Force (Armee de
l'Air Congolaise), Navy, Gendarmerie, Republican Guard (2005)

Military service age and obligation:
18 years of age for voluntary military service (2001)

Manpower available for military service:
males age 18-49: 688,628
females age 18-49: 685,388 (2005 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:
males age 18-49: 406,016
females age 18-49: 394,745 (2005 est.)

Manpower reaching military service age annually:
males age 18-49: 38,464
females age 18-49: 38,082 (2005 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$85.22 million (2005 est.)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
1.4% (2005 est.)

Transnational Issues Congo, Republic of the

Disputes - international:
about 7,000 Congolese refugees fleeing internal civil conflicts
since the mid-1990s still reside in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo; the location of the boundary in the broad Congo River with
the Democratic Republic of the Congo is indefinite except in the
Pool Malebo/Stanley Pool area

Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin): 56,380 (Democratic Republic of
Congo), 6,478 (Rwanda)
IDPs: 48,000 (multiple civil wars since 1992; most IDPs are ethnic
Lari) (2006)

This page was last updated on 8 February, 2007

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@Cook Islands

Introduction Cook Islands

Background:
Named after Captain COOK, who sighted them in 1770, the islands
became a British protectorate in 1888. By 1900, administrative
control was transferred to New Zealand; in 1965 residents chose
self-government in free association with New Zealand. The emigration
of skilled workers to New Zealand and government deficits are
continuing problems.

Geography Cook Islands

Location:
Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, about
one-half of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand

Geographic coordinates:
21 14 S, 159 46 W

Map references:
Oceania

Area:
total: 236.7 sq km
land: 236.7 sq km
water: 0 sq km

Area - comparative:
1.3 times the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries:
0 km

Coastline:
120 km

Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin

Climate:
tropical oceanic; moderated by trade winds; a dry season from April
to November and a mo