related brutality scandals which came to a head with the murder of Private Omar Carrasco at an Army base in 1994, following a brutal disciplinary action.
Military conscription has not been abolished; the Mandatory Military Service Law is still in the books and might be enforced in times of war, crisis or national emergency.
Conscription was known in Argentina as la colimba. The word colimba is a composite word made from the initial syllables of the verbs correr (to run), limpiar (to clean) and barrer (to sweep), as it was perceived that all a conscript did during service was running, cleaning and sweeping. Conscripts themselves were known and referred to as "colimbas".

Australia: Voluntary service in the Boer War (1899–1902) was initially from a number of the separate colonies before federation in 1901 and later volunteers were deployed as an Australian force. Two conscription referendums were defeated during World War I. Military service during WW1 was voluntary (First Australian Imperial Force) as was service in WW2 (Second Australian Imperial Force). Volunteer militia units (part-time civilian soldiers) were to be used only within the Commonwealth of Australia (such as in the Great Emu War in 1932) but in 1942 some militia units were deployed to Papua New Guinea, as it was considered part of Australia at that time, to fight the advancing and later withdrawing Japanese invasion army. Various levels of conscription (National Service) were in force during the 1950s but only for service in Australia during times of conflicts but the (Vietnam War) saw NS deployed to war with over 500 killed in action and thousands wounded in action with about half of the casualties being NS. The Vietnam War was lost on 1 May 1975 over three years after the Australian Defence Force withdrew in late 1971. All forms of conscription were abolished by the Whitlam government in later 1972. Conscription can be reactivated at any time should war break out; first upon mere declaration by the Governor General, followed by final approval 90 days later as a retrospective action by parliament. The defense act of 1903 clearly states this.

Barbados: Barbados has no conscription. The country has set the minimum age for voluntary recruitment into the Barbados Defence Force at 18. Younger recruits may be conscripted with parental consent.

Belgium: Belgium suspended conscription on 31 December 1992 by amending the 1962 Law on Conscription, which became applicable only to conscripts drafted in 1993 and earlier. In practice this meant that the law no longer applied to those born in 1975 and later. Since 1 March 1995 the Belgian armed forces consist of professional volunteers only.

Belize: Belize has set minimum age for voluntary recruitment into the Armed Forces at 18. (According to the Section 16 of the Defense Act of the Defence Ordinance of 1977.) Conscription has never been prescribed in the Defense Act, but is at the Governor General's discretion.

Bosnia and Herzegovina: Bosnia and Herzegovina abolished compulsory military service as of 1 January 2006.

Bulgaria: Bulgaria abolished compulsory military service. The last conscripts were sent home on 25 November 2007.
Previously there was mandatory military service for male citizens from 18 to 27 years of age. Duration of the service depended on the degree of education. For citizens studying for or holding a bachelor's degree or higher the service was six months, and for citizens with no higher education it was nine months.
The duration of service was two years in 1992, and was dropping steadily, until it was finally abolished.

Canada: Compulsory service in a sedentary militia was practiced in Canada as early as 1669. In peacetime, compulsory service was typically limited to attending an annual muster, although they were mobilized for longer periods during war. Compulsory service in the sedentary militia continued until the late 19th century when Canada's sedentary Reserve Militia system fell into disuse. The legislative provision that formally made every male inhabitant of military age a member of the Reserve Militia was removed in 1904, replaced with provisions that made them theoretically "liable to serve in the militia". 
Conscription into a full-time military service had only been instituted twice by the government of Canada, during both world wars. Conscription into the Canadian Expeditionary Force was practiced in the last year of the First World War in 1918. During the Second World War, conscription for home defence was introduced in 1940 and for overseas service in 1944. Conscription has not been practiced in Canada since the end of the Second World War in 1945.

Chile: All Chilean men between 17 and 24 years are eligible for military service. Since 2005, military service is voluntary and then mandatory if quotas necessary for the armed forces are not completed. The General Directorate of National Mobilization (In Spanish: Dirección General de Movilización Nacional, or DGMN) is responsible for the recruitment of volunteers and conscripts. Since 1992, according to the Law 19.992, due to the creation of the Corporación Nacional de Reparación y Reconciliación, sons and certain other relatives of victims of human rights violations and/or political violence, during Pinochet's dictatorship, are extempt of the military service draft, that was compulsory at that time. In 2009, with the Law 20.405, more victims were recognised by the Republic of Chile and the exemption of relatives was also amended

China: At present, military conscription only exists in theory and has done so since the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949. Universal military conscription has never been enforced.
Every Chinese citizen pursuing further education is required to train by military instructor for a fixed amount of time (around 2 weeks).
Conscription is enshrined in Article 55 of the Constitution, which states: "It is a sacred duty of every citizen of the People's Republic of China to defend his or her motherland and resist invasion. It is an honored Obligation of the citizens of the People's Republic of China to perform military service and to join the militia forces".
As of 1998, the legal basis of conscription was stated to be the 1984 Military Service Law, which describes military service as a duty for "all citizens without distinction of race (...) and religious creed". This law has not been amended since it came into effect. Military service is normally performed in the regular armed forces but the 1984 law does allow for conscription into the reserve forces in times of national emergency.
Citizens of the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau, as of 1997 and 1999, respectively, are not permitted to join the Chinese military; however, the defence of these two regions are protected by the Chinese military.

Costa Rica: Costa Rica abolished its military in 1948. See Military of Costa Rica.

Croatia: On 3 October 2007, the government proposed to the parliament of the Republic of Croatia a decision to suspend all compulsory military service. This was supported by President Stjepan Mesić, and after a vote in the parliament on 5 October 2007, the decision became official.