Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in

littoral zone The littoral zone or nearshore is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal ecology, the littoral zone includes the intertidal zone extending from the high water mark (which is rarely inundated), to coastal ...

s in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (reflecting the pressed nature of the ship's company and the risk of

mutiny Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people (typically of a military, of a crew or of a crew of pirates) to oppose, change, or overthrow an organization to which they were previously loyal. The term is commonly used for a rebellion among memb ...

), the

boarding Boarding may refer to: *Boarding, used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals as in a: ** Boarding house **Boarding school *Boarding (horses) (also known as a livery yard, livery stable, or boarding stable), is a stable where ho ...

of vessels during combat or capture of prize ships, and providing manpower for raiding ashore in support of the naval objectives. In most countries, the marines are an integral part of that state's

navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

. The exact term "marine" does not exist in many languages other than English. In French-speaking countries, two terms exist which could be translated as "marine", but do not translate exactly: and ; similar pseudo-translations exist elsewhere, e.g. in Portuguese (). The word ''marine'' means "navy" in many European languages such as Dutch, French, German, Italian and Norwegian.

History

In the earliest day of

naval warfare Naval warfare is combat in and on the sea, the ocean, or any other battlespace involving a major body of water such as a large lake or wide river. Mankind has fought battles on the sea for more than 3,000 years. Even in the interior of large la ...

, there was little distinction between

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

s and

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a Conscription, conscripted or volunteer Enlisted rank, enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an Officer (armed forces), officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' deri ...

s on a

warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster ...

. The oarsmen of

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...

and

Ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–50 ...

ships had to be capable of fighting the rowers of opposing ships hand-to-hand; though

hoplite Hoplites ( ) ( grc, ὁπλίτης : hoplítēs) were citizen-soldiers of Ancient Greek city-states who were primarily armed with spears and shields. Hoplite soldiers used the phalanx formation to be effective in war with fewer soldiers. The ...

s began appearing on Greek ships specifically for the boarding of enemy ships. The

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...

was the first to understand the importance of professional soldiers dedicated to melee combat onboard of ships. During the

First Punic War The First Punic War (264–241 BC) was the first of Punic Wars, three wars fought between Roman Republic, Rome and Ancient Carthage, Carthage, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the early 3rd century BC. For 23 years ...

, Roman crews remained inferior in naval experience to the Carthaginians and could not hope to match them in naval tactics, which required great fleet maneuverability and tactical experience. The Romans therefore employed a novel weapon which changed sea warfare to their advantage — they equipped their ships with the '' corvus'', a long pivoting plank with a beak-like spike on the underside for hooking onto enemy ships, possibly developed earlier by the

Syracusan Syracuse ( ; it, Siracusa ; scn, Sarausa ), ; grc-att, Συράκουσαι, Syrákousai, ; grc-dor, Συράκοσαι, Syrā́kosai, ; grc-x-medieval, Συρακοῦσαι, Syrakoûsai, ; el, label=Modern Greek, Συρακούσε� ...

s against the

Athenian Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...

s during the

Sicilian Expedition The Sicilian Expedition was an Athenian military expedition to Sicily, which took place from 415–413 BC during the Peloponnesian War between Athens on one side and Sparta, Syracuse and Corinth on the other. The expedition ended in a de ...

of the

Peloponnesian War The Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC) was an ancient Greek war fought between Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Greek world. The war remained undecided for a long time until the decisive intervention of ...

. Using it as a boarding bridge, Roman infantrymen were able to invade an enemy ship, transforming sea combat into a version of land combat, where the Roman legionaries had the upper hand.Goldsworthy (2003), p. 38 During the early Principate, a ship's crew, regardless of its size, was organized as a . Crewmen could sign on as naval infantry (called ), rowers/seamen, craftsmen and various other jobs, though all personnel serving in the imperial fleet were classed as ("soldiers"), regardless of their function; only when differentiation with the army was required, were the adjectives or added. The

Roman Navy The naval forces of the ancient Roman state ( la, Classis, lit=fleet) were instrumental in the Roman conquest of the Mediterranean Basin, but it never enjoyed the prestige of the Roman legions. Throughout their history, the Romans remained a prim ...

's two fleet legions, I ''Adiutrix'' and II ''Adiutrix'', were among the first distinct naval infantry units. The first organized marine corps was created in Venice by the Doge Enrico Dandolo when he created the first regiment of ten companies spread on several ships. That Corps participated to the conquest of

Byzantium Byzantium () or Byzantion ( grc, Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium' ...

(1203-1204), later officially called "Fanti da Mar" (sea infantry) in 1550. Later also the Spanish king,

Carlos I Carlos I may refer to: *Carlos I of Spain (1500–1558), also Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire *Carlos I of Portugal ''Dom'' Carlos I (; English: King Charles of Portugal; 28 September 1863 – 1 February 1908), known as the Diplomat ( pt, ...

, assigned the naval infantry of the (

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...

Sea Old Companies) to the Escuadras de Galeras del Mediterráneo (

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

Galley A galley is a type of ship that is propelled mainly by oars. The galley is characterized by its long, slender hull, shallow draft, and low freeboard (clearance between sea and gunwale). Virtually all types of galleys had sails that could be u ...

Squadrons) in 1537, progenitors of the current

Spanish Navy Marines The Spanish Naval Infantry ( es, Infantería de Marina) is the naval infantry unit of the Spanish Navy () responsible for conducting amphibious warfare by utilizing naval platforms and resources. The Marine Corps is fully integrated into the A ...

(Infantería de Marina) corps, making them the oldest marine corps still in active service in the world.

Etymology

The English noun ''marine'' is from the adjective ''marine'', meaning "of the sea", via

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

("of the sea") from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

("of the sea") itself from mare ("sea"), from Proto-Indo-European ''*móri'' ("body of water, lake") (cognate with Old English ''mere'' ("sea, lake"), Dutch , German , all from Proto-Germanic ''*mari''). The word ''marine'' was originally used for the marine-type forces of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

; however, in many European languages the word ''marine'' or ''marina'' means "navy" – for example, in Dutch, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Danish, and Norwegian. Because of this use of "marine" to mean "navy", exact one-word translations for the English term "Marines" do not exist in many other languages, which can lead to misunderstandings when translating, with the notable exception of the Dutch word . Typically, marine forces in non-English speaking countries have names that translate in English to ''naval infantry'' or ''coastal infantry''. In French-speaking countries, two phrases exist which could be translated as marine, "" and ""; similar phrases exist elsewhere, e.g., in Portuguese .

Roles

Amphibious assault, RIMPAC 2014 140729-N-QG393-070

The principal role of marine troops is military operations in the

; operating from ships they are trained to land on and secure key points to around 85 km (or 50 miles) inland, or as far as ship borne logistics can provide. Marine units primarily deploy from warships using

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on i ...

landing craft Landing craft are small and medium seagoing watercraft, such as boats and barges, used to convey a landing force (infantry and vehicles) from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The term excludes landing ships, which are larger. ...

hovercraft A hovercraft, also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and other surfaces. Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the hull, or air cushion, ...

amphibious vehicle An amphibious vehicle (or simply amphibian), is a vehicle that is a means of transport viable on land as well as on or under water. Amphibious vehicles include amphibious Amphibious cycle, bicycles, Amphibious ATV, ATVs, Amphibious automobile, ca ...

s or

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribu ...

s. Specialist units are also trained in combat diving/combat swimming and parachuting. As well as amphibious operations, marine troops are used in a variety of other, naval roles. Stationed at naval bases or forming marine detachments on board naval ships, they also conduct small scale raiding, maritime boarding operations, security of naval vessels and bases,

riverine A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

and coastal missions, mess duty, and field day operations. In addition to their primary roles, they perform other tasks, including special operations and

land warfare Land warfare or ground warfare is the process of military operations eventuating in combat that takes place predominantly on the battlespace land surface of the planet. Land warfare is categorized by the use of large numbers of combat personne ...

, separate from naval operations; ceremonial duties and miscellaneous other tasks as directed by governments.

By country

Algeria

The Marine Fusilier Regiments are the marine infantry regiments of the Algerian Navy and they are specialised in

amphibious warfare Amphibious warfare is a type of offensive military operation that today uses naval ships to project ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore at a designated landing beach. Through history the operations were conducted ...

. The RFM have about 7000 soldiers in their ranks. Established in 1985.

Argentina

The

Argentine Marine Corps The Naval Infantry Command ( es, Comando de la Infantería de Marina, COIM), also known as the Naval Infantry of the Navy of the Argentine Republic ( es, Infantería de Marina de la Armada de la República Argentina, IMARA) and generally referred ...

( or IMARA) is a part of the

Argentine Navy The Argentine Navy (ARA; es, Armada de la República Argentina). This forms the basis for the navy's ship prefix "ARA". is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with th ...

