cargo 1 (2004 est.)

Airports:
46 (2003 est.)

Airports - with paved runways:
total: 9
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 5
914 to 1,523 m: 3 (2004 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 35
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 13
under 914 m: 21 (2004 est.)

Military Laos

Military branches:
Lao People's Army (LPA; including Riverine Force), Air Force

Military manpower - military age and obligation:
15 years of age for compulsory military service; conscript service
obligation - minimum 18 months (2004)

Military manpower - availability:
males age 15-49: 1,456,500 (2004 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service:
males age 15-49: 783,800 (2004 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
males: 68,563 (2004 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$10.9 million (2003)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
0.5% (2003)

Transnational Issues Laos

Disputes - international:
demarcation of boundaries with Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam is
largely complete, but with Thailand several areas including Mekong
River islets remain in dispute; ongoing disputes with Thailand and
Vietnam over squatters; concern among Mekong Commission members that
China's construction of dams on the Mekong River will affect water
levels

Illicit drugs:
world's third-largest illicit opium producer (estimated cultivation
in 2003 - 18,900 hectares, a 19% decrease over 2002; estimated
potential production in 2003 - 200 metric tons, a 11% increase from
2002); potential heroin producer; transshipment point for heroin and
methamphetamine produced in Burma; illicit producer of cannabis;
growing methamphetamine abuse problem

This page was last updated on 10 February, 2005

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@Latvia

Introduction Latvia

Background:
After a brief period of independence between the two World Wars,
Latvia was annexed by the USSR in 1940. It reestablished its
independence in 1991 following the breakup of the Soviet Union.
Although the last Russian troops left in 1994, the status of the
Russian minority (some 30% of the population) remains of concern to
Moscow. Latvia joined both NATO and the EU in the spring of 2004.

Geography Latvia

Location:
Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, between Estonia and
Lithuania

Geographic c