se Force, Republic Security Forces
(internal and border troops)

Manpower availability: males age 15-49 2,550,500; males fit for
military service 1,999,138; males reach military age (18) annually
71,808 (1995 est.)

Defense expenditures: 56.5 billion rubles, NA% of GDP (1993 est.);
note - conversion of the military budget into US dollars using the
current exchange rate could produce misleading results

________________________________________________________________________

BELGIUM

@Belgium:Geography

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

Map references: Europe

Area:
total area: 30,510 sq km
land area: 30,230 sq km
comparative area: slightly larger than Maryland

Land boundaries: total 1,385 km, 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

International disputes: none

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

Natural resources: coal, natural gas

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

Irrigated land: 10 sq km (1989 est.)

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
natural hazards: flooding is a threat in areas of reclaimed coastal
land, protected from the sea by concrete dikes
international agreements: party to - Air Pollution, Air
Pollution-Sulphur 85, Antarctic Treaty, Endangered Species,
Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Marine
Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship
Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified -
Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air
Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental
Protocol, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Law of the Sea

Note: crossroads of Western Europe; majority of West European capitals
within 1,000 km of Brussel