. Argentine marines have the same rank insignia and titles as the rest of the navy. The Argentine Marine Corps dates from 1827 when a single infantry battalion was raised. This was expanded in 1880 but seven years later the corps was merged with the existing coast artillery, to form a Naval Artillery Regiment. A series of reorganizations followed until responsibility for coastal defense was passed to the Argentine Army in 1898. Between 1935 and 1938 the marines reappeared in the form of five battalions of Marine Infantry, serving both on board ship and in coastal defense fortifications. In 1968 the Infanteria de Marina was reorganized as a separate corps within the Navy.

Australia

The marine and naval infantry designations are not, officially, applied to

Australian Defence Force The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of the Commonwealth of Australia and its national interests. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Fo ...

units, although some

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (CA), who ...

units specialise in amphibious warfare, including 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment which retrained in an amphibious light infantry role from 2012.

Bahamas

The Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) is the navy of The Bahamas. Since the Bahamas does not have an army or an air force, its navy composes the entirety of its armed forces. The RBDF Commando Squadron is a sizable force of 500 Special Marine Commandos.

Bangladesh

The Special warfare Driving and Salvage (

SWADS The Special Warfare Diving and Salvage ( bn, স্পেশাল ওয়ারফেয়ার ডাইভিং অ্যান্ড স্যালভেজ) or SWADS is an elite special operational unit of the Bangladesh Navy. Memb ...

) is special operations force of the

Bangladesh Navy The Bangladesh Navy ( bn, বাংলাদেশ নৌবাহিনী, Bangladesh Nou Bahini) is the naval warfare branch of the Bangladesh Armed Forces, responsible for Bangladesh's of maritime territorial area, and the defence of impor ...

. SWADS is trained for the role of naval infantry and it consists of elite soldiers specially chosen form the national armed forces branches. They receive special training in United States, South Korea and Turke

https://www.militaryfactory.com/special-forces/bangladeshi-swads-special-forces-weapons.asp]

Bolivia

The Bolivian Naval Force#Marine Corps, Bolivian Naval Force includes about 2,000 naval infantry personnel and marines. These are organized into seven small battalions.

Brazil

The Corps of Naval Fusiliers () is subordinate to the

Brazilian Navy ) , colors= Blue and white , colors_label= Colors , march= " Cisne Branco" ( en, "White Swan") (same name as training ship '' Cisne Branco'' , mascot= , equipment= 1 multipurpose aircraft carrier7 submarines6 frigates2 corvettes4 amphibio ...

. The marine corps is composed of an operational brigade and some guard and ceremonial duty battalions. The main unit is the brigade-sized (Amphibious Division). Officers´ ranks and titles are the same as for the rest of the Navy.

Cambodia

During the 1970-75

Cambodian Civil War The Cambodian Civil War ( km, សង្គ្រាមស៊ីវិលកម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ) was a civil war in Cambodia fought between the forces of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (known as the Khmer Rouge, supported by North Vi ...

the Cambodian Marine Corps were active, but were effectively disbanded by the end of the

Cambodian–Vietnamese War The Cambodian–Vietnamese War ( km, សង្គ្រាមកម្ពុជា-វៀតណាម, vi, Chiến tranh Campuchia–Việt Nam), known in Vietnam as the Counter-offensive on the Southwestern border ( vi, Chiến dịch Phản ...

. The

Royal Cambodian Navy The Royal Cambodian Navy ( km, កងទ័ពជើងទឹក, ) is the naval warfare service branch of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces and one of the three uniformed services of the Kingdom of Cambodia. It has an estimated of 4,000 acti ...

created a force of 2,000

marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refl ...

in 2007.

Canada

Canada had a history of participating in amphibious operations such as the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

and the

Allied invasion of Sicily The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis powers ( Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany). It b ...

. Even though Canada does not have a marine corps, it has units that can carry out Marines-type operations, such as: an amphibious-operations trained company of the 3rd Battalion of the

Royal 22nd Regiment , colors = Scarlet with blue facings (full dress and mess dress) , march = Quick: ''Vive la Canadienne''Slow: ''Marche lente du Royal 22e Régiment: La Prière en famille'' , mascot ...

JTF2 Joint Task Force 2 (JTF 2; french: links=no, Deuxième Force opérationnelle interarmées, FOI 2) is an elite special operations force of the Canadian Armed Forces, serving under the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command. JTF 2 is known to wo ...

that specializes in combat diving and

amphibious reconnaissance Amphibious reconnaissance is ground and naval reconnaissance in the littoral area bordering coastal or ocean areas. Initially, it is used for preliminary reconnaissance in collecting pertinent information about the beachhead in its permeabilit ...

, the Naval Tactical Operations Group that specializes in maritime interdiction, and the

Naval Security Team The Naval Security Team (NST; ; ) is a deployable and self-sustained Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) force protection unit established in 2016 tasked to augment the Canadian naval fleet's existing force protection assets in expeditionary or domestic env ...

that can provide

force protection Force protection (FP) refers to the concept of protecting military personnel, family members, civilians, facilities, equipment and operations from threats or hazards in order to preserve operational effectiveness and contribute to mission succes ...

for amphibious forces.

Chile

The 4,200 strong

Chilean Marine Corps The Chilean Marine Corps ( es, Cuerpo de Infantería de Marina, CIM) is an entity of the Chilean Navy special forces which specializes in amphibious assaults. History The Marine Corps was born with the establishment of the first armed forces ...

is a branch of the

Chilean Navy The Chilean Navy ( es, Armada de Chile) is the naval warfare service branch of the Chilean Armed Forces. It is under the Ministry of National Defense. Its headquarters are at Edificio Armada de Chile, Valparaiso. History Origins and the War ...

. Specialized in amphibious assaults, the corps is built around four detachments based along Chile's long coasts at Viña del Mar, Talcahuano, Punta Arenas and Iquique. There are also a number of independent companies and platoons, for security protection at naval bases, other shore installations and the Ministry of Defense. The Viña del Mar and Talcahuano detachments contribute to the Amphibious Expeditionary Brigade (Brigada Anfibia Expedicionaria). There is as a group of Marine Infantry commandos (Grupo de Comandos IM), which together with the group of naval tactical divers (Agrupación de Buzos Tácticos) are part of the Navy's Special Operations Command (Comando de Operaciones Especiales).

China (PRC)

Multinational VBSS Exercise at RIMPAC 160714-N-MV764-001

The People's Liberation Army Navy Marine Corps (PLANMC) is a service branch of the PRC navy, and is therefore under the command of the PLAN Headquarters. The PLANMC are divided into six brigades. The majority of the PLAMC's personnel is based in the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Ph ...

Colombia

The Colombian Marine Corps is a part of the

Colombian Navy ) , colors= , march= ''"Viva Colombia, soy marinero"'' , mascot= , battles= Battle of Lake Maracaibo Thousand Days War (Civil war) Colombia-Peru War World War II Korean War Colombian Armed Conflict Operation Atalanta , notable_commanders= José ...

. The modern Marine Corps dates from the establishment of two rifle companies in 1936. While remaining a small force the corps saw service during the civil war between Conservatives and Liberals of 1946–58; and provided volunteers for service in the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top:{ ...

. By the 1960s it had been expanded to a battalion of marine infantry plus five independent companies.

Croatia

Croatian Navy , image = Seal of Croatian Navy.png , caption = Emblem of the Croatian Navy , start_date = 1991 , country = , allegiance = , branch = , type = Navy , role = , size = 1,36330 vessels , command_structure = Armed Forces of Croatia , gar ...

formed naval infantry companies during the

Croatian War of Independence The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)—and the Serb-controlled Yug ...

(1991-5), esp. on islands ( Hvar: Zvir Company,

Korčula Korčula (, it, Curzola) is a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea. It has an area of , is long and on average wide, and lies just off the Dalmatian coast. Its 15,522 inhabitants (2011) make it the second most populous Adriatic island after ...

: Mixed Detachment etc.) and one in

Pula Pula (; also known as Pola, it, Pola , hu, Pòla, Venetian; ''Pola''; Istriot: ''Puola'', Slovene: ''Pulj'') is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, and the seventh-largest city in the country, situated at the southern tip of the I ...

(Vanga Company, saw action in relieving

Siege of Dubrovnik The siege of Dubrovnik ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, opsada Dubrovnika, опсада Дубровника) was a military engagement fought between the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) and Croatian forces defending the city of Dubrovnik and its surroundings dur ...

and in Operation Maslenica). As they were all dissolved during 2000s, a new naval infantry company, ~160-strong () was formed again in 2018 as a part of the Navy Flotilla and is located in Ploče.

Cuba

The

Cuban Revolutionary Navy The Cuban Revolutionary Navy ( es, Marina de Guerra Revolucionaria) is the navy of Cuba. History The Constitutional Navy of Cuba was the navy of Cuba that existed prior to 1959. During World War II, it sank the German submarine ''U-176'' on 15 ...

( or MGR) maintains a small marine battalion called the Desembarco de Granma.

Denmark

The

Guard Hussar Regiment The Guard Hussar Regiment ( da, Gardehusarregimentet, GHR) is a cavalry unit of the Royal Danish Army, whose primary task is to train the Guard Hussars for various functions in the mobilisation force. The Guard Hussar Regiment is one of two acti ...

( or GHR) maintains a marine squadron based in Almegårds Kaserne on the Baltic island

Bornholm Bornholm () is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of the rest of Denmark, south of Sweden, northeast of Germany and north of Poland. Strategically located, Bornholm has been fought over for centuries. It has usually been ruled by ...

. The squadron is a part of the 3rd Light Reconnaissance Battalion and trains

conscripts Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day und ...

Ecuador

The 5,000-man

Ecuadorian Navy The Ecuadorian Navy ( es, Armada del Ecuador) is an Ecuadorian entity responsible for the surveillance and protection of national maritime territory and has a personnel of 9,127 men to protect a coastline of 2,237 km which reaches far into t ...

maintains a 1,700-man

Naval Infantry Corps The Naval Infantry Corps ( es, Cuerpo de Infantería de Marina) are the naval infantry and amphibious infantry force of the Mexican Navy. The main task of the ''Infantería de Marina'' is to guarantee the maritime security of the country's port ...

() headquartered in

Guayaquil , motto = Por Guayaquil Independiente en, For Independent Guayaquil , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Ecuador#South America , pushpin_re ...

. Formed on 12 November 1962, it is organised into two security battalions, one in the Amazon River area and the other on the Pacific coast. There is also a commando battalion based on the

Galápagos Islands The Galápagos Islands ( Spanish: , , ) are an archipelago of volcanic islands. They are distributed on each side of the equator in the Pacific Ocean, surrounding the centre of the Western Hemisphere, and are part of the Republic of Ecuad ...

Egypt

The 111th Independent Mechanized Brigade (formerly the 130th Marine Amphibious Brigade) of the Egyptian Army can conduct amphibious assault operations. There is also the 153rd Commando Group with three Marine Commandos Battalions (515th, 616th, 818th) controlling 12 Marine Commandos Companies.

El Salvador

The El Salvador Navy included two 600-man Marine Infantry Battalions ( or BIM), and a 300-man Naval Commando Force. The BIMs were located at La Unión and

Usulután Usulután () is the fifth largest city in El Salvador, and capital of the Usulután Department in the south-east of El Salvador. As of 2006, it is estimated to have population of 71,636 people. Usulután rests in a rich agricultural valley and ...

. The Salvadoran Marine Corps uses green pixelated and green woodland uniforms.

Finland

The Finnish Uusimaa Brigade () in Ekenäs is the home of the Finnish Marines — the (in Swedish) / (in Finnish) / or "Coastal Jaegers" (in English). The Brigade is part of the

Finnish Navy The Finnish Navy ( fi, Merivoimat, sv, Marinen) is one of the branches of the Finnish Defence Forces. The navy employs 2,300 people and about 4,300 conscripts are trained each year. Finnish Navy vessels are given the ship prefix "FNS", short f ...

, and the only Swedish-speaking unit within the

Finnish Defence Forces The Finnish Defence Forces ( fi, Puolustusvoimat, sv, Försvarsmakten) are the military of Finland. The Finnish Defence Forces consist of the Finnish Army, the Finnish Navy and the Finnish Air Force. In wartime the Finnish Border Guard (whic ...

France

The (Naval Fusiliers) and (Naval Commandos) are naval personnel. The protect vessels and installations, provide the navy with military training, augment boarding-landing parties and support operations of the Commandos Marine. The (Naval Commandos) are a seven company Commando formation whose roots can be traced to the Second World War. The Commandos Marine have evolved to be broadly comparable to the British Special Boat Service, with whom they exchange officers. ("Marine Troops"), are a branch of the

French Army History Early history The first permanent army, paid with regular wages, instead of feudal levies, was established under Charles VII of France, Charles VII in the 1420 to 1430s. The Kings of France needed reliable troops during and after the ...

, renamed from the Troupes Coloniales who served in France's overseas territories to maintain or expand French interests. The modern Troupes de Marine have units permanently based in Africa, in addition they man bases in the French Overseas Territories. They now provide the ground combat elements of French amphibious task forces and are specifically trained for that purpose. The 9th Marine Brigade (9^e Brigade Légère Blindée de Marine (9 BLBMa)) is twinned with the

3 Commando Brigade 3 Commando Brigade (3 Cdo Bde), previously called the 3rd Special Service Brigade, is a commando formation of the British Armed Forces. It is composed of the Royal Marine Commandos, alongside commando qualified sailors, soldiers and airmen from ...

of the

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious warfare, amphibious light infantry and also one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighti ...

, organising the exchange of officers and sharing training and exercises.

Germany

BST GOLF uebt während des Transit ins Einsatzgebiet

The Sea Battalion () is a land formation of the German Navy. It was formed in Eckernförde on 1 April 2014, succeeding the Naval Protection Force.

Greece

The Greek 32nd Marine Brigade "Moravas" and the Amphibious Raider Squadrons (known as MAK) of the

13th Special Operations Command The 13th Special Operations Command "Sacred Band" ( el, 13η Διοίκηση Ειδικών Επιχειρήσεων «ΙΕΡΟΣ ΛΟΧΟΣ», 13 ΔΕΕ) was an umbrella unit of the Hellenic Army's special operation forces. History The 13th S ...

are amphibious infantry and maritime operations units maintained by the

Hellenic Army The Hellenic Army ( el, Ελληνικός Στρατός, Ellinikós Stratós, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece. The term ''Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is th ...

and supported by the

Hellenic Navy The Hellenic Navy (HN; el, Πολεμικό Ναυτικό, Polemikó Naftikó, War Navy, abbreviated ΠΝ) is the naval force of Greece, part of the Hellenic Armed Forces. The modern Greek navy historically hails from the naval forces of var ...

Honduras

The Honduran Navy established at least one 600-man marine infantry battalion ( or BIM) in 1982.

India

The

Indian Army The Indian Army is the Land warfare, land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Arm ...

has amphibious units under the Jodhpur-based corps. The MARCOS are the special forces of Indian Navy similar to the US Navy Seals.

Indonesia

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

, the main

force and

naval infantry Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refl ...

of the

Indonesian National Armed Forces , founded = as the ('People's Security Forces') , current_form = , disbanded = , branches = , headquarters = Cilangkap, Jakarta , website = , commander-in-chief = Joko Widodo , ...

is the Indonesian Marine Corps of the

Indonesian Navy The Indonesian Navy ( id, Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Laut, , Indonesian National Military-Naval Force, TNI-AL) is the naval branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It was founded on 10 September 1945 and has a role to patrol ...

. The Marine commandant reports to the Chief of Staff of the Indonesian Navy.

Iran

Since the

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...

in 1979, the number of marines in the

Islamic Republic of Iran Navy , ''Daryādelān''"Seahearts" , patron = , motto = fa, راه ما، راه حسین است, ''Rāh-e ma, rāh-e hoseyn ast''"''Our Path, Is Hussain's Path''" , colors = ...

(IRIN) has expanded to 2,600 personnel, in two marine brigades, each composed of three battalions. Their mission is to provide security throughout the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channe ...

and free waters, as well as securing routes for Iranian ships in the

Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden ( ar, خليج عدن, so, Gacanka Cadmeed 𐒅𐒖𐒐𐒕𐒌 𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒗𐒒) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Chann ...

. The

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

of the

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC; fa, سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی, Sepāh-e Pāsdārān-e Enghelāb-e Eslāmi, lit=Army of Guardians of the Islamic Revolution also Sepāh or Pasdaran for short) is a branch o ...

(IRGCN) maintains several units which may perform marine-type functions. It also has a Takavar naval commando battalion, called Sepah Navy Special Force (SNSF). They are tasked with providing security in the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bo ...

and

Strait of Hormuz The Strait of Hormuz ( fa, تنگه هرمز ''Tangeh-ye Hormoz'' ar, مَضيق هُرمُز ''Maḍīq Hurmuz'') is a strait between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. It provides the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the o ...

, as well as conducting anti-piracy missions to assist Iranian ships.

Iraq

The Iraqi Navy is a small force with 1,500 sailors and 800 marines designed to protect the shoreline and inland waterways from insurgent infiltration. The navy will have coastal patrol squadrons, assault boat squadrons and a marine battalion.The New Iraqi Security Forces, Article on MNF-I website, 20 April 2006
The force will consist of 2,000 to 2,500 sailors by 2010.

Israel

Upon its revival in the 1980s the

Givati Brigade The 84th "Givati" Brigade ( he, חֲטִיבַת גִּבְעָתִי, , "Hill Brigade" or "Highland Brigade") is an Israel Defense Forces infantry brigade. Until 2005, the Brigade used to be stationed within the Gaza Strip and primarily perf ...

was intended to serve as the amphibious infantry brigade of the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

, but this was not put into effect. Currently the 35th

Paratroopers Brigade The 35th Brigade ( he, חֲטִיבַת הַצַּנְחָנִים, ''Hativat HaTzanhanim''), also known as the Paratroopers Brigade, is an infantry brigade unit of paratroopers within the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and forms a major part of ...

is the only brigade that has amphibious abilities as part of its Depth Warfare arsenal together with parachuting and air assault.

