m, and 80 km respectively (2004)

Ports and harbors:
Bartica, Georgetown, Linden, New Amsterdam, Parika

Merchant marine:
total: 5 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 7,475 GRT/8,758 DWT
foreign-owned: Barbados 1, Panama 1
registered in other countries: 8 (2004 est.)
by type: cargo 3, container 1, refrigerated cargo 1

Airports:
49 (2003 est.)

Airports - with paved runways:
total: 8
1,524 to 2,437 m: 3
under 914 m: 5 (2004 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 41
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 8
under 914 m: 32 (2004 est.)

Military Guyana

Military branches:
Guyana Defense Force: Ground Forces, Coast Guard, Air Corps; Guyana
People's Militia

Military manpower - availability:
males age 15-49: 209,545 (2004 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service:
males age 15-49: 157,264 (2004 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$6.5 million (2003)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
0.8% (2003)

Transnational Issues Guyana

Disputes - international:
all of the area west of the Essequibo (river) is claimed by
Venezuela preventing any discussion of a maritime boundary; Guyana
has expressed its intention to join Barbados in asserting claims
before UNCLOS that Trinidad and Tobago's maritime boundary with
Venezuela extends into their waters; Suriname claims a triangle of
land between the New and Kutari/Koetari rivers in a historic dispute
over the headwaters of the Courantyne; Guyana seeks UNCLOS
arbitration to resolve the long-standing dispute with Suriname over
the axis of the territorial sea boundary in potentially oil-rich
waters

Illicit drugs:
transshipment point for narcotics from South America - primarily
Venezuela - to Europe and the US; producer of cannabis

This page was last updated on 10 February, 2005

======================================================================

@Haiti

Introduction Haiti

Background:
The native Arawak Amerindians - who inhabited the island of
Hispaniola when it was discovered by Columbus in 1492 - were
virtually annihilated by Spanish settlers within 25 years. In the
early 17th century, the French established a presence on Hispaniola,
and in 1697, Spain ceded to the French the western third of the
island - Haiti. The French colony, based on forestry and
sugar-related industries, became one of the wealthiest in the
Caribbean, but