# List of interstate wars since 1945

This is a list of interstate wars since 1945. Interstate warfare has been defined as military conflict between separate states over a territory, including irregular military forces legitimized by the laws of war applicable to interstate wars due to the invasion or annexation being unlawful. This does not include civil wars and wars of independence, or smaller clashes with limited casualties (fewer than 100 combat deaths). The largest interstate war in history, World War II, involved most of the world's countries, after which the United Nations (UN) was established in 1945 to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The post-WWII era has, in general, been characterized by the absence of direct, major wars between great powers, such as the United States and (until 1991) the Soviet Union.

## 1945–1989

Denotes war with more than 10,000 combat deaths at minimum
| Start | Finish | Name of conflict | States in conflict | States in conflict | Combat deaths | Combat deaths |
| Start | Finish | Name of conflict | States in conflict | States in conflict | Min estimate | Max estimate |
| November 1945 | 15 December 1946 | Iran crisis of 1946 | Iran | Azerbaijan People's Government  Republic of Mahabad | 2,000+ | 2,000+ |
| 22 October 1947 | 5 January 1949 | Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 | India | Pakistan | 2,604 | 7,500 |
| 14 May 1948 | 10 March 1949 | 1948 Arab–Israeli War | Israel | Egypt Iraq Transjordan Syria Lebanon Saudi Arabia Yemen | 13,073 | 26,373 |
| 13 September 1948 | 18 September 1948 | Operation Polo | India | Hyderabad | 32,190 | 202,190 |
| 25 June 1950 | 27 July 1953 | Korean War | UN Command South Korea United States United Kingdom Australia Belgium Canada France Philippines Colombia Ethiopia Greece Luxembourg Netherlands New Zealand South Africa Thailand Turkey | North Korea  China  Soviet Union | 2,568,927 | 4,096,927 |
| 6 October 1950 | 24 October 1950 | Battle of Chamdo | China | Tibet | 294 | 5,814 |
| 3 September 1954 | 1 May 1955 | First Taiwan Strait Crisis | China | Republic of China United States | 914 | 1,054 |
| 1 November 1955 | 15 May 1975 | Vietnam War | North Vietnam FNL Khmer Rouge Khmer Issarak Pathet Lao China North Korea Soviet Union | South Vietnam United States South Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand Laos Khmer Republic Philippines | 1,326,494 | 3,447,494 |
| 29 October 1956 | 7 November 1956 | Suez Crisis | Israel  United Kingdom France | Egypt | 2,848 | 4,198 |
| 1 November 1956 | 4 November 1956 | Soviet invasion of Hungary Part of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 | Soviet Union | Hungary | 3,222 | 3,222 |
| 23 October 1957 | 30 June 1958 | Ifni War | Spain  France | Morocco | 1,197 | 1,197 |
| 23 August 1958 | 2 December 1958 | Second Taiwan Strait Crisis | Taiwan United States | China | 1,054 | 1,054 |
| 17 April 1961 | 20 April 1961 | Bay of Pigs Invasion | Cuba | United States DRF | 2,298 | 2,298 |
| 19 July 1961 | 23 July 1961 | Bizerte crisis | France | Tunisia | 654 | 657 |
| 19 December 1961 | 15 August 1962 | Operation Trikora | Indonesia | Netherlands | 223 | 223 |
| 20 October 1962 | 21 November 1962 | Sino-Indian War | China | India | 2,105 | 6,197 |
| 20 January 1963 | 11 August 1966 | Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation | Malaysia Singapore United Kingdom Australia New Zealand | Indonesia | 874 | 874 |
| 25 September 1963 | 20 February 1964 | Sand War | Morocco | Algeria | 69 | 500 |
| 26 February 1964 | 6 April 1964 | 1964 Ethiopian–Somali Border War | Ethiopia | Somalia | 1,000 | 2,000 |
| 5 August 1965 | 23 September 1965 | Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 | India | Pakistan | 6,800 | 13,459 |
| 5 October 1966 | 3 December 1969 | Korean DMZ Conflict | South Korea United States | North Korea | 739 | 739 |
| 5 June 1967 | 10 June 1967 | Six-Day War | Israel | Egypt Syria Jordan Arab Expeditionary Forces: Iraq  Saudi Arabia Morocco  Algeria  Libya  Kuwait  Tunisia Sudan | 12,336 | 19,264 |
| 1 July 1967 | 7 August 1970 | War of Attrition | Israel | Egypt Soviet Union Cuba Jordan Syria | 6,442 | 14,290 |
| 20 August 1968 | 21 August 1968 | Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia | Soviet Union Bulgaria East Germany Hungary Poland | Czechoslovakia | 254 | 254 |
| 14 July 1969 | 18 July 1969 | Football War | El Salvador | Honduras | 3,000 | 3,000 |
| 3 December 1971 | 16 December 1971 | Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 | India | Pakistan | 11,500 | 12,843 |
| 6 October 1973 | 25 October 1973 | Yom Kippur War | Israel | Egypt Syria Combat support: Iraq  Jordan  Algeria  Cuba  Morocco | 10,521 | 21,300 |
| 20 July 1974 | 18 August 1974 | Turkish invasion of Cyprus | Turkey | Cyprus Greece | 6,009 | 9,509 |
| April 1974 | March 1975 | 1974–75 Shatt al-Arab conflict | Iran | Iraq | 1,000+ | 1,000+ |
| 30 October 1975 | 6 September 1991 | Western Sahara War | Morocco  Mauritania  France | Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic  Algeria | 10,000 | 20,000 |
| 7 December 1975 | 17 July 1976 | Indonesian invasion of East Timor | Indonesia | East Timor | 51,000+ | 51,000+ |
| 13 July 1977 | 23 March 1978 | Ogaden War | Ethiopia Cuba South Yemen Soviet Union | Somalia | 39,836 | 39,836 |
| 21 July 1977 | 24 July 1977 | Egyptian–Libyan War | Egypt | Libya | 500 | 500 |
| 29 January 1978 | 11 September 1987 | Chadian–Libyan War | Chad France | Libya | 8,500+ | 8,500+ |
| 9 October 1978 | 3 June 1979 | Uganda–Tanzania War | Tanzania Mozambique | Uganda Libya | 4,135 | 4,323 |
| 21 December 1978 | 26 September 1989 | Cambodian–Vietnamese War | Vietnam People's Republic of Kampuchea | Democratic Kampuchea Thailand | 270,000 | 297,000 |
| 17 February 1979 | 16 March 1979 | Sino-Vietnamese War | Vietnam | China | 36,945 | 175,000 |
| 24 February 1979 | 19 March 1979 | Yemenite War of 1979 | North Yemen | South Yemen | 1,084 | 1,084 |
| 16 March 1979 | 1 November 1991 | Sino-Vietnamese conflicts (1979–1991) | Vietnam | China | 6,000 | 6,000 |
| 24 December 1979 | 15 February 1989 | Soviet–Afghan War | Soviet Union Afghanistan | Afghan Mujahideen Afghan Interim Government (from 1988) | 600,000 | 2,000,000 |
| 22 September 1980 | 20 August 1988 | Iran–Iraq War | Iran | Iraq United States | 405,000 | 1,200,000 |
| 2 April 1982 | 14 June 1982 | Falklands War | United Kingdom | Argentina | 907 | 907 |
| June 1982 | August 1982 | 1982 Ethiopian–Somali Border War | Somalia | Ethiopia | | |
| 18 April 1983 | April 1983 | Chadian–Nigerian War | Nigeria | Chad | 100+ | 100+ |
| 25 October 1983 | 29 October 1983 | Invasion of Grenada | United States Antigua and Barbuda Barbados Dominica Jamaica Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Grenada Cuba | 102 | 102 |
| 25 December 1985 | 30 December 1985 | Agacher Strip War | Mali | Burkina Faso | 142 | 142 |
| 20 February 1988 | 12 May 1994 | First Nagorno-Karabakh War | Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Armenia | Azerbaijan | 37,413 | 56,000 |
| 9 April 1989 | 18 July 1991 | Mauritania–Senegal Border War | Mauritania | Senegal | 200+ | 200+ |
| 20 December 1989 | 31 January 1990 | United States invasion of Panama | United States | Panama | 540 | 3,338 |