Italy

The San Marco Marine Brigade is the marine infantry unit of the Italian Navy (). It traces its roots back to 1550 with the formation of in the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia ...

. The Serenissima Regiment is the amphibious infantry unit of the

Italian Army "The safeguard of the republic shall be the supreme law" , colors = , colors_labels = , march = ''Parata d'Eroi'' ("Heroes's parade") by Francesco Pellegrino, ''4 Maggio'' (May 4) ...

(). Its soldiers are called and they are the Italian Army Marines.

Japan

Japan Ground Self-Defense Force The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force ( ja, 陸上自衛隊, Rikujō Jieitai), , also referred to as the Japanese Army, is the land warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Created on July 1, 1954, it is the largest of the three service b ...

Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade The is a marine unit of the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) responsible for conducting amphibious operations. The ARDB is based at Camp Ainoura in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture. History In light of tensions over the Senkaku Islands and the d ...

– Japanese marines tasked with offensive amphibious assault to retake islands.

Korea, South

The Republic of Korea Marine Corps is the marine corps of

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. It was founded as a reconnaissance force just prior to the start of the

. The ROKMC has seen action in several major conflicts. Though theoretically it is under the direction of the

Chief of Naval Operations The chief of naval operations (CNO) is the professional head of the United States Navy. The position is a statutory office () held by an admiral who is a military adviser and deputy to the secretary of the Navy. In a separate capacity as a memb ...

for all practical purposes it operates as an independent branch of the military.

Korea, North

The

Korean People's Army The Korean People's Army (KPA; ) is the military force of North Korea and the armed wing of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). Under the '' Songun'' policy, it is the central institution of North Korean society. Currently, WPK General S ...

Light Infantry Training Guidance Bureau Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 te ...

has two or more amphibious light infantry/sniper brigades. These brigades are believed deployed to

Wonsan Wŏnsan (), previously known as Wŏnsanjin (), Port Lazarev, and Genzan (), is a port city and naval base located in Kangwŏn Province, North Korea, along the eastern side of the Korean Peninsula, on the Sea of Japan and the provincial capital. ...

on the east coast and Namp'o and Tasa-ri on the west coast. In organization and manpower, they are reduced versions of the regular light infantry brigades with a total strength of approximately 5,000 men organized into ten battalions. Each battalion has about 400 men organized into five companies each. Some amphibious brigade personnel are trained as frogmen.

Lebanon

Lebanon maintains an elite but very small in number " Navy Commando" regiment. Trained internationally and armed with mostly American and French made equipment and weaponry.

Maldives

The

Maldives National Defence Force , image = Emblem of the Maldives National Defence Force.svg , alt = Emblem of the Defence Force , caption = Maldives National Defence Force emblem , image2 = Flag of the Maldives National Defe ...

maintains a frontline ground combat force known as the MNDF Marine Corps. It is divided into Marine Deployment Units (MDUs) which acts as the force projection element MNDF. The MNDF Marine Corps, as a naval unit, works closely with the Coast Guard of the country.

Mexico

The Mexican Naval Infantry ( Spanish: ) of the

Mexican Navy The Mexican Navy is one of the two independent armed forces of Mexico. The actual naval forces are called the ''Armada de México''. The ''Secretaría de Marina'' (''SEMAR'') (English: Naval Secretariat) includes both the ''Armada'' itself and ...

is responsible for port security, protection of the ten-kilometer coastal fringe, and patrolling major waterways. The marines have light arms, heavy weapons and armored amphibious vehicles. The Navy ceded most of its riverine responsibilities to the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

, reducing the size of the marine force, and deploying them back aboard ships where they play a vital role in drug interdiction and boarding of suspect vessels in territorial waters.

Morocco

The Royal Moroccan Marines are a naval infantry force subordinated to the

Royal Moroccan Navy ber, ⴰⴷⵡⴰⵙ ⴰⴳⴻⵍⴷⴰⵏ ⵏ ⵢⵉⵍⴻⵍ , image = , caption = Royal Moroccan Navy Seal , start_date = active since: 11th century current form: 30 Apr ...

trained in landing missions and sabotage. The force is between 1,500 and 2,000 troops strong, organized in three battalion-strength units. Among its roles are guarding the southern coast against infiltration by

Polisario Front The Polisario Front, Frente Polisario, Frelisario or simply Polisario, from the Spanish abbreviation of (Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro), (in ar, rtl=yes, الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير الس� ...

guerrillas.

Myanmar

The Myanmar Navy raised a naval infantry battalion of 800 men in 1964, followed by a second battalion in 1967. Two more battalions may have also been raised. They were deployed mainly to the Arakan and Tenasserim areas, and to the Irrawaddy delta, to assist in counter-insurgency operations, but also performed other security duties.

Namibia

Namibian Marine Corps is a battalion-sized infantry unit of the Namibian Navy under the command of a naval captain. Its officers and men are part of the navy and use naval ranks though insignia is adopted from

Brazilian Marine Corps ) , colors=Red and white , colors_label=Colors , march= , mascot= , battles =Portuguese conquest of French Guiana, Invasion of Cayenne (1809)Portuguese conquest of the Banda Oriental, Banda Oriental Conquest (1816)War of Independence of Brazil, Wa ...

, The Corps is primarily formed up of a Rapid Reaction Unit, Operation Dive team, Operational boat team and a

Special Operations Special operations (S.O.) are military activities conducted, according to NATO, by "specially designated, organized, selected, trained, and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment". Special operations may include ...

Commando Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin">40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured A commando is a combatant, or operativ ...

Unit.

Netherlands

The

Royal Netherlands Navy The Royal Netherlands Navy ( nl, Koninklijke Marine, links=no) is the naval force of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. During the 17th century, the navy of the Dutch Republic (1581–1795) was one of the most powerful naval forces in the world an ...

naval infantry unit is the

Netherlands Marine Corps The Netherlands Marine Corps ( nl, Korps Mariniers) is the elite naval infantry corps of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The marines trace their origins back to the establishment of the on 10 December 1665, by the then grand pensionary of the D ...

(), founded in 1665 as an infantry regiment to the Dutch Navy. They saw their first amphibious action in 1667 raiding the English coast during the

Raid on the Medway The Raid on the Medway, during the Second Anglo-Dutch War in June 1667, was a successful attack conducted by the Dutch navy on English warships laid up in the fleet anchorages off Chatham Dockyard and Gillingham in the county of Kent. At t ...

. Their Latin motto is Qua Patet Orbis ("As Far as the World Extends"). Today, it is a brigade approximately 2300 marines strong, consisting of two marine infantry battalions (plus one infantry company which is stationed in

Aruba Aruba ( , , ), officially the Country of Aruba ( nl, Land Aruba; pap, Pais Aruba) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands physically located in the mid-south of the Caribbean Sea, about north of the Venezuela peninsula of P ...

), one amphibious combat support battalion and one logistical battalion. Dutch Marines train in all possible geographical and climate conditions for their role. Enlisted marine recruit training lasts 33 weeks, and marine officers train up to 18 months (including naval academy time). It has its own Special Forces branch known as Netherlands Maritime Special Operations Forces (NLMARSOF).

Norway

The Coastal Ranger Command ( or KJK) of the

Norwegian Navy The Royal Norwegian Navy ( no, Sjøforsvaret, , Sea defence) is the branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces responsible for naval operations of Norway. , the Royal Norwegian Navy consists of approximately 3,700 personnel (9,450 in mobilized state, 3 ...

is an amphibious infantry unit trained to operate in littoral combat theatres, as naval infantry and coastal artillery. There is also an SBS type naval commando unit, the .

Pakistan

The Pakistan Marines division of the

Pakistan Navy ur, ہمارے لیے اللّٰہ کافی ہے اور وہ بہترین کارساز ہے۔ English: Allah is Sufficient for us - and what an excellent (reliable) Trustee (of affairs) is He!(''Qur'an, 3:173'') , type ...

was re-established on April 14, 1990, with about 3,600 men. The marines are based at PNS Qasim naval base.

Paraguay

The Paraguayan Marine Corps () is a battalion-sized organization consisting of four company sized brigades. In limited cadre form the Marine Corps dates from the late 19th century, although it only achieved significant existence when the three-battalion sized was created in the final stages of the

Chaco War The Chaco War ( es, link=no, Guerra del Chaco, gn, Cháko ÑorairõPeruvian Naval Infantry () consists of around 3,000 naval infantrymen and includes an amphibious brigade of three battalions and local security units with two transport ships, four tank landing ships, and about forty Chaimite armored personnel carriers. Since 1982, IMAP detachments have been deployed, under army command, in counter-insurgency operations.

