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Military Netherlands

Military branches:
Royal Netherlands Army, Royal Netherlands Navy (includes Naval Air
Service and Marine Corps), Royal Netherlands Air Force (Koninklijke
Luchtmacht, KLu), Royal Military Police, Defense Interservice
Command (DICO) (2006)

Military service age and obligation:
20 years of age for an all-volunteer force (2004)

Manpower available for military service:
males age 20-49: 3,557,918
females age 20-49: 3,470,377 (2005 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:
males age 20-49: 2,856,691
females age 20-49: 2,786,495 (2005 est.)

Manpower reaching military service age annually:
males age 18-49: 99,934
females age 20-49: 95,818 (2005 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$9.408 billion (2004)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
1.6% (2004)

Transnational Issues Netherlands

Disputes - international:
none

Illicit drugs:
major European producer of ecstasy, illicit amphetamines, and other
synthetic drugs; important gateway for cocaine, heroin, and hashish
entering Europe; major source of US-bound ecstasy; large financial
sector vulnerable to money laundering

This page was last updated on 8 February, 2007

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@Netherlands Antilles

Introduction Netherlands Antilles

Background:
Once the center of the Caribbean slave trade, the island of Curacao
was hard hit by the abolition of slavery in 1863. Its prosperity
(and that of neighboring Aruba) was restored in the early 20th
century with the construction of oil refineries to service the newly
discovered Venezuelan oil fields. The island of Saint Martin is
shared with France; its southern portion is named Sint Maarten and
is part of the Netherlands Antilles; its northern portion is called
Saint-Martin and is part of Guadeloupe (France).

Geography Netherlands Antilles

Location:
Caribbean, two island groups in the Caribbean Sea - composed of
five islands, Curacao and Bonaire located off the coast of
Venezuela, and St. Maarten, Saba, and St. Eustatius lie east of the
US Virgin Islands

Geographic coordinates:
12 15 N, 68 45 W

Map references:
Central America and the Caribbean

Area:
total: 960 sq km
land: 960 sq km
water: 0 sq km
note: includes Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint
Maarten (Dutch part of the island of Sai