fense Force: Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force,
Border Guard, Home Guard (Zemessardze) (2005)

Military service age and obligation:
19 years of age for compulsory military service; conscript service
obligation - 12 months; 18 years of age for volunteers; plans are to
phase out conscription, tentatively moving to an all-professional
force by 2007; under current law, every citizen is entitled to serve
in the armed forces for life (2004)

Manpower available for military service:
males age 19-49: 517,713
females age 19-49: 519,631 (2005 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:
males age 19-49: 361,098
females age 19-49: 422,913 (2005 est.)

Manpower reaching military service age annually:
males age 18-49: 19,137
females age 19-49: 18,505 (2005 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$87 million (FY01)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
1.2% (FY01)

Transnational Issues Latvia

Disputes - international:
Russia refuses to sign the 1997 boundary treaty due to Latvian
insistence on a unilateral clarificatory declaration referencing
Soviet occupation of Latvia and territorial losses; Russia demands
better Latvian treatment of ethnic Russians in Latvia; as of January
2007, ground demarcation of the boundary with Belarus was complete
and mapped with final ratification documentation in preparation; the
Latvian parliament has not ratified its 1998 maritime boundary
treaty with Lithuania, primarily due to concerns over oil
exploration rights; as a member state that forms part of the EU's
external border, Latvia must implement the strict Schengen border
rules with Russia

Illicit drugs:
transshipment point for opiates and cannabis from Central and
Southwest Asia to Western Europe and Scandinavia and Latin American
cocaine and some synthetics from Western Europe to CIS; despite
improved legislation, vulnerable to money laundering due to nascent
enforcement capabilities and comparatively weak regulation of
offshore companies and the gaming industry; CIS organized crime
(including counterfeiting, corruption, extortion, stolen cars, and
prostitution) accounts for most laundered proceeds

This page was last updated on 8 February, 2007

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@Lebanon

Introduction Lebanon

Background:
Following the capture of Syria from the Ottoman Empire by
Anglo-Fre