y manpower--military age: 19 years of age

Military manpower--availability:
males age 15-49: 4,060,995 (1999 est.)

Military manpower--fit for military service:
males age 15-49: 2,271,539 (1999 est.)

Military manpower--reaching military age annually:
males: 188,546 (1999 est.)

Military expenditures--dollar figure: $800 million-$1 billion
(1997 est.); note--based on official budget data that understate
actual spending

Military expenditures--percent of GDP: 8% (1995 est.)

Transnational Issues

Disputes--international: Golan Heights is Israeli occupied;
dispute with upstream riparian Turkey over Turkish water development
plans for the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers; Syrian troops in
northern, central, and eastern Lebanon since October 1976

Illicit drugs: a transit point for opiates and hashish bound for
regional and Western markets

======================================================================

@Taiwan
------

Introduction

Background: In 1895, military defeat forced China to cede Taiwan
to Japan, however it reverted to Chinese control after World War II.
Following the Communist victory on the mainland in 1949, 2 million
Nationalists fled to Taiwan and established a government that over
five decades has gradually democratized and incorporated native
Taiwanese within its structure. Throughout this period, the island
has prospered as one of East Asia's economic tigers. The dominant
political issue continues to be the relationship between Taiwan and
Mainland China and the question of eventual reunification.

Geography

Location: Eastern Asia, islands bordering the East China Sea,
Philippine Sea, South China Sea, and Taiwan Strait, north of the
Philippines, off the southeastern coast of China

Geographic coordinates: 23 30 N, 121 00 E

Map references: Southeast Asia

Area:
total: 35,980 sq km
land: 32,260 sq km
water: 3,720 sq km
note: includes the Pescadores, Matsu, and Quemoy

Area--comparative: slightly smaller than Maryland and Delaware
combined

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 1,448 km

Maritime claims:
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: tropical; marine; rainy season during southwest monsoon
(June to August); cloudiness is persistent and extensive all year

Terrain: eastern two-thirds mostly rugged mountains; flat to
gently rolling plains in west