Philippines

The

Philippine Marine Corps The Philippine Marine Corps (PMC) ( fil, Hukbong Kawal Pandagat ng Pilipinas) is the marine corps of the Philippines, a naval infantry force under the command of the Philippine Navy. The PMC conducts amphibious, expeditionary, and special op ...

(PMC) () is the marine corps of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, it is a naval infantry force under the command of the

Philippine Navy The Philippine Navy (PN) ( tgl, Hukbong Dagat ng Pilipinas, , Sea Army of the Philippines) ( es, Armada de Filipinas, , Ejército del Mar de las Filipinas) is the naval warfare service branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. It has an ...

. PMC primarily conducts amphibious and expeditionary warfare, as well as special operation missions. It has a strength of about 9,500 men organized into three maneuver brigades, a Combat Service and Support Brigade (CSSB), and independent units such as the

Marine Special Operations Group The Marine Special Operations Group (also known as the Force Reconnaissance Group), formerly known as the Force Recon Battalion, is the Philippine Marine Corps' elite special forces unit for unconventional warfare and special operations. It spe ...

(MARSOG) and the Marine Security and Escort Group (MSEG). Formed on November 7, 1950, the

is considered the first and foremost unit to be involved in any amphibious or seaborne clashes.

Poland

The Polish Navy maintains several naval infantry units responsible for port and coastal security. The

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 62,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history stre ...

maintains the 7th Coastal Defense Brigade, which bears traditions of the disbanded 7th Coastal Defence Division (the Blue Berets), therefore it is sometimes referred to as the Marines of Poland. there are no plans by the Polish Army to create an active marine unit. Therefore, the 7th Brigade carries out only limited-scale exercises of amphibious assaults.

Portugal

The third oldest marine corps in the world was founded as the in 1618. The

Portuguese Navy The Portuguese Navy ( pt, Marinha Portuguesa, also known as ''Marinha de Guerra Portuguesa'' or as ''Armada Portuguesa'') is the naval branch of the Portuguese Armed Forces which, in cooperation and integrated with the other branches of the Port ...

still maintains this Elite Naval Infantry , which is currently known as the . The Corpo de Fuzileiros, meaning literally "Corps of Fusiliers,” are an Elite Infantry and Special Forces unit of the Portuguese Navy.

Romania

The 307th Marine Battalion () is the

light infantry Light infantry refers to certain types of lightly equipped infantry throughout history. They have a more mobile or fluid function than other types of infantry, such as heavy infantry or line infantry. Historically, light infantry often foug ...

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops ( skirmishe ...

unit of the Romanian Naval Forces. It is located in

Babadag Babadag (; tr, Babadağ, "Father Mountain"), formerly known as Babatag, is a town in Tulcea County, Romania, located on a small lake formed by the river Taița, in the densely wooded highlands of Northern Dobruja. One of the several tom ...

Tulcea County Tulcea County () is a county ( județ) of Romania, in the historical region Dobruja, with the capital city at Tulcea. It includes in its northeast corner the large and thinly-populated estuary of the Danube. Demographics In 2011, Tulcea Co ...

, and was formed in the mid-1970s for the defence of the

Danube Delta The Danube Delta ( ro, Delta Dunării, ; uk, Дельта Дунаю, Deľta Dunaju, ) is the second largest river delta in Europe, after the Volga Delta, and is the best preserved on the continent. The greater part of the Danube Delta lies in Ro ...

and Romanian

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

shore.

Russia

The Russian Naval Infantry () are the amphibious forces of the

Russian Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (, ), commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military forces of Russia. In terms of active-duty personnel, they are the world's fifth-largest military force, with at least two m ...

. The Russian Navy also has the Russian commando frogmen, an elite unit for underwater reconnaissance and special operations.

Saudi Arabia

The

Royal Saudi Navy The Royal Saudi Navy ( ar, البَحْريَّة الْمَلكيَّة السُّعُودِيَّة, Al-Quwwat al-Bahriyah al-Arabiyah as-Su'udiyah) or Royal Saudi Naval Forces ( ar, القُوَّات البَحْريَّة الْمَلك� ...

maintains two, 1,500-man marine brigades consisting of three battalions each. The brigades are assigned to the Western Fleet headquartered in Jeddah and the Eastern Fleet headquartered in Jubail.

South Africa

South Africa has not had a dedicated marine branch of its military since the

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

era. A close analogue would be the

South African Navy The South African Navy (SA Navy) is the naval warfare branch of the South African National Defence Force. The Navy is primarily engaged in maintaining a conventional military deterrent, participating in counter-piracy operations, fishery pro ...

Maritime Reaction Squadron The Maritime Reaction Squadron (MRS) is a specialised marine-like unit of the South African Navy that provides a combat ready amphibious, diving and small boat capability to the Navy. Formed as the Naval Rapid Deployment Force (NRDF) in 2005, th ...

, a marine-type unit of four companies. Members are marines and use naval ranks. They are trained in infantry combat up to company sized operations. They are also used for crowd control and conduct peacekeeping operations. During peacekeeping operations they are meant to augment an army infantry battalion. Their role is very similar to the now disbanded

South Africa Marine Corps South Africa currently does not have a Marines, marine corps, though in the past it did. It was originally set up as a sub-branch of the South African Navy during the apartheid era, with the primary purpose of protecting the country's harbours ( ...

from the

era. The

4 Special Forces Regiment 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

of the

South African Special Forces The South African Special Forces Brigade, colloquially known as the Recces, is South Africa's principal special operations unit, specialising in various types of operations including; counter-insurgency, long-range-reconnaissance, unconventi ...

provides

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

its seaward Special Forces capability.

Spain

The

() are the oldest existing marine force in the world, as they were established on February 27, 1537, by

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

when he permanently assigned the (Naples Sea Old Companies) to the (Mediterranean Galley Squadrons). Their red trouser stripes mark the as part of the Royal Household Corps, and were given by

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person ...

to the marines in reward for their fierce defence of the

Castillo del Morro The Castillo de San Pedro de la Roca (also known by the less formal title of Castillo del Morro or as San Pedro de la Roca Castle) is a fortress on the coast of the Cuban city of Santiago de Cuba. About 6 miles (10 km) southwest of the ...

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...

in 1762.

Sri Lanka

The Sri Lanka Navy established its Sri Lanka Marine Corps in November 2016 and the first group of members were assisted in training by the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit of the United States Marine Corps. The unit became functional after the first group of members consisting of 6 officers and 158 sailors graduated from training on the 27th of February, 2017.

Sweden

The Swedish Amphibious Corps () is an arm of the

Swedish Navy The Swedish Navy ( sv, Svenska marinen) is the naval branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet () – as well as marine units, the Amphibious Corps (). In Swedish, vessels ...

. The Corps consists of two regiments each comprising one amphibious battalion, tasked with reconnaissance, amphibious assaults and combat on, over and under the surface of the sea.

Syria

The Fouj Al-Mughawayr Al-Bahir ( meaning "Marines Regiment") is a unit based in Latakia Governorate. It has participated in operations in the Syrian Civil War.

Taiwan (ROC)

With the size of about 9,000 personnel, the

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...

ese (Republic of China) Marine Corps is responsible for amphibious combat, counter-landing, and reinforcement of

and surrounding islands (such as

Kinmen Kinmen, alternatively known as Quemoy, is a group of islands governed as a county by the Republic of China (Taiwan), off the southeastern coast of mainland China. It lies roughly east of the city of Xiamen in Fujian, from which it is separat ...

, Wuchiu,

Matsu Islands The Matsu Islands ( or , ; Foochow Romanized: Mā-cū liĕk-dō̤), officially Lienchiang County (, ; Foochow Romanized: Lièng-gŏng-gâing), are an archipelago of 36 islands and islets in the East China Sea governed by the Republic of China ( ...

, and Pratas Island, etc.), defense of Naval facilities, and also functions as a rapid reaction force (special service company) and a strategic reserve.

Thailand

Royal Thai Marine Corps The Royal Thai Marine Corps or RTMC ( th, ราชนาวิกโยธินแห่งราชอาณาจักรไทย) are the marines of the Royal Thai Navy. The Royal Thai Marine Corps was founded in 1932, when the first batt ...

(RTMC) is the

sub-branch of the Royal Thai Navy.The Royal Thai Marine Corps was founded in 1932, when the first battalion was formed with the assistance of the United States Marine Corps. It was expanded to a regiment in 1940 and was in action against communist guerrillas throughout the 1950s and 1960s. During the 1960s the United States Marine Corps assisted in its expansion into a brigade. The Royal Thai Marine Corps saw action on the Malaysian border in the 1970s, and has now been increased to four brigades.

Tonga

The Royal Tongan Marines is a sub-unit of the Tongan Maritime Force, which itself is a branch of the Tonga Defence Services. It is a single battalion-sized group composed of a Headquarters Company and three Light Infantry Companies.

Turkey

The Amphibious Marine Infantry Brigade Command is the marine force of the Turkish Naval Forces and consists of 4,500 men based in Foça near İzmir.

