04 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service:
males age 15-49: 253,974 (2004 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$32.5 million (2003)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
2.6% (2003)

Military - note:
the Lesotho Government in 1999 began an open debate on the future
structure, size, and role of the armed forces, especially
considering the Lesotho Defense Force's (LDF) history of intervening
in political affairs

Transnational Issues Lesotho

Disputes - international:
none

This page was last updated on 10 February, 2005

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@Liberia

Introduction Liberia

Background:
In August 2003, a comprehensive peace agreement ended 14 years of
civil war and prompted the resignation of former president Charles
TAYLOR, who was exiled to Nigeria. The National Transitional
Government of Liberia (NTGL) - which is composed of rebel,
government, and civil society groups - assumed control in October
2003. Chairman Gyude BRYANT, who was given a two-year mandate to
oversee efforts to rebuild Liberia, heads the new government. The
United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), which maintains a strong
presence throughout the country, completed a disarmament program for
former combatants in late 2004, but the security situation is still
volatile and the process of rebuilding the social and economic
structure of this war-torn country remains sluggish.

Geography Liberia

Location:
Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Cote
d'Ivoire and Sierra Leone

Geographic coordinates:
6 30 N, 9 30 W

Map references:
Africa

Area:
total: 111,370 sq km
water: 15,050 sq km
land: 96,320 sq km

Area - comparative:
slightly larger than Tennessee

Land boundaries:
total: 1,585 km
border countries: Guinea 563 km, Cote d'Ivoire 716 km, Sierra Leone
306 km

Coastline:
579 km

Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 200 nm

Climate:
tropical; hot, humid; dry winters with hot days and cool to cold
nights; wet, cloudy summers with frequent heavy showers

Terrain:
mostly flat to rolling coastal plains rising to rolling plateau and
low mountains in northeast

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Wuteve 1,380 m

Natural resources:
iron ore, timber, diamonds, gold, hydropower

Land