,523 m: 3
under 914 m: 18 (1997 est.)

Heliports: 2 (1997 est.)

@Israel:Military

Military branches: Israel Defense Forces (includes ground, naval, and
air components), Pioneer Fighting Youth (Nahal), Frontier Guard, Chen
(women); note-historically there have been no separate Israeli
military services

Military manpower-military age: 18 years of age

Military manpower-availability:
males age 15-49: 1,446,634
females age 15-49: 1,414,898 (1998 est.)

Military manpower-fit for military service:
males: 1,183,989
females: 1,153,670 (1998 est.)

Military manpower-reaching military age annually:
males: 50,824
females: 48,661 (1998 est.)

Military expenditures-dollar figure: $9.3 billion (1997)

Military expenditures-percent of GDP: 9.5% (1997)

@Israel:Transnational Issues

Disputes-international: West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli-occupied
with current status subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim
Agreement-permanent status to be determined through further
negotiation; Golan Heights is Israeli-occupied; Israeli troops in
southern Lebanon since June 1982

Illicit drugs: increasingly concerned about cocaine and heroin abuse
and trafficking

______________________________________________________________________

ITALY

@Italy:Geography

Location: Southern Europe, a peninsula extending into the central
Mediterranean Sea, northeast of Tunisia

Geographic coordinates: 42 50 N, 12 50 E

Map references: Europe

Area:
total: 301,230 sq km
land: 294,020 sq km
water: 7,210 sq km
note: includes Sardinia and Sicily

Area-comparative: slightly larger than Arizona

Land boundaries:
total: 1,932.2 km
border countries: Austria 430 km, France 488 km, Holy See (Vatican
City) 3.2 km, San Marino 39 km, Slovenia 232 km, Switzerland 740 km

Coastline: 7,600 km

Maritime claims:
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: predominantly Mediterranean; Alpine in far north; hot, dry in
south

Terrain: mostly rugged and mountainous; some plains, coastal lowlands

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m
highest point: Mont Blanc 4,807 m

Natural resources: mercury, potash, marble, sulfur, dwindling natural
gas and crude oil reserves, fish, coal

Land use:
arable land: 31%
permanent crops: 10%
permanent pastures: 15%
forests and woodland: 23%
other: 21% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 27,100 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: