ilitary branches:
Royal Bhutan Army, Royal Bodyguard, National Militia
Military manpower - military age and obligation:
18 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription
(2001)
Military manpower - availability:
males age 15-49: 544,560 (2004 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service:
males age 15-49: 290,843 (2004 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
males: 23,379 (2004 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$11.2 million (2003)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
1.9% (2003)
Transnational Issues Bhutan
Disputes - international:
approximately 100,000 Bhutanese refugees living in Nepal, 90% of
whom reside in seven UN Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees
camps, place decades-long strains on Nepal
This page was last updated on 10 February, 2005
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@Bolivia
Introduction Bolivia
Background:
Bolivia, named after independence fighter Simon BOLIVAR, broke away
from Spanish rule in 1825; much of its subsequent history has
consisted of a series of nearly 200 coups and counter-coups.
Comparatively democratic civilian rule was established in 1982, but
leaders have faced difficult problems of deep-seated poverty, social
unrest, and drug production. Current goals include attracting
foreign investment, strengthening the educational system, resolving
disputes with coca growers over Bolivia's counterdrug efforts, and
waging an anticorruption campaign.
Geography Bolivia
Location:
Central South America, southwest of Brazil
Geographic coordinates:
17 00 S, 65 00 W
Map references:
South America
Area:
total: 1,098,580 sq km
water: 14,190 sq km
land: 1,084,390 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly less than three times the size of Montana
Land boundaries:
total: 6,743 km
border countries: Argentina 832 km, Brazil 3,400 km, Chile 861 km,
Paraguay 750 km, Peru 900 km
Coastline:
0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims:
none (landlocked)
Climate:
varies with altitude; humid and tropical to cold and semiarid
Terrain:
rugged Andes Mountains with a highland plateau (Altiplano), hills,
lowland plains of the Amazon Basin
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Rio Paraguay 90 m
highest point: Nevado Sajama 6,542 m
Natural resources:
tin, natural gas, petroleum, zin
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