Military service age and obligation:
18 years of age for compulsory military service, with 12-month
service obligation; 16 years of age for volunteers (2002)

Manpower available for military service:
males age 18-49: 1,391,278
females age 18-49: 1,542,323 (2005 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:
males age 18-49: 960,315
females age 18-49: 1,310,466 (2005 est.)

Manpower reaching military service age annually:
males age 18-49: 70,286
females age 18-49: 69,526 (2005 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$161.7 million (2005 est.)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
1% (2005 est.)

Transnational Issues El Salvador

Disputes - international:
in 1992, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled on the
delimitation of "bolsones" (disputed areas) along the El
Salvador-Honduras boundary, but despite Organization of American
States (OAS) intervention and a further ICJ ruling in 2003, full
demarcation of the border remains stalled; the 1992 ICJ ruling
advised a tripartite resolution to a maritime boundary in the Gulf
of Fonseca advocating Honduran access to the Pacific; El Salvador
continues to claim tiny Conejo Island, not identified in the ICJ
decision, off Honduras in the Gulf of Fonseca

Illicit drugs:
transshipment point for cocaine; small amounts of marijuana
produced for local consumption; domestic cocaine abuse on the rise

This page was last updated on 8 February, 2007

======================================================================

@Equatorial Guinea

Introduction Equatorial Guinea

Background:
Equatorial Guinea gained independence in 1968 after 190 years of
Spanish rule. This tiny country, composed of a mainland portion plus
five inhabited islands, is one of the smallest on the African
continent. President Teodoro OBIANG NGUEMA MBASOGO has ruled the
country since 1979 when he seized power in a coup. Although
nominally a constitutional democracy since 1991, the 1996 and 2002
presidential elections - as well as the 1999 and 2004 legislative
elections - were widely seen as flawed. The president exerts almost
total control over the political system and has discouraged
political opposition. Equatorial Guinea has experienced rapid
economic growth due to the discovery of large offshore oil reserves,
and in the last decade has become Sub-Saharan Africa's third largest
oil exporter. Des