Ukraine

The Ukrainian Marines was founded in 1993 from a unit of the former Soviet Naval Infantry. It serves as a coastal defense force of the Ukrainian Navy. Also known by its official name, the "Ukrainian Naval Infantry", the sub-branch of the Navy is based in

Mykolaiv Mykolaiv ( uk, Миколаїв, ) is a city and municipality in Southern Ukraine, the administrative center of the Mykolaiv Oblast. Mykolaiv city, which provides Ukraine with access to the Black Sea, is the location of the most downriver brid ...

United Kingdom

Boarding Procedures demonstrated by the British Royal Marines

The

(RM) were formed in 1664 and are part of HM Naval Service. They include an amphibious brigade (which includes commando-trained units and individual personnel from the British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force), a naval security unit responsible for guarding the UK's naval nuclear weapons and other security duties, a landing craft and boat-training group which is also a parent unit for three landing craft units deployed on amphibious warfare ships; and a naval musical branch. The RM has close international ties with allied marine forces, particularly the United States Marine Corps and the Netherlands Marine Corps/Korps Mariniers. "Marine" is also used as a rank in the Royal Marines, being equivalent to an army

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

. The Royal Marines Reserve (RMR) is the volunteer reserve force used to augment the regular Royal Marines in times of war or national crisis.

United States

The

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through c ...

(USMC) is currently the only marine

combined-arms Combined arms is an approach to warfare that seeks to integrate different combat arms of a military to achieve mutually complementary effects (for example by using infantry and armour in an urban environment in which each supports the other) ...

force in the world. Created in 1775, it was originally intended only to guard naval vessels during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. The USMC is a component part of the

US Department of the Navy The United States Department of the Navy (DoN) is one of the three military departments within the Department of Defense of the United States of America. It was established by an Act of Congress on 30 April 1798, at the urging of Secretary o ...

in the military command structure, with its own representative on the

Joint Chiefs of Staff The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, that advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and the ...

. The Corps’ major functions include: seizure or defense of advanced naval bases and land operations essential to a naval campaign, providing detachments and organizations for service on armed vessels of the Navy and security detachments for the protection of naval property at naval stations and bases, and such other duties as the President may direct and develop those phases of amphibious operations that pertain to the tactics, technique, and equipment used by landing forces. It also has other missions, including providing personnel as security guards at US diplomatic missions, and providing helicopter transportation for the President of the United States aboard

Marine One Marine One is the call sign of any United States Marine Corps aircraft carrying the president of the United States. It usually denotes a helicopter operated by Marine Helicopter Squadron One (HMX-1) "Nighthawks", consisting of either the large ...

. The

United States Marine Corps Reserve The Marine Forces Reserve (MARFORRES or MFR), also known as the United States Marine Corps Reserve (USMCR) and the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Reserve, is the reserve force of the United States Marine Corps. It is the largest command, by assigned p ...

(USMCR) is the reserve force of the United States Marine Corps.

Uruguay

The Uruguayan Marine Corps ( or FUSNA) is a battalion-sized organization. However, given its small size, it's not a separate corps within the Navy, but regular naval officers are posted to the Marines as to any other Navy unit.

Venezuela

The Venezuelan Marine Corps () is a sub-division of the

Venezuelan Navy ) , mascot = , battles = Venezuelan War of Independence and the Battle of Lake Maracaibo , anniversaries = July 24, Birthday of Simon Bolivar, Navy Day and Battle of Lake Maracaibo A ...

. Headquartered in Meseta de Mamo, Vargas, the estimated numerical strength of this unit is approximately 8,000 men and women. Its mission is to "enlist and direct its units in order to form the disembarking force and/or support of amphibious or special operations; executing naval safeguarding and environmental policing, as well as actively participating in the national development".

Vietnam

The

Vietnam People's Navy The Vietnam People's Navy (VPN; vi, Hải quân nhân dân Việt Nam), or the Naval Service (), also known as the Vietnamese People's Navy or simply Vietnam/Vietnamese Navy (), is the naval branch of the Vietnam People's Army and is responsi ...

maintains a

force. It once stood at eleven brigades each of several battalions. Currently the Vietnam People's Navy maintains two naval infantry brigades.

Historical marine forces

Ancient Greece

The ancient Greek states did not possess specialized marine infantry; instead, they used

s and archers as an onboard contingent ().

Ancient Rome

The

used regular infantry as marines. Naval personnel were trained for raiding and also provided the troops for at least two legions ( I ''Adiutrix'' and II ''Adiutrix'') for service on land. The various provincial fleets were usually provided with marines from the adjacent legions.

Australia

Several of the Colonial navies of Australia raised volunteer naval infantry and naval militia brigades in the second half of the 19th century. Following the

Federation of Australia The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia (which also governed what is now the Northern Territory), and Western ...

they were combined into the Commonwealth Naval Militia. With the formation of the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister o ...

in 1911 they were renamed the Royal Australian Naval Brigade. At its peak in 1915 it numbered 2,817 officers and men. The Naval Brigade was disbanded in 1920 and volunteers were absorbed into the

Royal Australian Naval Reserve The Royal Australian Naval Reserve (RANR) is the volunteer reserve force of the Royal Australian Navy in Australia. The current Royal Australian Naval Reserve was formed in June 1973 by merging the former RANR (Seagoing) and the Royal Australi ...

Austrian/Austro-Hungarian Empire

Though overshadowed by its Prussian counterpart, the Marinier-Korps as well as naval powers like the British, the French, the Spanish, and the Italians, Austria-Hungary maintained a small regiment of naval infantrymen dating back to Venetian times alongside the then Austrian Imperial Navy's “Corps of Sailors” (). However, in 1868, as part of his naval reforms, then Commander Wilhelm von Tegetthoff abolished the Naval Infantry Regiment and the Naval Artillery Corps in favor of an enlarged and all-encompassing as no marines had served aboard a ship for 10 years, and so from that point on sailors not serving on active warships received infantry drills & took up naval infantry duties.

Byzantine Empire

For several centuries, the

Byzantine navy The Byzantine navy was the naval force of the East Roman or Byzantine Empire. Like the empire it served, it was a direct continuation from its Imperial Roman predecessor, but played a far greater role in the defence and survival of the state than ...

used the descendants of the Mardaites, who were settled in southern

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

and

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', 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 wi ...

, as marines and rowers for its ships. Emperor

Basil I Basil I, called the Macedonian ( el, Βασίλειος ὁ Μακεδών, ''Basíleios ō Makedṓn'', 811 – 29 August 886), was a Byzantine Emperor who reigned from 867 to 886. Born a lowly peasant in the theme of Macedonia, he rose in the ...

also established a separate marine regiment, 4,000 strong, for the central Imperial Fleet based at

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

. These were professional troops, and were counted among the elite . In the 1260s, when emperor

Michael VIII Palaiologos Michael VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( el, Μιχαὴλ Δούκας Ἄγγελος Κομνηνὸς Παλαιολόγος, Mikhaēl Doukas Angelos Komnēnos Palaiologos; 1224 – 11 December 1282) reigned as the co-emperor of the Empire ...

rebuilt the navy, he recruited the (settlers from

Laconia Laconia or Lakonia ( el, Λακωνία, , ) is a historical and administrative region of Greece located on the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Its administrative capital is Sparta. The word '' laconic''—to speak in a blunt, c ...

) and the (men of mixed Greek-

descent) as special marine troops. Despite the progressive decline and virtual disappearance of the navy, they remained active until the late

Palaiologan period The Byzantine Empire was ruled by the Palaiologos dynasty in the period between 1261 and 1453, from the restoration of Byzantine rule to Constantinople by the usurper Michael VIII Palaiologos following its recapture from the Latin Empire, founde ...

Denmark-Norway

(The Marine Regiment) was the naval infantry of the

Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy The history of the Danish navy began with the founding of a joint Dano-Norwegian navy on 10 August 1510, when King John appointed his vassal Henrik Krummedige to become "chief captain and head of all our captains, men and servants whom we now h ...

