round Forces, Air Wing (2008)

Military service age and obligation:

18 is the apparent age of voluntary military service; the official
qualifications for determining minimum age are unknown (2001)

Manpower available for military service:

males age 16-49: 487,853
females age 16-49: 464,278 (2008 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:

males age 16-49: 290,093
females age 16-49: 257,700 (2008 est.)

Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:

male: 23,007
female: 22,551 (2008 est.)

Military expenditures:

3.3% of GDP (2006)

Transnational Issues
Botswana

Disputes - international:

Botswana still struggles to seal its border from thousands of
Zimbabweans who flee economic collapse and political persecution;
Namibia has long supported, and in 2004 Zimbabwe dropped objections
to, plans between Botswana and Zambia to build a bridge over the
Zambezi River at Kazungula crossing, thereby de facto recognizing
the short, but not clearly delimited, Botswana-Zambia boundary

This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008

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@Bouvet Island

Introduction
Bouvet Island

Background:

This uninhabited volcanic island is almost entirely covered by
glaciers and is difficult to approach. It was discovered in 1739 by
a French naval officer after whom the island was named. No claim was
made until 1825, when the British flag was raised. In 1928, the UK
waived its claim in favor of Norway, which had occupied the island
the previous year. In 1971, Norway designated Bouvet Island and the
adjacent territorial waters a nature reserve. Since 1977, it has run
an automated meteorological station on the island.

Geography
Bouvet Island

Location:

island in the South Atlantic Ocean, southwest of the Cape of Good
Hope (South Africa)

Geographic coordinates:

54 26 S, 3 24 E

Map references:

Antarctic Region

Area:

total: 49 sq km
land: 49 sq km
water: 0 sq km

Area - comparative:

about 0.3 times the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries:

0 km

Coastline:

29.6 km

Maritime claims:

territorial sea: 4 nm

Climate:

antarctic

Terrain:

volcanic; coast is mostly inaccessible

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: South Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Olav Peak 935 m

Natural resources:

none

Land use:

arable land: 0