60% of military
personnel to be volunteers; only soldiers who have completed their
conscript service are allowed to volunteer for professional service;
as of April 2004, women are only allowed to serve as officers and
noncommissioned officers (2006)

Manpower available for military service:

males age 16-49: 9,741,508
females age 16-49: 9,514,843 (2008 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:

males age 16-49: 7,937,840
females age 16-49: 7,949,677 (2008 est.)

Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:

male: 257,605
female: 245,832 (2008 est.)

Military expenditures:

1.71% of GDP (2005 est.)

Transnational Issues
Poland

Disputes - international:

as a member state that forms part of the EU's external border,
Poland has implemented the strict Schengen border rules to restrict
illegal immigration and trade along its eastern borders with Belarus
and Ukraine

Illicit drugs:

despite diligent counternarcotics measures and international
information sharing on cross-border crimes, a major illicit producer
of synthetic drugs for the international market; minor transshipment
point for Southwest Asian heroin and Latin American cocaine to
Western Europe

This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008

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@Portugal

Introduction
Portugal

Background:

Following its heyday as a world power during the 15th and 16th
centuries, Portugal lost much of its wealth and status with the
destruction of Lisbon in a 1755 earthquake, occupation during the
Napoleonic Wars, and the independence in 1822 of Brazil as a colony.
A 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy; for most of the next six
decades, repressive governments ran the country. In 1974, a
left-wing military coup installed broad democratic reforms. The
following year, Portugal granted independence to all of its African
colonies. Portugal is a founding member of NATO and entered the EC
(now the EU) in 1986.

Geography
Portugal

Location:

Southwestern Europe, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, west of
Spain

Geographic coordinates:

39 30 N, 8 00 W

Map references:

Europe

Area:

total: 92,391 sq km
land: 91,951 sq km
water: 440 sq km
note: includes Azores and Madeira Islands

Area - comparative:

slightly smaller than Indiana

Land boundaries:

total: 1,214 km
border countries: Spain 1,214 km