y manpower-reaching military age annually:
males: 240,506 (1998 est.)
Military expenditures-dollar figure: $902 million (1996)
Military expenditures-percent of GDP: 1.4% (1996)
@Venezuela:Transnational Issues
Disputes-international: claims all of Guyana west of the Essequibo
River; maritime boundary dispute with Colombia in the Gulf of
Venezuela
Illicit drugs: illicit producer of cannabis, opium, and coca leaf for
the international drug trade on a small scale; however, large
quantities of cocaine and heroin transit the country from Colombia;
important money-laundering hub; active eradication program primarily
targeting opium
______________________________________________________________________
VIETNAM
@Vietnam:Geography
Location: Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, Gulf of
Tonkin, and South China Sea, alongside China, Laos, and Cambodia
Geographic coordinates: 16 00 N, 106 00 E
Map references: Southeast Asia
Area:
total: 329,560 sq km
land: 325,360 sq km
water: 4,200 sq km
Area-comparative: slightly larger than New Mexico
Land boundaries:
total: 4,639 km
border countries: Cambodia 1,228 km, China 1,281 km, Laos 2,130 km
Coastline: 3,444 km (excludes islands)
Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 24 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: tropical in south; monsoonal in north with hot, rainy season
(mid-May to mid-September) and warm, dry season (mid-October to
mid-March)
Terrain: low, flat delta in south and north; central highlands; hilly,
mountainous in far north and northwest
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: South China Sea 0 m
highest point: Ngoc Linh 3,143 m
Natural resources: phosphates, coal, manganese, bauxite, chromate,
offshore oil and gas deposits, forests
Land use:
arable land: 17%
permanent crops: 4%
permanent pastures: 1%
forests and woodland: 30%
other: 48% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 18,600 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: occasional typhoons (May to January) with extensive
flooding
Environment-current issues: logging and slash-and-burn agricultural
practices contribute to deforestation and soil degradation; water
pollution and overfishing threaten marine life populations;
groundwater contamination limits potable water supply; growing urban
industrialization and population migration are rapidly degrading
environment in Hanoi and
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