Top 10 countries that are impossible to conquer
Historically, all empires either fall or morph into some other empire and then fall. We don't use the term empire to describe nation-states that much anymore. Regardless of what we call some countries, they are still able to project power outside their borders, whether globally, like the United States, or regionally, like Iran. But when it comes to having to defend their home turf, some countries are just not going to roll over for any reason. These are those countries. For this list, we looked at countries whose people, geography, sheer size, populations, and culture would never allow an invader to conquer them. But we also included smaller countries who took on great powers as the underdog and came out on top.
10-Philippines
The Philippines have been resisting invaders since Filipinos killed Ferdinand Magellan in 1521. For over 300 years, people of the Philippines resisted Spanish rule, which led to a number of insurrections, mutinies, and outright revolts against their invaders. This revolution continued until the Spanish-American War when the Americans wrested the island nation away, much to the chagrin and surprise of the Philippines. Meanwhile, the Philippines created a government anyway and immediately declared war on the United States, who would remain in the Philippines until 1913, attempting to subdue guerrillas in the jungles and outlying islands. Until, that is, Japan invaded. So, even though the actual Armed Forces of the Philippines might be a little aged and weak, anyone trying to invade and subdue the Philippines can pretty much expect the same level of resistance from the locals.
9-Japan
One of the world's oldest civilizations, Japan was able to keep its culture and history relatively intact over the centuries because mainland Japan has never successfully been invaded by an outside force. Mongol invaders were able to land on some of the Japanese islands, but after a few victories and a couple of stunning defeats, the Japanese exhausted the Mongols and they were forced to retreat back to their ships. Once Japan threw off its feudal system and unified, it became a force to be reckoned with. Japan shattered the notion that an Asian army wasn't able to defeat a Western army in a real war, soundly defeating the Russians both on land and at sea in 1905, and setting the stage for World War II. During that war, the Japanese made sure the Americans knew that any invasion of Japanese territory would cost them dearly, and they made good on that promise, mostly by fighting to the death. The United States got the message, opting to drop nuclear weapons on Japan to force a surrender rather than attempt an invasion. Even still, Japan was not a conquered country. The United States left Japan after seven years of occupation and the understanding that Communism was worse than petty fighting. Since the end of World War II, Japan's booming economy has allowed the country to meet the threats raised by Chinese power in the region, boosting military spending by $40 billion and creating the world's most technologically advanced, and fifth largest, air force, making any approach to the island that much more difficult.
8-Canada
Canada is the second largest country in terms of surface area after Russia, and equally as cold (and we all know what happened when Napoleon tried to invade Russia…but we’ll get to that later). Located at the northern fringes of the world, Canada would be quite difficult to invade, even though most of its 35 million people live close to the border with the United States. But given its size and vast expanses of wilderness, taking over all of Canada by force could be problematic for anyone. Moreover, it’s mostly surrounded by oceans, and it only shares a border with just one other nation, which is its ally and just happens to be the world’s largest superpower. Bringing in troops and holding a steady supply line would be quite difficult. From an economic standpoint, the country is also well prepared to withstand a prolonged war of attrition if need be. Its defense budget is at $14.7 billion and the country is currently producing more oil than it consumes. Canada’s best means of defense, however, is their peaceful and friendly attitude towards other nation states around the world, giving little reason for others to invade them. Not to mention that Canada is also part of NATO. Nevertheless, if anyone got any bright ideas, they would have a really tough time in invading since Canada’s military is very well equipped, trained, and supplied with cutting edge technologies. According to the Global Firepower Index, Canada is ranked as no. 22 in terms of overall military strength, but given its geographical location and geopolitical situation, the nation ranks better when it comes to an actual invasion by a foreign power. In 1974, the US declassified “War Plan Red,” a comprehensive offensive strategy against Canada devised in 1927, in case the British ever wanted to attack the US from the north.
7-Finland
Though not much about early Finnish history is known, there are a few Viking sagas that mention areas of Finland and the people who inhabit those areas. Those sagas usually involve Vikings getting murdered or falling in battle. The same goes for Norwegians, Swedes, Danes, and virtually anyone else who had their eyes set on Finland. In the intervening years, Finns allowed themselves to be dominated by Sweden and Russia. But after receiving their autonomy in 1917, Finland wasn't about to give it up. They eventually became a republic and were happy with that situation until around the time World War II began. That's when the Soviet Union invaded. The invasion of Finland didn't go well for the USSR. It lasted all of 105 days and the Winter War, as it came to be called, was the site of some of the most brutal fighting the world has ever seen. Finns were ruthless and relentless in defending their territory. For example, the Raatteentie Incident involved a 300-Finn ambush of 25,000 strong Soviet forces, and the Finns destroyed the Russians almost to the last man. The Finnish sniper Simo Hayha killed 505 Russians without losing a moment's sleep. The Winter War is also where Finnish civilians perfected and mass-produced the Molotov Cocktail. Finns showed up in whatever they had to wear with whatever weapons they could muster, men and women alike. In short, Finns are happy to kill any invader and will do it listening to heavy metal music while shouting the battle cry of, "Fire at their balls!".
