y

Military branches: National Armed Forces (Fuerzas Armadas Nacionales
or FAN) includes Ground Forces or Army (Fuerzas Terrestres or
Ejercito), Naval Forces (Fuerzas Navales or Armada), Air Force
(Fuerzas Aereas or Aviacion), Armed Forces of Cooperation or
National Guard (Fuerzas Armadas de Cooperacion or Guardia Nacional)

Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age

Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 6,524,809 (2001
est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49:
4,701,062 (2001 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 246,185
(2001 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $934 million (FY99)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 0.9% (FY99)

Venezuela Transnational Issues

Disputes - international: claims all of Guyana west of the Essequibo
(river); maritime boundary dispute with Colombia in the Gulf of
Venezuela

Illicit drugs: illicit producer of opium for the international drug
trade on a small scale; however, large quantities of cocaine,
heroin, and marijuana transit the country from Colombia bound for US
and Europe; important money-laundering center; active eradication
program primarily targeting opium; increasing signs of drug-related
activities by Colombian insurgents on border

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@Vietnam

Vietnam Introduction

Background: France occupied all of Vietnam by 1884. Independence was
declared after World War II, but the French continued to rule until
1954 when they were defeated by communist forces under Ho Chi MINH,
who took control of the north. US economic and military aid to South
Vietnam grew through the 1960s in an attempt to bolster the
government, but US armed forces were withdrawn following a
cease-fire agreement in 1973. Two years later North Vietnamese
forces overran the south. Economic reconstruction of the reunited
country has proven difficult as aging Communist Party leaders have
only grudgingly initiated reforms necessary for a free market.

Vietnam Geography

Location: Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, Gulf of
Tonkin, and South China Sea, alongside China, Laos, and Cambodia

Geographic coordinates: 16 00 N, 106 00 E

Map references: Southeast Asia

Area: total: 329,560 sq km

land: 325,360 sq km

water: 4,200 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly larger than New Mexico

Land bou