## 1990–present

Denotes war with more than 10,000 combat deaths at minimum
| Start | Finish | Name of conflict | States in conflict | States in conflict | Combat deaths | Combat deaths |
| Start | Finish | Name of conflict | States in conflict | States in conflict | Min. estimate | Max. estimate |
| 2 August 1990 | 28 February 1991 | Persian Gulf War | Kuwait United States United Kingdom Saudi Arabia France Italy Canada Australia Egypt Syria Qatar | Iraq | 29,231 | 59,231 |
| 2 November 1990 | 21 July 1992 | Transnistria War | Moldova | Transnistria  Russia | 316 | 637 |
| 5 January 1991 | 24 June 1992 | South Ossetia war (1991–1992) | Georgia | South Ossetia  Russia | 1,000+ | 1,000+ |
| 20 September 1991 | 3 January 1992 | Croatian War of Independence | Croatia | Yugoslavia | 5,040 | 7,279 |
| 6 April 1992 | 19 May 1992 | Bosnian War | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Yugoslavia Serbia and Montenegro  Republika Srpska | | |
| 14 August 1992 | 27 September 1993 | War in Abkhazia (1992–1993) | Abkhazia  Russia | Georgia | 25,000 | 30,000 |
| 26 January 1995 | 28 February 1995 | Cenepa War | Peru | Ecuador | 84 | 410 |
| 24 October 1996 | 16 May 1997 | First Congo War | AFDL Rwanda Uganda Burundi Angola SPLA Eritrea | Zaire Sudan Chad Ex-FAR/ALiR Interahamwe CNDD-FDD UNITA ADF FLNC | 235,000 | 250,000 |
| 28 February 1998 | 10 June 1999 | Kosovo War | Kosova NATO | Yugoslavia | 16,056 | 16,879 |
| 3 May 1998 | 18 June 2000 | Eritrean–Ethiopian War | Ethiopia | Eritrea | 53,000 | 300,000 |
| 3 May 1999 | 26 July 1999 | Kargil War | India | Pakistan | 884 | 5,600 |
| 7 August 1999 | 30 April 2000 | Second Chechen War | Russia | Ichkeria | 20,000 | 20,000 |
| 5 June 2000 | 10 June 2000 | African Six-Day War Part of the Second Congo War | Rwanda | Uganda | 4,051+ | 4,051+ |
| 7 October 2001 | 17 December 2001 | United States invasion of Afghanistan Part of the Afghan conflict | United States United Kingdom Canada Australia Afghanistan Northern Alliance | Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan | 9,550 | 14,388 |
| 19 March 2003 | 1 May 2003 | 2003 invasion of Iraq | United States United Kingdom Australia Poland | Iraq | 10,996 | 53,016 |
| 28 June 2006 | Ongoing | Gaza–Israel conflict | Israel | Gaza Strip | 42,783 | |
| 1 August 2008 | 12 August 2008 | Russo-Georgian War | Russia  South Ossetia  Abkhazia | Georgia | 730 | 737 |
| 19 March 2011 | 31 October 2011 | 2011 military intervention in Libya Part of the First Libyan Civil War | NATO Qatar Sweden United Arab Emirates | Libya | 72 | 403+ |
| 26 March 2012 | 26 September 2012 | Heglig Crisis | Sudan | South Sudan | 316 | 1,485 |
| 30 January 2013 | 8 December 2024 | Iran–Israel conflict during the Syrian civil war Part of the Syrian Civil War | Israel | Iran Syria | 645 | 671 |
| 20 February 2014 | Ongoing | Russo-Ukrainian War (outline) | Ukraine | Russia  DPR  LPR  North Korea | 198,813 | |
| 22 September 2014 | Ongoing | American intervention in the Syrian civil war Part of the Syrian Civil War | United States | Syria Russia Iran Islamic State | 192+ | 192+ |
| 1 April 2016 | 5 April 2016 | 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict | Azerbaijan | Artsakh Armenia | 137 | 2,060 |
| 24 August 2016 | Ongoing | Turkish occupation of northern Syria Part of the Syrian Civil War | Turkey | North and East Syria  Syria | 5,702+ | 10,705+ |
| 27 February 2020 | 6 March 2020 | Operation Spring Shield Part of the Syrian Civil War | Turkey | Syria Iran | 238 | 446 |
| 27 September 2020 | 10 November 2020 | Second Nagorno-Karabakh War | Azerbaijan | Armenia  Artsakh | 7,726 | 7,726 |