6-Vietnam
Vietnam has historically been thought of as one of the most militaristic countries in the region, and for good reason. Vietnam has been kicking invaders out since the 13th century when Mongol hordes tried to move in from China. Kubali Khan's Yuan Dynasty tried three times to subdue the Vietnamese. In the last invasion, Khan sent 400 ships and 300,000 men to Vietnam, only to see every ship sunk and the army harassed by the Vietnamese all the way back to China. Vietnam maintained its independence from China for 900 years after that. In more modern times, Vietnam was first invaded by the French in force in 1858, and it took 29 years and thousands of French lives to subdue them. The Japanese invasion during WWII awakened the Vietnamese resolve toward independence, and they immediately started killing Japanese invaders, and not out of love for the French. They famously gave France the boot, invaded Laos to extend their territory, and then invaded South Vietnam. That's where the Americans came in. The American-Vietnam War didn't go so well for either side, but now Communist Vietnam's dense jungle and support from China and the Soviet Union gave the North Vietnamese the military power to match their will to keep fighting, a will which seemed never-ending, no matter which side you were on. North Vietnam was able to wait out the U.S. and reunite Vietnam, an underdog story that no one believed possible.
5-India
India has proven to be a formidable place to invade. Just ask Pakistan. To the north and east lay harsh Himalayan mountain passes, the height of which make air support difficult. Dry deserts makes up roughly half of India's northwest regions. And in the southwest, India is wet and tropical, limiting the best places to land an ocean-born invasion force, if they ever get to land, that is. Part of India's major naval strategy is to flood her territorial waters with enough submarines to sink both enemy warships and enemy landing craft while strangling sea lanes of enemy shipping. Since the British left India in 1947, they've had to deal with Pakistan on a few occasions and even went to war with China once before. Ever since, China and Pakistan have only grown closer, so India's entire defense strategy has to be predicated on the idea of fighting a war on two fronts, and they're ready for it. India has made a habit of accepting any tech or gear that helps them win that war. As such, their near-limitless manpower, religious fervor, and billion-plus population would make them a formidable opponent on any front. Also Gurkhas, they have Gurkhas, so.
4-China
Did your invading army plan on fighting one billion people? Because that is what is likely to happen invading China. The most populous country in the world now boasts over 1.3 billion people. For the uninitiated, that means they have almost the entire population of the United States plus a billion. While it's unlikely that these one billion Chinese people have their own arms, it wouldn't take long for the planned central bureaucracy to start handing out weapons to form a unified front against an invader. Meanwhile, China is as massive as the United States, with a diverse climate and diverse geographical features. It's surrounded by extreme weather and oceans on all sides, so invaders will have to be prepared for the impassable Gobi Desert and the jungles of Southeast Asia, not to mention the mountainous, snowy Himalayan regions which will make air support difficult. This is just in fighting a conventional war. The Chinese are the masters of ripping off foreign technology, so an invading army would have to assume that the country they're invading will also have all the technological prowess of the United States. And with its manpower and strong economy, they're ready to grind on for a long time.
3-Afghanistan
Despite what every successive American general would have you believe for the past 17 years, victory in Afghanistan is not just around the corner. What makes Afghanistan so difficult to capture and keep is first and foremost, the terrain. Any army an invader can't destroy could just fade away into the mountains and lick their wounds until the next fighting season came. But the most important reason no one can conquer Afghanistan is because any invader has to completely subdue the population. Put aside Taliban or Mujaheddin loyalty for a moment and imagine the life of a regular Afghan man. Their clan, their tribe, their unit, their sheikh, their ethnicity, their religion, maybe their provincial or central government all factor in. And when you do take into account their loyalties to extremist groups, you have to factor in the group, that unit, and the shadow government. That's 12 potential loyalties right there. Imagine trying to subdue 34 million of them, because you have to if you invade Afghanistan. Defeating those people in pitched battles didn't work. Just ask the British. Massacring them also didn't work, as the Soviets could tell you. And unfortunately, the American nation-building strategy isn't coming along either.
2-Russia
Russia projects power regionally, but its armed forces are not as great as Putin hypes them up to be. But if invaded, Russia's legendary toughness would really bloom, even in the middle of the freezing Russian winter. Invading Russia, as any student of history knows, is a terribly difficult thing. When Napoleon invaded in 1812, the Russian people took casualties, to be sure, but what really suffered were Russia's towns, cities, farms, and other infrastructure, all destroyed by Russians. That's right, Russians would rather destroy their own country than leave it for any invader who, by the way, would likely be fighting every single Russian, across 11 times zones. Did you catch that? There are 11 time zones in Russia, the largest country by land mass. If that wasn't bad enough, Russia also contains every single climate type there is, including a rainforest. Just like the Americans who would take up arms against any invader, the Russian and pro-Russian people living in these areas will, too. These are hardy, gun-toting, skilled hunters who have no compulsion about killing an invader, having grown up with their parents' and grandparents' stories about fighting the Great Patriotic War against the Third Reich, which included the deadliest fighting in the history of human warfare at Stalingrad, a battle the Russians won.
1-The United States of America
Any invader of the United States isn't facing just the US military. They're facing all 330 million Americans. Also, there are more weapons than people in the US, and that's just considering the guns we know about. Americans are allowed to design and build their own weapons in many states, without ever having to register. This means every American with an arsenal can recruit and train their own band of Wolverines. Even if an invader managed to take control of the civilian population, and that's a big if, they'd still have to get through the best-trained, best-equipped military in the world, recruited from the aforementioned very violently pro-America people. Then, they have to hold on to that territory without getting killed and without the locals organizing against them. Many major cities are already organized. And armed. And ready to go killing again once the war dies down a bit. Albuquerque, Houston, Oklahoma City, Detroit, Baltimore, New York City, whether the invasion moves from east to west or west to east, there are a lot of pressure points invaders need to secure before moving on. Which brings up another point, America is huge. Just going across the mighty Mississippi River without a bridge is enough to kill off a good chunk of an army while the residents of East St. Louis are using it as target practice.
So that's our list! Leave us a comment and let us know which countries you think are impossible to conquer.
