it for military service:

males age 16-49: 1,727,974
females age 16-49: 2,093,106 (2008 est.)

Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:

male: 64,232
female: 60,788 (2008 est.)

Military expenditures:

1.4% of GDP (2005 est.)

Transnational Issues
Belarus

Disputes - international:

Boundary demarcated with Latvia and Lithuania in 2006; 1997 boundary
delimitation treaty with Ukraine remains unratified over unresolved
financial claims, preventing demarcation and diminishing border
security

Illicit drugs:

limited cultivation of opium poppy and cannabis, mostly for the
domestic market; transshipment point for illicit drugs to and via
Russia, and to the Baltics and Western Europe; a small and lightly
regulated financial center; new anti-money-laundering legislation
does not meet international standards; few investigations or
prosecutions of money-laundering activities

This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008

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

@Belgium

Introduction
Belgium

Background:

Belgium became independent from the Netherlands in 1830; it was
occupied by Germany during World Wars I and II. The country
prospered in the past half century as a modern, technologically
advanced European state and member of NATO and the EU. Tensions
between the Dutch-speaking Flemings of the north and the
French-speaking Walloons of the south have led in recent years to
constitutional amendments granting these regions formal recognition
and autonomy.

Geography
Belgium

Location:

Western Europe, bordering the North Sea, between France and the
Netherlands

Geographic coordinates:

50 50 N, 4 00 E

Map references:

Europe

Area:

total: 30,528 sq km
land: 30,278 sq km
water: 250 sq km

Area - comparative:

about the size of Maryland

Land boundaries:

total: 1,385 km
border countries: France 620 km, Germany 167 km, Luxembourg 148 km,
Netherlands 450 km

Coastline:

66.5 km

Maritime claims:

territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: geographic coordinates define outer limit
continental shelf: median line with neighbors

Climate:

temperate; mild winters, cool summers; rainy, humid, cloudy

Terrain:

flat coastal plains in northwest, central rolling hills, rugged
mountains of Ardennes Forest in southeast

Elevation extremes: