s of age (2004 est.)

Algeria
19-30 years of age for compulsory military service;
conscript service obligation - 18 months (October 2003)

Angola
17 years of age for compulsory military service; conscript
service obligation - 2 years plus time for training (2001)

Antigua and Barbuda
18 years of age (est.); no conscription (2001)

Argentina
18 years of age for voluntary military service; no
conscription (2001)

Armenia
18-27 years of age for compulsory military service,
conscript service obligation - 12 months; 18 years of age for
voluntary military service (May 2004)

Australia
16 years of age for voluntary service (2001)

Austria
18 years of age for compulsory military service; 16 years of
age for voluntary service; from 2007, at the earliest, compulsory
military service obligation will be reduced from 8 months to 6 (June
2004)

Azerbaijan
18 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military
service; law passed December 2001 raises maximum conscription age
from 28 to 35 (December 2001)

Bahamas, The
18 years of age (est.); no conscription (2001)

Bahrain
18 years of age for voluntary military service (2001)

Bangladesh
16 years of age for voluntary military service; no
conscription (2001)

Barbados
18 years of age for voluntary military service; volunteers
at earlier age with parental consent; no conscription (2001)

Belarus
18-27 years of age for compulsory military service;
conscript service obligation - 18 months (May 2004)

Belgium
16 years of age for voluntary military service (2001)

Belize
18 years of age for voluntary military service; laws allow
for conscription only if volunteers are insufficient; conscription
has never been implemented; volunteers typically outnumber available
positions by 3:1 (2001)

Benin
21 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service;
in practice, volunteers may be taken at the age of 18; both sexes
are eligible for military service; conscript tour of duty - 18
months (2004)

Bhutan
18 years of age for voluntary military service; no
conscription (2001)

Bolivia
18 years of age for voluntary military service; when annual
number of volunteers falls short of goal, compulsory recruitment is
effected, including conscription of boys as young as 14; one
estimate holds that 40% of the armed forces are under the age of 18,
with 50% of those under the age of