Dutch Republic

The Corps was founded on 10 December 1665 during the

Second Anglo-Dutch War The Second Anglo-Dutch War or the Second Dutch War (4 March 1665 – 31 July 1667; nl, Tweede Engelse Oorlog "Second English War") was a conflict between England and the Dutch Republic partly for control over the seas and trade routes, whe ...

by the unofficial leader of the republic

Johan de Witt Johan de Witt (; 24 September 1625 – 20 August 1672), ''lord of Zuid- en Noord-Linschoten, Snelrewaard, Hekendorp en IJsselvere'', was a Dutch statesman and a major political figure in the Dutch Republic in the mid-17th century, the F ...

and Admiral

Michiel de Ruyter Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter (; 24 March 1607 – 29 April 1676) was a Dutch admiral. Widely celebrated and regarded as one of the most skilled admirals in history, De Ruyter is arguably most famous for his achievements with the Dutch N ...

as the Regiment de Marine. Its leader was Willem Joseph Baron van Ghent. The Dutch had successfully used ordinary soldiers in ships at sea in the First Anglo-Dutch War. It was the fifth European marine unit formed, being preceded by the Spanish Marines (1537), the Portuguese Marines (1610), the French Marines (1622) and the English Royal Marines (1664). Like Britain, the Netherlands has had several periods when its Marines were disbanded. The Netherlands itself was under French occupation or control from 1810 until 1813. A new marine unit was raised on 20 March 1801 during the time of the

Batavian Republic The Batavian Republic ( nl, Bataafse Republiek; french: République Batave) was the successor state to the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on 19 January 1795 and ended on 5 June 1806, with the accession of Louis Bon ...

and on 14 August 1806 the was raised under King Louis Bonaparte. The modern dates from 1814, receiving its current name in 1817. The battle honors on the ' colors are:

(1667), Kijkduin (1673), Sennefe (1674), Spain, Dogger Bank (1781), West Indies, Algiers (1816), Atjeh, Bali, Rotterdam (1940), Java Sea (1942), Java and Madoera (1947–1948), New Guinea (1962) and Cambodia (1992–1993).

Estonia

The , was a short-lived infantry

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions ...

of the

Estonian Navy The Estonian Navy ( et, Merevägi) are the unified naval forces among the Estonian Defence Forces. With only six commissioned ships and displacement well under 10,000 tonnes, the Estonian navy is one of the smallest navies in the world. Its sh ...

. The battalion was created in 1919 from the crews of the Estonian surface warships and was based in

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

. The unit was mainly used on the Southern Front during the

Estonian War of Independence The Estonian War of Independence ( et, Vabadussõda, literally "Freedom War"), also known as the Estonian Liberation War, was a defensive campaign of the Estonian Army and its allies, most notably the United Kingdom, against the Bolshevik westw ...

. The unit was operational from March to June in 1919.

France

The

Troupes de marine The (TDM, ) is a corps of the French Army that includes several specialities: infantry, artillery, armoured, airborne, engineering, and transmissions (Signals). Despite its name, it forms part of the Army, not the Navy. Intended for amphibi ...

were founded in 1622 (as ) as land forces under the control of the Secretary of State of the Navy, notably for operations in

French Canada French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fre ...

. The were transformed in

line infantry Line infantry was the type of infantry that composed the basis of European land armies from the late 17th century to the mid-19th century. Maurice of Nassau and Gustavus Adolphus are generally regarded as its pioneers, while Turenne and Mon ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscript ...

s by

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

, but became once more marine forces in 1822 (for the artillery) and 1831 (for the infantry). These were in the 19th century the main overseas and colonial forces of the French military. In 1900 they were put under the orders of the War Ministry and took the name of (Colonial Forces). In 1958 the designation of was changed to (Overseas Forces) but in 1961 it reverted to the original . Throughout these changes in title, these troops continued to be part of the

Gran Colombia

The Federation of

Gran Colombia Gran Colombia (, "Great Colombia"), or Greater Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia ( Spanish: ''República de Colombia''), was a state that encompassed much of northern South America and part of southern Central America from 1819 to ...

Marines were formed in 1822 and were disbanded in 1829, Personnel were mostly from Venezuela.

Germany

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

: During the German Imperial era, three ‘sea battalions’ or based at

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland ...

Wilhelmshaven Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsh ...

and Tsingtao were maintained. These units served intermittently as colonial intervention forces. The at the imperial navy's east Asian station at Tsingtao was the only all-German unit with permanent status in a protectorate/colony. The battalion fought at the

Siege of Tsingtao The siege of Tsingtao (or Tsingtau) was the attack on the German port of Tsingtao (now Qingdao) in China during World War I by Japan and the United Kingdom. The siege was waged against Imperial Germany between 27 August and 7 November 1914. T ...

. *

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...

: The

East German army The National People's Army (german: Nationale Volksarmee, ; NVA ) were the armed forces of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1956 to 1990. The NVA was organized into four branches: the (Ground Forces), the (Navy), the (Air Force) an ...

's Nr29. Regiment ("Ernst Moritz Arndt") was a Motorized Rifle Regiment intended for amphibious operations in the Baltic Sea; while the : Combat swimmer units were intended for support of amphibious operations and for raiding.

Iran

*At the time of the

in 1979, the Imperial Iranian Navy had three battalions of marines.

Iraq

*The old

Ba'athist Ba'athism, also stylized as Baathism, (; ar, البعثية ' , from ' , meaning "renaissance" or "resurrection"Hans Wehr''Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic'' (4th ed.), page 80) is an Arab nationalist ideology which promotes the creation a ...

-era Iraqi Navy maintained several marine companies. *The Iraqi Republican Guard maintained a Marine Brigade as part of its

8th As Saiqa 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

Special Forces Division. The brigade was equipped with Brazilian-made Engesa EE-11 Urutu wheeled

armored personnel carriers An armoured personnel carrier (APC) is a broad type of armoured military vehicle designed to transport personnel and equipment in combat zones. Since World War I, APCs have become a very common piece of military equipment around the world. Ac ...

Fascist Italy

The

Blackshirt The Voluntary Militia for National Security ( it, Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale, MVSN), commonly called the Blackshirts ( it, Camicie Nere, CCNN, singular: ) or (singular: ), was originally the paramilitary wing of the Nation ...

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

maintained an independent ''Marine Group'' with four MVSN battalions (24th, 25th, 50th and 60th).

Imperial Japan

Soldiers from the Un'yō attacking the Yeongjong castle on a Korean island (woodblock print, 1876)

During the feudal period, the Japanese used Ashigaru soldiers or regular Yumi archers as soldiers to protect ships from pirates. In 1873 a short-lived marine corps was added to the newly created

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

, using Britain's Royal Marines as a model. Considered unsuitable in its original form, the force was disbanded in 1878. The

's Land Forces maintained several combat units: *

Special Naval Landing Forces The Special Naval Landing Forces (SNLF; ja, 海軍特別陸戦隊, Kaigun Tokubetsu Rikusentai) were naval infantry units of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and were a part of the IJN Land Forces. They saw extensive service in the Second Sino ...

were the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent form ...

's Marine Corps. *The IJN also maintained the Guard Forces () and Defense Units (), both of whom also received

amphibious assault Amphibious warfare is a type of offensive military operation that today uses naval ships to project ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore at a designated landing beach. Through history the operations were conducted u ...

and beach defence training. However, their performance was poor or average when they were used as assault troops. *The

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emper ...

's 3,500 man Sea-Landing Brigades (1st to 4th) were used to conduct amphibious assaults on an island, but afterwards they stayed to garrison that island.

The Khmer Republic

The Cambodian Marine Corps or Corps de Fusiliers-Marins Khmères (CFMK) were the Marine Corps of the

Khmer Republic The Khmer Republic ( km, សាធារណរដ្ឋខ្មែរ, ; french: République khmère) was a pro-United States military-led republican government of Cambodia that was formally declared on 9 October 1970. The Khmer Republic wa ...

of 1970–1975 under the

Khmer National Navy The Khmer National Navy ( km, កងទ័ពជើងទឹកជាតិខ្មែរ; french: Marine nationale khmère, MNK) was the naval component of the Khmer National Armed Forces (FANK), the official military of the Khmer Republic du ...

as part of the

Khmer National Armed Forces The Khmer National Armed Forces ( km, កងកម្លាំងប្រដាប់អាវុធជាតិខ្មែរ; french: Forces armées nationales khmères, FANK) were the official armed defense forces of the Khmer Republic, a ...

. They took part in the

against the

Khmer Rouge The Khmer Rouge (; ; km, ខ្មែរក្រហម, ; ) is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) and by extension to the regime through which the CPK ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979 ...

but was dissolved along with the rest of the

when the

were defeated and capitulated to the

Ottoman Empire

The role of Ottoman naval infantry originated in

Orhan Orhan Ghazi ( ota, اورخان غازی; tr, Orhan Gazi, also spelled Orkhan, 1281 – March 1362) was the second bey of the Ottoman Beylik from 1323/4 to 1362. He was born in Söğüt, as the son of Osman I. In the early stages of hi ...

's conquest of the Karasi Beylik and the capture of its fleet. From then on,

Janissaries A Janissary ( ota, یڭیچری, yeŋiçeri, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman Sultan's household troops and the first modern standing army in Europe. The corps was most likely established under sultan Orhan ...

and

Azap Azebs, azabs or azaps ( ota, عزب, from Arabic, literally ''unmarried'', meaning ''bachelor''), also known as Asappes or Asappi, were irregular soldiers, originally made up of unmarried youths. They were conscripted among reayas and served in ...

s were sometimes deployed as marines during the 14th Century. The Deniz azaps were used during the 16th Century; while troops called Levend ( Bahriyeli) were raised on and off over the centuries – over 50,000 of them by the late 18th century. The last raised units were the ( corsair captains militia) recruited from among the North African Arabs and indigenous

Berbers , image = File:Berber_flag.svg , caption = The Berber ethnic flag , population = 36 million , region1 = Morocco , pop1 = 14 million to 18 million , region2 = Algeria , pop2 ...

