manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 6,647,718 (2002 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 4,786,849
(2002 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 246,185
(2002 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $934 million (FY99)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 0.9% (FY99)

Transnational Issues Venezuela

Disputes - international: claims all of Guyana west of the Essequibo
(river); maritime boundary dispute with Colombia in the Gulf of Venezuela;
several Caribbean states protest Venezuela's claim to Islas des Aves
(Bird Islands), 565 km from Venezuelan mainland

Illicit drugs: small-scale illicit producer of opium and coca for the
processing of opiates and coca derivatives; however, large quantities of
cocaine, heroin, and marijuana transit the country from Colombia bound
for US and Europe; important money-laundering center; active eradication
program primarily targeting opium; increasing signs of drug-related
activities by Colombian insurgents on border

This page was last updated on 1 January 2002

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British Virgin Islands

Introduction

British Virgin Islands

Background: First settled by the Dutch in 1648, the islands were annexed
in 1672 by the English. The economy is closely tied to the larger and
more populous US Virgin Islands to the west; the US dollar is the legal
currency.

Geography British Virgin Islands

Location: Caribbean, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic
Ocean, east of Puerto Rico

Geographic coordinates: 18 30 N, 64 30 W

Map references: Central America and the Caribbean

Area: total: 153 sq km note: comprised of 16 inhabited and more than 20
0 sq km land:
Area - comparative: about 0.9 times the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 80 km

Maritime claims: exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 3 NM

Climate: subtropical; humid; temperatures moderated by trade winds

Terrain: coral islands relatively flat; volcanic islands steep, hilly

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point:
Mount Sage 521 m

Natural resources: NEGL

Land use: arable land: 20% permanent crops: 7% other: 73% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: NA sq km

Natural hazards: hurricanes and tropical storms (July to October)

Environment - current issues: limited natural f