ation - 12 months; 18 years of age for voluntary
military service (May 2004)

Military manpower - availability:
males age 15-49: 812,140 (2004 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service:
males age 15-49: 649,568 (2004 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
males: 31,926 (2004 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$135 million (FY01)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
6.5% (FY01)

Transnational Issues Armenia

Disputes - international:
Armenia supports ethnic Armenian secessionists in Nagorno-Karabakh
and militarily occupies 16% of Azerbaijan - Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) continues to mediate
dispute; border with Turkey remains closed over Nagorno-Karabakh
dispute; traditional demands regarding former Armenian lands in
Turkey have subsided; ethnic Armenian groups in Javakheti region of
Georgia seek greater autonomy from the new Georgian Government

Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin): 236,306 (Azerbaijan)
IDPs: 50,000 (conflict with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh) (2004)

Illicit drugs:
illicit cultivation of small amount of cannabis for domestic
consumption; used as a transit point for illicit drugs - mostly
opium and hashish - moving from Southwest Asia to Russia and to a
lesser extent the rest of Europe

This page was last updated on 10 February, 2005

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@Aruba

Introduction Aruba

Background:
Discovered and claimed for Spain in 1499, Aruba was acquired by the
Dutch in 1636. The island's economy has been dominated by three main
industries. A 19th century gold rush was followed by prosperity
brought on by the opening in 1924 of an oil refinery. The last
decades of the 20th century saw a boom in the tourism industry.
Aruba seceded from the Netherlands Antilles in 1986 and became a
separate, autonomous member of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Movement toward full independence was halted at Aruba's request in
1990.

Geography Aruba

Location:
Caribbean, island in the Caribbean Sea, north of Venezuela

Geographic coordinates:
12 30 N, 69 58 W

Map references:
Central America and the Caribbean

Area:
total: 193 sq km
water: 0 sq km
land: 193 sq km

Area - comparative:
slightly larger than Washington, DC

Land bound