| Country | Compulsory military training in schools from: | Optional school programme towards obligatory military service from: | Admission to military training establishments from: | Volunteers legally accepted for training from: | become fully incorporated in active units | Performance of military service optional from: | Registration for obligatory military service | Call-up for obligatory military service | Liability until: | Reserve duties until: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laos | 17? | 18? | 26 | |||||||
| Lebanon | 17 | 18 | 18 | 30 | ||||||
| Lesotho | 18 | |||||||||
| Libya | 16 | 18 | 35 | |||||||
| Lithuania | 18 | 16 | 19 | 26 | 35 | |||||
| Luxembourg | 17 | |||||||||
| Macedonia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of | 18 | 17 | 19 | 27 | 55 | |||||
| Malaysia | 17 | 17 | ||||||||
| Maldives | 16 | |||||||||
| Malta | 17.5 | |||||||||
| Mauretania | 16 | 17 | 18 | |||||||
| Mexico | nk | 15 | 16 | 17/18 | 18/19 | 40 | ||||
| Moldova | 17 | 16 | 18 | 27 | ||||||
| Mongolia | 18 | 19 | 25 | |||||||
| Morocco | 18 | 20 | ||||||||
| Mozambique | 18 | 18 | 20 | |||||||
| Namibia | 18 | |||||||||
| Nepal | 15 | 18 | ||||||||
| Netherlands | 17 | 17 | 18 | 45 | ||||||
| New Zealand | 17 | |||||||||
| Nicaragua | 17 | |||||||||
| Norway | 18 | 18/19 | 30 | 43/44 | ||||||
| Oman | to 30 | 18 | ||||||||
| Qatar | 18 | |||||||||
| Pakistan | 16 | 18 | ||||||||
| Papua New Guinea | 16 | |||||||||
| Paraguay | nk | 17 | 18 | 50 | ||||||
| Peru | 18 | 17 | ||||||||
| Philippines | 17 | to 29 | 18 | 25 | ||||||
| Poland | 17 | 18 | 28 | 50 | ||||||
| Portugal | <18 | 18 | ||||||||
| Romania | 15 | 20 | 35 | 50 | ||||||
| Russian Federation | 16 | 16/17 | 18 | 27 | 50 | |||||
| Sao Tome | 17 | 18 | ||||||||
| Senegal | 18 | 20 | ||||||||
| Serbia- Montenegro | 16? | 16/17 | 17/18 | 35 | 60 | |||||
| Singapore | 16.5 | 16 | 18 |
General Explanations
- S obligatory military service referred to currently suspended
- nk precise age not known
- 16/17 format used when the legislation refers to a calendar year of the seventeenth birthday or in similar circumstances.
- <18 specific rules (usually of parental permission) apply the age stated without their being an explicitly stated minimum age
- ? evidence unclear or ambiguous