. Ottoman marines were part of the Ottoman navy.

Portuguese Empire

Portugal raised numerous companies of Special Marines () and African Special Marines (), both at home and in the African colonies of

Portuguese Guinea Portuguese Guinea ( pt, Guiné), called the Overseas Province of Guinea from 1951 until 1972 and then State of Guinea from 1972 until 1974, was a West African colony of Portugal from 1588 until 10 September 1974, when it gained independence as G ...

Portuguese Angola Portuguese Angola refers to Angola during the historic period when it was a territory under Portuguese rule in southwestern Africa. In the same context, it was known until 1951 as Portuguese West Africa (officially the State of West Africa). I ...

and

Portuguese Mozambique Portuguese Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique) or Portuguese East Africa (''África Oriental Portuguesa'') were the common terms by which Mozambique was designated during the period in which it was a Portuguese colony. Portuguese Mozambique originally ...

, for service in Africa during the

Portuguese Colonial War The Portuguese Colonial War ( pt, Guerra Colonial Portuguesa), also known in Portugal as the Overseas War () or in the former colonies as the War of Liberation (), and also known as the Angolan, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambican War of Independence, ...

s. The African Special Marines were all-black units.

Russian Empire

The Imperial Russian Navy used several regiments of marine equipage troops that fought as much on land as they served in ship detachments. One battalion was formed within the Guard, and served on the Imperial family's ships.

Spain

The oldest naval infantry. Created 27 February 1537 as Tercio de Armada by Carlos I (Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor 1519–1556). Miguel de Cervantes, famous writer, was a member of naval infantry at Lepanto Battle.

Soviet Union

The Soviet Navy had a number of small battalion-sized naval infantry and coastal defence units that mostly served in the ports and bases before the Second World War. During the war, and building on the visuals of the mutinied sailors of Petrograd in 1917, the

Stavka The ''Stavka'' (Russian and Ukrainian: Ставка) is a name of the high command of the armed forces formerly in the Russian Empire, Soviet Union and currently in Ukraine. In Imperial Russia ''Stavka'' referred to the administrative staff ...

ordered formation of naval infantry brigades from surplus ship crew or shore duty sailors.

South Africa

The

was set up as a sub-branch of the

in 1979, with the primary purpose of protecting harbours. The Marines were disbanded in 1989, following a major restructuring of the Navy at the end of the

South African Border War The South African Border War, also known as the Namibian War of Independence, and sometimes denoted in South Africa as the Angolan Bush War, was a largely asymmetric conflict that occurred in Namibia (then South West Africa), Zambia, and Ango ...

United Arab Emirates

In 2011 the UAE Marine Battalion was merged in the United Arab Emirates Presidential Guard.

United Kingdom

* The

date from the establishment of a Maritime Regiment of Foot in 1664. The ''Marine Regiments for Sea'' were formed in 1702 but by 1713 they had been disbanded or taken into the army as regiments of foot. In 1755, a permanent Corps of marine companies was established for direct service under the Admiralty and this force has an unbroken descent to the Royal Marines of today. * The

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

has since its beginning formed naval landing parties of seamen for action ashore, this being later formalised into the Naval Brigades. These brigades would often dismount guns from their parent vessels for use ashore, these guns often being the only artillery available. The most famous example of this form of land service was provided by the guns accompanying the forces relieving Ladysmith. * The Corps of Colonial Marines were raised from former American slaves as auxiliary units of the Royal Marines for service in the Americas: Two of these units were raised and subsequently disbanded. The first was a small unit which existed from 1808 to 12 October 1810, the second was more substantial and existed from May 1814 to 20 August 1816. * The

Royal Naval Division The 63rd (Royal Naval) Division was a United Kingdom infantry division of the First World War. It was originally formed as the Royal Naval Division at the outbreak of the war, from Royal Navy and Royal Marine reservists and volunteers, who wer ...

was part of the

in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. In 1914, the shortage of ground forces for the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers * Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a maj ...

led to the creation of the Division, composed of two brigades of sailors and a brigade formed by the Royal Marines. The Division was part of the

but for command purposes was integrated into the army's command structure. The sailors were initially disappointing as infantry, but eventually developed into one of the better divisions. The Division participated in the defence of the Belgian city of

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

in late 1914, and then served with heavy casualties at the Battle of Gallipoli. At different times the Division included various army units. The division ceased to exist after the end of the First World War. * Gooch's Marines, the 61st Foot, raised in the American colonies for the

War of Jenkins' Ear The War of Jenkins' Ear, or , was a conflict lasting from 1739 to 1748 between Britain and the Spanish Empire. The majority of the fighting took place in New Granada and the Caribbean Sea, with major operations largely ended by 1742. It is con ...

in 1739. This was a 3,000 man American regiment of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

that served alongside British Marines. Among its officers was Lawrence Washington, half-brother of

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

. It was disbanded as a regiment in 1742 and the remaining independent companies were merged with another regiment in 1746.

United States

* American Colonial Marines were State Marines raised for the various state navies that came into existence shortly before the Revolutionary War. * The

Continental Marines The Continental Marines were the amphibious infantry of the American Colonies (and later the United States) during the American Revolutionary War. The Corps was formed by the Continental Congress on November 10, 1775 and was disbanded in 17 ...

were the marine force of the

American Colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Founded in the 17th and 18th centur ...

during

. The Corps was formed by the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...

on November 10, 1775, and was disbanded in 1783. The Continental Marines' first and only

Commandant Commandant ( or ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ran ...

was

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Samuel Nicholas Samuel Nicholas (1744 – 27 August 1790) was the first officer commissioned in the United States Continental Marines (predecessor to the United States Marine Corps) and by tradition is considered to be the first Commandant of the Marine Cor ...

. * Hillet Marine River Regiment of the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

, this regiment consisted of 10 rifle companies, a Cavalry Battalion of 5 companies, and an artillery battalion of three batteries, all of whom operated from

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest Drainage system (geomorphology), drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson B ...

gunboats as part of the

Mississippi River Squadron The Mississippi River Squadron was the Union brown-water naval squadron that operated on the western rivers during the American Civil War. It was initially created as a part of the Union Army, although it was commanded by naval officers, and w ...

. * The Republic of Texas Marine Corps – Although a marine corps was suggested in the "Act and Decree Establishing a Navy," passed on November 25, 1835, it was not until acting governor James W. Robinson strongly urged the swift formation of such an organization in his message to the General Council on January 14, 1836, that steps were actually taken to commission officers of marines and recruit enlisted personnel. Before the end of the Republic of Texas and annexation to the United States, more than 350 men served with the Texas Marine Corps, and at least eighteen officers were commissioned to command them. The Texas Marine Corps served under the direction of the Navy Department of the Republic, and the duties of the corps were specifically ordained in fifteen articles passed by the Texas Congress on December 13, 1836. Marines served under their own officers aboard ship and ashore but were subject to the orders of the senior naval officer present. The uniform of the Texas Marine came from discontinued USMC stocks, changing only the buttons and cap devices to those of Texas configuration. * The Confederate Marines were a branch of the Confederate States Navy and was established by the Confederate Congress on 16 March 1861; they were mainly (80%) defectors from the US Marines.

Vietnam

VNMC 468th Brigade in training at Song Than base camp

Vietnamese dynasties had a long tradition of utilizing marines. This tradition went back no later than the Annam Protectorate of Tang dynasty when the governors built boats and trained marines to fight off pirates and invaders. The successive Vietnamese dynasties made full use of their marines' superiority at river and sea to launch successful campaigns against their northward and southward neighbors alike. The forerunner of the

Republic of Vietnam Marine Corps The Republic of Vietnam Marine Division (RVNMD, vi, Sư Đoàn Thủy Quân Lục Chiến QLC was part of the armed forces of South Vietnam. It was established by Ngo Dinh Diem in 1954 when he was Prime Minister of the State of Vietnam, which bec ...

(VNMC) was established by Ngo Dinh Diem, then prime minister of what was then the

State of Vietnam The State of Vietnam ( vi, Quốc gia Việt Nam; Chữ Nôm: 國家越南; french: État du Viêt-Nam) was a governmental entity in Southeast Asia that existed from 1949 until 1955, first as a member of the French Union and later as a country ...

on October 13, 1954. The VNMC became defunct on 1 May 1975 after the

fall of Saigon The Fall of Saigon, also known as the Liberation of Saigon by North Vietnamese or Liberation of the South by the Vietnamese government, and known as Black April by anti-communist overseas Vietnamese was the capture of Ho Chi Minh City, Saigon, t ...

Yugoslavia

The 12th Naval Infantry Brigade () of the Yugoslavian Navy consisted of 900 to 2,000 men in three battalions. A multi-ethnic unit, the brigade was broken up during the dissolution of the Yugoslav federation and saw little action.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marines (military) Types of military forces Lists of military units and formations