y, but included by the Chinese as part of the "armed
forces" and considered to be an adjunct to the PLA in wartime)

Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age

Military manpower - availability:
males age 15-49: 363,050,980 (2000 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service:
males age 15-49: 199,178,361 (2000 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
males: 10,839,039 (2000 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $12.608 billion (FY99); note -
Western analysts believe that China's real defense spending is several
times higher than the official figure because a number of significant
items are funded elsewhere

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.2% (FY99)

@China:Transnational Issues

Disputes - international: boundary with India in dispute; dispute over
at least two small sections of the boundary with Russia remain to be
settled, despite 1997 boundary agreement; portions of the boundary
with Tajikistan are indefinite; 33-km section of boundary with North
Korea in the Paektu-san (mountain) area is indefinite; involved in a
complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with Malaysia, Philippines,
Taiwan, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei; maritime boundary dispute with
Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin; Paracel Islands occupied by China, but
claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan; claims Japanese-administered
Senkaku-shoto (Senkaku Islands/Diaoyu Tai), as does Taiwan; agreement
on land border with Vietnam was signed in December 1999, but details
of alignment have not yet been made public

Illicit drugs: major transshipment point for heroin produced in the
Golden Triangle; growing domestic drug abuse problem

______________________________________________________________________

CHRISTMAS ISLAND

@Christmas Island:Introduction

Background: This island was annexed by the UK in 1888, following the
discovery of phosphate rock.

@Christmas Island:Geography

Location: Southeastern Asia, island in the Indian Ocean, south of
Indonesia

Geographic coordinates: 10 30 S, 105 40 E

Map references: Southeast Asia

Area:
total: 135 sq km
land: 135 sq km
water: 0 sq km

Area - comparative: about 0.7 times the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 138.9 km

Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 12 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 3 nm

Climate: tropical; heat and humidity moderated by trade winds

Terrain: steep cliffs along coast rise abrupt