Top 10 Hardest Countries to Conquer

Nations have always wanted more land. There have been weak countries that were taken over in 38 minutes, but some countries are big, strong, and can't be conquered without the attacker's nation being conquered instead.

As for any commander in chief who wants to try their military against these countries, good luck. It will be hard, if not impossible. Of course, these countries can all theoretically be conquered, but it's not always a great idea to commit your entire military to it.

1. United States

   

   The United States of America, or the U.S.A. for short, is a federal republic composed of 50 states. Forty-eight of them are contiguous states. The other two, Alaska and Hawaii, are located to the northwest and south of the contiguous states, respectively. The United States declared its independence from... read more

   The United States of America is often the subject of ridicule from other developed nations. Take Pink Guy's "White Is Right" or Europeans and Australians criticizing the US government for its controversial lack of gun control.

   But when there is a crazy dictator or another country is about to get conquered, the US Army comes in. A lot of US taxpayers' money winds up in this country's military.

   The US also has the first national park in the world. In total, they have more than 400, each one vastly different from the others. With a large land area comes geographical diversity, which is often annoying for invaders.

   With people power, land area, and more gun power than people power, the USA really fits perfectly on a list like this.

2. China

   

   China, officially the People's Republic of China, is a country in East Asia. It is the world's second-most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion people. China spans five geographical time zones and shares land borders with 14 countries, second only to Russia in the number of neighboring... read more

   Some countries like Australia have a lot of land area but not so many inhabitants. Others, like Bangladesh, lack land area, but they have the people power. China is one country that has both. They have more than 10 percent of the world's population and are the 4th largest in physical area.

   Furthermore, with one of the largest economies in the world and industrial prowess, China is not an easy target.

   Tibet is the main reason China is hard to invade, but even without Tibet, China is no easy target. This is mostly due to how strong China's military is and how large China's economy is.

3. Russia

   

   Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world by area, covering 17,098,246 square kilometres (6,601,667 sq mi) and encompassing about one-eighth of Earth's inhabited land area.... read more

   One of Napoleon's and Hitler's biggest mistakes was trying to take over Russia. Russia is currently the biggest country in the world by land area, and they have a ton of petroleum power like Saudi Arabia. Even if you try to go for Russia during summer, the Russians can hold off and easily fight back during winter when the temperatures are around -20 degrees Celsius, which only the Russians are prepared for.

   Napoleon and Hitler shouldn't have tried taking over Russia. They are the largest country in the world. Oh, and Siberia, especially in winter. Even if you try going for Russia in summer or even spring, Russia's strong military can still hold until winter when the temperatures are about -20 degrees Celsius.

4. Canada

   

   Canada is a country in North America that borders the United States, and it is the second-largest country in the world by area (9.985 million km²). The country has 10 provinces and 3 territories. Canada became a dominion on July 1, 1867.... read more

   Another one of these big countries is Canada, but they have another defense mechanism. Canada is surrounded by ocean, but the safest way to get at Canada is through the southern parts of the coast. However, Canada is friends with the United States, and the USA is known for its strong military and often intervenes in international conflicts.

   Canada, like North Korea, is essentially like facing two countries instead of one.

   Canada is the second-largest country, and with the USA allied with them, it is not going to be easy to invade them. What makes Canada even harder to invade is that their northern part is basically a North American Siberia.

5. India

   

   India, officially known as the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area and the most populous country in the world, with over 1.4 billion people. It's also the world's most populous democracy.... read more

   This one is not quite as obvious as some of the other countries on the list, but it's pretty much Afghanistan in the west and Brazil in the east. India is a physically diverse nation, with many different environments, and a dense population, which means it has a big military.

   And don't try taking the south of India because the coast is always full of submarines.

   The only really easy way to invade a civilization in India is to do it by sea. You can't really use paratroopers unless you drop them from a helicopter, and invading it by land is no small feat due to it basically being Arizona in the west and Brazil in the east. And doing it by sea now is nearly impossible due to submarines.

6. Australia

   

   Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With a land area of 7,688,287 square kilometres (2,968,464 sq mi), Australia is the largest country by area in Oceania... read more

   Australia is known for cities like Sydney, but only its coast is well-populated and taken into consideration. Australia has a desert called the Outback in the middle of the continent, which will be very challenging for enemy armies.

   Furthermore, Australia is hard to get to and will need a bigger army than navy to take over the Outback, so don't try cramming everything onto your naval ships.

   Unless you want to deal with an additional army of spiders, kangaroos, and emus, don't invade Australia. They also have a strong army just in case the emus, kangaroos, and spiders don't do the trick.

7. Afghanistan

   

   Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordered by Pakistan to the east and south, Iran to the west, Turkmenistan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, Tajikistan... read more

   Many empires have tried to conquer Afghanistan, but hardly anyone succeeded. Afghanistan is a desert surrounded by the Hindu Kush, and the US is having a hard time there. Almost every empire that tries their armies against Afghanistan ends up losing. This gives Afghanistan the potential nickname "the graveyard of empires."

8. Brazil

   

   Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At approximately 8.5 million square kilometres (3.3 million sq mi) and with more than 200 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area and one of its most populous.... read more

   You know, for a country known for parades every spring and thick, dense jungles... Yeah, good luck with the Amazon Rainforest. It is hard to navigate and has a ton of dangerous, toxic predators that most armies are not prepared for. And because it's mostly a rainforest, armies are easy targets to get flooded out.

