# Is Kyrgyzstan the only country that hosts Russian and US military bases? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 8, 2010, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kyrgyzstan-the-only-country-that-hosts-russian-and-us-military-bases/535377 "2010-04-08T04:03:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kyrgyzstan-the-only-country-that-hosts-russian-and-us-military-bases/535377/1 "2010-04-08T04:03:30Z")
Every report I’d heard so far on the current unrest has mentioned by-the-by that Kyrgyzstan contains both US and Russian military bases. I can’t think of any situation where that has occurred before. Is it the only country for which this is now true? How about historically? [neither Cuba nor post-WWII Germany not included] ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kyrgyzstan-the-only-country-that-hosts-russian-and-us-military-bases/535377/2 "2010-04-08T05:23:49Z")
Post WWII Austria up until 1955, but that was the same situation as post WWII Germany, so you probably don’t want to count it. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kyrgyzstan-the-only-country-that-hosts-russian-and-us-military-bases/535377/3 "2010-04-08T06:01:21Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > [neither Cuba nor post-WWII Germany not included] [Cuba and post-WWII Europe not included] :smack: ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kyrgyzstan-the-only-country-that-hosts-russian-and-us-military-bases/535377/4 "2010-04-08T06:58:12Z")
Here’s another you may want to disqualify: [Russia in 1918 to 1920](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Expeditionary_Force_Siberia) ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kyrgyzstan-the-only-country-that-hosts-russian-and-us-military-bases/535377/5 "2010-04-08T07:29:22Z")
I think there are russian and US military bases in Djibouti too, but I’m not 100% certain. ---
**Author:** ![YamatoTwinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/cc9497/32.png) [@YamatoTwinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YamatoTwinkie)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kyrgyzstan-the-only-country-that-hosts-russian-and-us-military-bases/535377/6 "2010-04-08T12:54:14Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Post WWII Austria up until 1955, but that was the same situation as post WWII Germany, so you probably don’t want to count it. I read this as “Australia” and did a double-take. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kyrgyzstan-the-only-country-that-hosts-russian-and-us-military-bases/535377/7 "2010-04-08T13:28:55Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > I think there are russian and US military bases in Djibouti too, but I’m not 100% certain. I know there is a small more-or-less permanent US presence in Djibouti; a USAF friend was working there just last year. As to Russian bases, I got nuthin’ ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kyrgyzstan-the-only-country-that-hosts-russian-and-us-military-bases/535377/8 "2010-04-08T14:32:38Z")
The news I saw described K-stan (not even going to try) as the only such country. Although as part of a diplomatic deal last year, the US agreed to describe its facility as a “transit center” rather than a base. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kyrgyzstan-the-only-country-that-hosts-russian-and-us-military-bases/535377/9 "2010-04-09T01:07:35Z")
In the Wikipedia article on [Russias Armed Forces](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armed_Forces_of_the_Russian_Federation) there is a photo titled “A Russian soldier at a checkpoint co-guarded by Russian and American troops in Kosovo”, details as follows: > [@](#): > > ID: DASD0314942 Service Depicted: Other Service 011026A3639G017 Operation / Series: JOINT GUARDIAN II A Russian soldier with the 13th Tactical Group, checks a civilian stopped at Checkpoint 75 in the East sector of Kosovo, jointly guarded by American and Russian soldiers to check incoming and outgoing traffic, in support of Operation JOINT GUARDIAN II. > Camera Operator: SPC JESSIE GRAY, USA Date Shot: 26 Oct 2001 Whether that arrangement is still current I don’t know. > [@clairobscur](#): > > I think there are russian and US military bases in Djibouti too, but I’m not 100% certain. There’s no mention of that anywhere I can find. The list I’ve drawn up so far is: Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus Georgia Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Moldova Tajikistan Ukraine so entirely ex-USSR republics. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kyrgyzstan-the-only-country-that-hosts-russian-and-us-military-bases/535377/10 "2010-04-09T01:32:27Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > The news I saw described K-stan (not even going to try) as the only such country. Although as part of a diplomatic deal last year, the US agreed to describe its facility as a “transit center” rather than a base. Kyrgyzstan. Like Lynyrd Skynyrd. 🙂 And if you hate spelling “Kyrgyzstan,” you’ll _loathe_ the autonomous part of Uzbekistand called Qaraqalpaqistan. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kyrgyzstan-the-only-country-that-hosts-russian-and-us-military-bases/535377/11 "2010-04-09T04:22:42Z")
and Turkmen president Gurbenguly Berdymukhamedov as well 😃 ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kyrgyzstan-the-only-country-that-hosts-russian-and-us-military-bases/535377/12 "2010-04-09T08:48:12Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I know there is a small more-or-less permanent US presence in Djibouti; a USAF friend was working there just last year. As to Russian bases, I got nuthin’ Indeed, it seems I was wrong. There are French, German, American and Japanese (😕) troops there, but no mention of Russians. For some reason I believed that they used Djibouti as a naval base.