23 m: 24
under 914 m: 116 (1997 est.)

Heliports: 12 (1997 est.)

@United Kingdom:Military

Military branches: Army, Royal Navy (includes Royal Marines), Royal
Air Force

Military manpower-availability:
males age 15-49: 14,468,079 (1998 est.)

Military manpower-fit for military service:
males: 12,069,296 (1998 est.)

Military expenditures-dollar figure: $35.1 billion (FY95/96)

Military expenditures-percent of GDP: 3.1% (FY95/96)

@United Kingdom:Transnational Issues

Disputes-international: Northern Ireland question with Ireland
(historic peace agreement approved 10 April 1998); Gibraltar question
with Spain; Argentina claims Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas);
Argentina claims South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands;
Mauritius claims island of Diego Garcia in British Indian Ocean
Territory; Rockall continental shelf dispute involving Denmark,
Iceland, and Ireland (Ireland and the UK have signed a boundary
agreement in the Rockall area); territorial claim in Antarctica
(British Antarctic Territory); Seychelles claims Chagos Archipelago in
British Indian Ocean Territory

Illicit drugs: gateway country for Latin American cocaine entering the
European market; producer of synthetic drugs, precursor chemicals;
transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin; money-laundering
center

______________________________________________________________________

UNITED STATES

@United States:Geography

Location: North America, bordering both the North Atlantic Ocean and
the North Pacific Ocean, between Canada and Mexico

Geographic coordinates: 38 00 N, 97 00 W

Map references: North America

Area:
total: 9,629,091 sq km
land: 9,158,960 sq km
water: 470,131 sq km
note: includes only the 50 states and District of Columbia

Area-comparative: about one-half the size of Russia; about
three-tenths the size of Africa; about one-half the size of South
America (or slightly larger than Brazil); slightly larger than China;
about two and one-half times the size of Western Europe

Land boundaries:
total: 12,248 km
border countries: Canada 8,893 km (including 2,477 km with Alaska),
Cuba 29 km (US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay), Mexico 3,326 km
note: Guantanamo Naval Base is leased by the US and thus remains part
of Cuba

Coastline: 19,924 km

Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 12 nm
continental shelf: not specified
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: mostly temperate, but trop