, Circassians) military service; both sexes are
eligible for military service; conscript service obligation - 36
months for men, 21 months for women (2004)

Manpower available for military service:
males age 17-49: 1,492,125
females age 17-49: 1,443,916 (2005 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:
males age 17-49: 1,255,902
females age 17-49: 1,212,394 (2005 est.)

Manpower reaching military service age annually:
males: 53,760
females: 51,293 (2005 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$9.11 billion (FY03)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
8.7% (FY02)

Transnational Issues Israel

Disputes - international:
West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli-occupied with current status
subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement - permanent
status to be determined through further negotiation; Israel
continues construction of a "seam line" separation barrier along
parts of the Green Line and within the West Bank; Israel announced
its intention to pull out Israeli settlers and withdraw from the
Gaza Strip and four settlements in the northern West Bank in 2005;
Golan Heights is Israeli-occupied (Lebanon claims the Shab'a Farms
area of Golan Heights); since 1948, about 350 peacekeepers from the
UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) headquartered in Jerusalem
monitor ceasefires, supervise armistice agreements, prevent isolated
incidents from escalating, and assist other UN personnel in the
region

Refugees and internally displaced persons:
IDPs: 276,000 (Arab villagers displaced from homes in northern
Israel) (2004)

Illicit drugs:
increasingly concerned about cocaine and heroin abuse; drugs arrive
in country from Lebanon and, increasingly, from Jordan;
money-laundering center

This page was last updated on 20 October, 2005

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@Italy

Introduction Italy

Background:
Italy became a nation-state in 1861 when the city-states of the
peninsula, along with Sardinia and Sicily, were united under King
Victor EMMANUEL II. An era of parliamentary government came to a
close in the early 1920s when Benito MUSSOLINI established a Fascist
dictatorship. His disastrous alliance with Nazi Germany led to
Italy's defeat in World War II. A democratic republic replaced the
monarchy in 1946 and economic revival followed. Italy was a charter
memb