Ministry
Troops, Border Guards

Manpower availability: males age 15-49 919,085; males fit for military
service 755,574; males reach military age (19) annually 33,323 (1995
est.)

Defense expenditures: 330 million leke, NA% of GNP (1993); note -
conversion of defense expenditures into US dollars using the current
exchange rate could produce misleading results

________________________________________________________________________

ALGERIA

@Algeria:Geography

Location: Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between
Morocco and Tunisia

Map references: Africa

Area:
total area: 2,381,740 sq km
land area: 2,381,740 sq km
comparative area: slightly less than 3.5 times the size of Texas

Land boundaries: total 6,343 km, Libya 982 km, Mali 1,376 km,
Mauritania 463 km, Morocco 1,559 km, Niger 956 km, Tunisia 965 km,
Western Sahara 42 km

Coastline: 998 km

Maritime claims:
exclusive fishing zone: 32-52 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

International disputes: Libya claims part of southeastern Algeria;
land boundary dispute with Tunisia settled in 1993

Climate: arid to semiarid; mild, wet winters with hot, dry summers
along coast; drier with cold winters and hot summers on high plateau;
sirocco is a hot, dust/sand-laden wind especially common in summer

Terrain: mostly high plateau and desert; some mountains; narrow,
discontinuous coastal plain

Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates,
uranium, lead, zinc

Land use:
arable land: 3%
permanent crops: 0%
meadows and pastures: 13%
forest and woodland: 2%
other: 82%

Irrigated land: 3,360 sq km (1989 est.)

Environment:
current issues: soil erosion from overgrazing and other poor farming
practices; desertification; dumping of raw sewage, petroleum refining
wastes, and other industrial effluents is leading to the pollution of
rivers and coastal waters; Mediterranean Sea, in particular, becoming
polluted from oil wastes, soil erosion, and fertilizer runoff;
inadequate supplies of potable water
natural hazards: mountainous areas subject to severe earthquakes;
mudslides
international agreements: party to - Climate Change, Endangered
Species, Environmental Modification, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship
Pollution, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity,
Desertification, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban

Note: second-largest country in Africa (after Sudan)

@Alge