Weekend Trivia: What Do The Following 148 Countries Have In Common?

As published on their website, the United States Department of Defense currently has 285,000 active military personnel in 147 foreign countries around the world. These troops are deployed on 702 military bases outside the US.

Including the US, these 148 countries represent 77% of the total worldwide number (193) of countries as recognized by the UN.

The data is slightly dated, but the DoD military personnel list is from 09/30/06 and the DoD base list is from FY2003. (Note: In true government form, the DoD server with the military personnel is down on Sunday night)

I ONLY HAVE ONE QUESTION: How can the United States military be in 147 other countries, but only have 10 free trade agreements? See the 08/08/07 post for further discussion of FTAs.

FYI: Thanks for the answers that were submitted, but my son was the only one who had the correct answer as we had discussed the issue several weeks ago.



List of Countries:
Europe: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Stovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom.

Former Soviet Union: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.

East Asia and Pacific: Australia, Burma, Cambodia, China, Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam.

North Africa, Near East and South Asia: Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Diego Garcia, Egypt, India, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudia Arabia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen.

Sub-Saharan Africa: Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Cote D'Ivoire, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ehtiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, St. Helena, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Western Hemisphere: Antigua, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guantanamo, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, United States, Uruguay, Venezeula.