tanker 2, container 10,
liquefied gas 15, petroleum tanker 12, roll on/roll off 4
foreign-owned: 10 (Denmark 4, Greece 4, UK 2)
registered in other countries: 113 (Antigua and Barbuda 4, Bahamas
13, Bermuda 4, Cyprus 1, French Southern and Antarctic Lands 6,
Georgia 1, Gibraltar 2, Greece 12, Hong Kong 3, Luxembourg 9, Malta
10, Mozambique 2, Netherlands 2, Netherlands Antilles 4, Panama 11,
Portugal 8, Russia 4, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 3, Singapore
12, Sweden 2) (2006)

Ports and terminals:
Antwerp, Brussels, Gent, Liege, Oostende, Zeebrugge

Military Belgium

Military branches:
Belgian Armed Forces: Land, Naval, and Air Operations Commands
(2005)

Military service age and obligation:
16 years of age for voluntary military service; women comprise
approx. 7% of the Belgian armed forces (2001)

Manpower available for military service:
males age 16-49: 2,436,736
females age 16-49: 2,369,463 (2005 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16-49: 1,998,003
females age 16-49: 1,940,918 (2005 est.)

Manpower reaching military service age annually:
males age 18-49: 64,263
females age 16-49: 61,402 (2005 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$3.999 billion (2003)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
1.3% (2003)

Transnational Issues Belgium

Disputes - international:
none

Illicit drugs:
growing producer of synthetic drugs; transit point for US-bound
ecstasy; source of precursor chemicals for South American cocaine
processors; transshipment point for cocaine, heroin, hashish, and
marijuana entering Western Europe; despite a strengthening of
legislation, the country remains vulnerable to money laundering
related to narcotics, automobiles, alcohol, and tobacco

This page was last updated on 8 February, 2007

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@Belize

Introduction Belize

Background:
Belize was the site of several Mayan city states until their
decline at the end of the first millennium A.D. The British and
Spanish disputed the region in the 17th and 18th centuries; it
formally became the colony of British Honduras in 1854. Territorial
disputes between the UK and Guatemala delayed the independence of
Belize until 1981. Guatemala refused to recognize the new nation
until 1992. Tourism has become the mainstay of the economy. Current
concerns