16-49: 851,044 (2008 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:

males age 16-49: 673,103 (2008 est.)

Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:

male: 31,042
female: 29,969 (2008 est.)

Military expenditures:

1% of GDP (2006)

Military - note:

on 10 February 1990, the government of then President ENDARA
abolished Panama's military and reformed the security apparatus by
creating the Panamanian Public Forces; in October 1994, Panama's
Legislative Assembly approved a constitutional amendment prohibiting
the creation of a standing military force but allowing the temporary
establishment of special police units to counter acts of "external
aggression"

Transnational Issues
Panama

Disputes - international:

organized illegal narcotics operations in Colombia operate within
the remote border region with Panama

Trafficking in persons:

current situation: Panama is a source, transit, and destination
country for women and children trafficked for the purpose of
commercial sexual exploitation; the majority of victims are
Panamanian women and children trafficked within the country into the
sex trade; rural children in Panama may be trafficked internally to
urban areas for labor exploitation
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Panama is on the Tier 2 Watch List
for failing to show evidence of increasing efforts to combat human
trafficking, particularly with respect to prosecuting, convicting,
and sentencing human traffickers for their crimes, and for failing
to provide adequate victim assistance (2008)

Illicit drugs:

major cocaine transshipment point and primary money-laundering
center for narcotics revenue; money-laundering activity is
especially heavy in the Colon Free Zone; offshore financial center;
negligible signs of coca cultivation; monitoring of financial
transactions is improving; official corruption remains a major
problem

This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008

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@Papua New Guinea

Introduction
Papua New Guinea

Background:

The eastern half of the island of New Guinea - second largest in the
world - was divided between Germany (north) and the UK (south) in
1885. The latter area was transferred to Australia in 1902, which
occupied the northern portion during World War I and continued to
administer the combined areas until independence in 1975. A
nine-year