9. Saudi Arabia

   

   Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country on the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It has a land area of about 2,150,000 km² (830,000 sq mi), making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the Arab world, and the largest in Western Asia.... read more

10. Mexico

    

    Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a federal republic located in North America. The country is situated between the U.S. and Central America, and is known for its Pacific and Gulf of Mexico beaches and its diverse landscape of mountains, deserts, and jungles. It's also home to a massive... read more

The Newcomers
11. ?

    Sweden

    

    Sweden, officially the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe.

    It borders Norway to the west and north and Finland to the east, and it is connected to Denmark in the southwest by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund. At 450,295 square kilometers (173,860 sq mi), Sweden is... read more

12. ?

    Italy

    

    Italy (Italian: Repubblica Italiana) is a sovereign state and unitary parliamentary republic in south-central Europe.

    Italy covers an area of 301,338 km². With almost 62 million inhabitants, it's the third most populous EU member state. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares... read more

The Contenders

13. Germany

    

    Germany was formally united in 1871 under the initiative of Bismarck, with King Wilhelm of Prussia as emperor. The previous Holy Roman Empire, essentially a continuation of the empire of Charlemagne (Karl der Große), was dissolved in 1806.... read more

    I could find Germany hard to invade. They once had the German Empire, and they were really strong. They could easily beat Poland in a war.

14. North Korea

    

    The Democratic People's Republic of Korea, also known as North Korea, is a country in East Asia. Its capital is Pyongyang. It is led by Kim Jong Un, who succeeded his father, Kim Jong Il, in 2011. Kim Jong Il had succeeded his father, Kim Il Sung, in 1994.... read more

    If you ever try to fight North Korea, Kim Jong Un would literally bomb you with missiles.

15. Japan

    

    Japan is an island country in East Asia in the Pacific Ocean. It lies off the eastern coast of the Asian mainland (east of China, Korea, and Russia) and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and near Taiwan in the southwest.... read more

    Invading an island is hard enough due to little supply, let alone when that island was one of the oldest civilizations and still hasn't been invaded. Heck, even the Mongols couldn't invade Japan, and all the Mongols really did was invade countries.

    And now it's even harder to invade Japan due to how good their military is.

16. Bhutan

    

    Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia at the eastern end of the Himalayas. It is bordered by China to the north and India to the south. Nepal and Bangladesh are located near Bhutan but do not share a land border with it.... read more

    Like Switzerland, they are also safe from invasion as it's pointless to conquer them.

17. France

    

    France, officially the French Republic, is a sovereign state comprising territory in Western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European part of France, called metropolitan France, extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to... read more

18. Greece

    

    Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa.

    Greece shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey... read more

19. Denmark

    

    Denmark is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the most populous and politically central constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the autonomous territories of the Faroe Islands and Greenland in the North Atlantic Ocean. European Denmark is the southernmost... read more

    Denmark looks like an easy target on the map. And I wouldn't blame you. However, Denmark controls Greenland, more than 1,000,000 square kilometers of almost no resources, and it is very hard to survive in due to its cold temperatures. Denmark better not sell it off to the United States of America, or it will lose its place on our list.

20. Nepal

    

    Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a sovereign state located in South Asia.

    It is home to the famous Gurkhas, whose name comes from the Gorkha region of Nepal. The name may be traced to the Hindu warrior-saint Guru Gorakhnath, who has a historic shrine in Gorkha District... read more

21. Vietnam

    

    Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It shares land borders with China to the north and Laos and Cambodia to the west, and it has a long coastline along the South China Sea to the east.... read more

    They have never been defeated by the US, China, Japan, or France.

22. Turkey

    

    Turkey, officially the Republic of Turkey, is a transcontinental country in Eurasia, mainly in Anatolia in Western Asia, with a smaller portion on the Balkan Peninsula in Southeast Europe. Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Greece and Bulgaria to the northwest. Georgia to the northeast. Armenia,... read more

23. Sri Lanka

    

    Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and known as Ceylon until 1972, is an island country in South Asia located southeast of India. It has a population of approximately 22 million people and covers an area of about 65,610 square kilometres. The country's legislative capital... read more

24. Pakistan

    

    Pakistan was established in 1947 and is located in South Asia. Islamabad is the capital city of Pakistan. Karachi, Lahore, and Peshawar are other major cities. Urdu and English are the official languages of Pakistan. The world's second-highest peak (K2) and ninth-highest peak (Nanga Parbat) are located... read more

25. Israel

    

    Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea. Israel shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan to the east, and Egypt to the southwest. It is... read more

    If you're surrounded by people who don't want you to exist, it's obvious that you must be as tough as possible. Not only is their army powerful in the first place, but they also have protection from the USA, so invading them is no small feat.

    They should be higher, considering you have to go through the States to even attempt your first move, in which you would fail utterly.

26. Norway

    

    Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a sovereign and unitary monarchy in Northern Europe. Its territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, along with the island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard. Oslo is the capital, and Norwegian is the official language... read more

27. Algeria

    

    Algeria is a sovereign Arab and Amazigh country located in North Africa. Algerian people speak Arabic and Tamazight, and many also speak French. Algiers is the capital and most populous city in Algeria, located in the far north of the country.... read more