AP)
Manpower availability:
males age 15-49 10,294,211; fit for military service 6,279,190; reach
military age (18) annually 425,477 (1993 est.); obligation for service in
Citizen Force or Commandos begins at 18; black and white volunteers for
service in permanent force must be 17; national service obligation for white
conscripts is one year; figures include the so-called homelands not
recognized by the US
Defense expenditures:
exchange rate conversion - $2.9 billion, about 2.5% of GDP (FY93 budget)

*South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Header

Affiliation:
(dependent territory of the UK)

*South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Geography

Location:
in the South Atlantic Ocean, off the south Argentine coast, southeast of the
Falkland Islands
Map references:
Antarctic Region
Area:
total area:
4,066 km2
land area:
4,066 km2
comparative area:
slightly larger than Rhode Island
note:
includes Shag Rocks, Clerke Rocks, Bird Island
Land boundaries:
0 km
Coastline:
NA km
Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
International disputes:
administered by the UK, claimed by Argentina
Climate:
variable, with mostly westerly winds throughout the year, interspersed with
periods of calm; nearly all precipitation falls as snow
Terrain:
most of the islands, rising steeply from the sea, are rugged and
mountainous; South Georgia is largely barren and has steep, glacier-covered
mountains; the South Sandwich Islands are of volcanic origin with some
active volcanoes
Natural resources:
fish
Land use:
arable land:
0%
permanent crops:
0%
meadows and pastures:
0%
forest and woodland:
0%
other:
100% (largely covered by permanent ice and snow with some sparse vegetation
consisting of grass, moss, and lichen)
Irrigated land:
0 km2
Environment:
reindeer, introduced early in this century, live on South Georgia; weather
conditions generally make it difficult to approach the South Sandwich
Islands; the South Sandwich Islands are subject to active volcanism
Note:
the north coast of South Georgia has several large bays, which provide good
anchorage

*South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, People

Population:
no indigenous population; there is a small military garrison on South
Georgia, and the British Antarctic Survey has a biological station on Bird
Island; the South Sandwich Islands are uninhabited

*