est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service:
males age 15-49: 139,255 (2004 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
males: 6,614 (2004 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$384 million (FY02)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
3.8% (FY02)

Transnational Issues Cyprus

Disputes - international:
hostilities in 1974 divided the island into two de facto autonomous
areas, a Greek Cypriot area controlled by the internationally
recognized Cypriot Government and a Turkish Cypriot area, separated
by a UN buffer zone; March 2003 reunification talks failed, but
Turkish Cypriots later opened their borders to temporary visits by
Greek Cypriots

Refugees and internally displaced persons:
IDPs: 265,000 (both Turkish and Greek Cypriots; many displaced for
over 30 years) (2004)

Illicit drugs:
minor transit point for heroin and hashish via air routes and
container traffic to Europe, especially from Lebanon and Turkey;
some cocaine transits as well; despite a strengthening of anti-money
laundering legislation, remains highly vulnerable to money
laundering; identification of benefiting owners and reporting of
suspicious transactions by nonresident-controlled companies in
offshore sector remains weak

This page was last updated on 10 February, 2005

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@Czech Republic

Introduction Czech Republic

Background:
Following the First World War, the closely related Czechs and
Slovaks of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire merged to form
Czechoslovakia. During the interwar years, the new country's leaders
were frequently preoccupied with meeting the demands of other ethnic
minorities within the republic, most notably the Sudeten Germans and
the Ruthenians (Ukrainians). After World War II, a truncated
Czechoslovakia fell within the Soviet sphere of influence. In 1968,
an invasion by Warsaw Pact troops ended the efforts of the country's
leaders to liberalize Communist party rule and create "socialism
with a human face." Anti-Soviet demonstrations the following year
ushered in a period of harsh repression. With the collapse of Soviet
authority in 1989, Czechoslovakia regained its freedom through a
peaceful "Velvet Revolution." On 1 January 1993, the country
underwent a "velvet divorce" into its two national components, the
Czech Re