ervice:
males: 2,083,696 (1997 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
males: 77,496 (1997 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: 2.4 trillion rubles (1997);
note - conversion of defense expenditures into US dollars using the
current exchange rate could produce misleading results

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: NA%

Transnational Issues

Disputes - international: treaty with Lithuania defining the border
awaits demarcation

Illicit drugs: limited cultivation of opium poppy and cannabis, mostly
for the domestic market; transshipment point for illicit drugs to
Russia and Western Europe
______________________________________________________________________

BELGIUM

@Belgium:Geography

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 : 30,510 sq km
land: 30,230 sq km
water: 280 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: 64 km

Maritime claims:
continental shelf : median line with neighbors
exclusive fishing zone: median line with neighbors (extends about 68
km from coast)
territorial sea: 12 nm

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:
lowest point: North Sea 0 m
highest point : Signal de Botrange 694 m

Natural resources: coal, natural gas

Land use:
arable land : 24%
permanent crops: 1%
permanent pastures: 20%
forests and woodland: 21%
other: 34%

Irrigated land: 10 sq km including Luxembourg (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: flooding is a threat in areas of reclaimed coastal
land, protected from the sea by concrete dikes

Environment - current issues: Meuse River, a major source of drinking
water, polluted from steel production wastes; other rivers polluted by
animal wastes and fertilizers; industrial air pollution contributes to
acid rain in neighboring countries

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85,
Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity,
Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification,
Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Marine Lif