98)

Military expenditures--percent of GDP: 1.2% (FY97/98)

Transnational Issues

Disputes--international: maritime boundary disputes with the US
(Dixon Entrance, Beaufort Sea, Strait of Juan de Fuca, Machias Seal
Island)

Illicit drugs: illicit producer of cannabis for the domestic drug
market; use of hydroponics technology permits growers to plant large
quantities of high-quality marijuana indoors; growing role as a
transit point for heroin and cocaine entering the US market

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

@Cape Verde
----------

Geography

Location: Western Africa, group of islands in the North Atlantic
Ocean, west of Senegal

Geographic coordinates: 16 00 N, 24 00 W

Map references: World

Area:
total: 4,030 sq km
land: 4,030 sq km
water: 0 sq km

Area--comparative: slightly larger than Rhode Island

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 965 km

Maritime claims: measured from claimed archipelagic baselines
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: temperate; warm, dry summer; precipitation meager and
very erratic

Terrain: steep, rugged, rocky, volcanic

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mt. Fogo 2,829 m (a volcano on Fogo Island)

Natural resources: salt, basalt rock, pozzuolana (a siliceous
volcanic ash used to produce hydraulic cement), limestone, kaolin,
fish

Land use:
arable land: 11%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 6%
forests and woodland: 0%
other: 83% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 30 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: prolonged droughts; harmattan wind can obscure
visibility; volcanically and seismically active

Environment--current issues: overgrazing of livestock and improper
land use such as the cultivation of crops on steep slopes has led to
soil erosion; demand for wood used as fuel has resulted in
deforestation; desertification; environmental damage has threatened
several species of birds and reptiles; overfishing

Environment--international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification,
Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear
Test Ban
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography--note: strategic location 500 km from west coast of
Africa near major north-south sea routes; important communicatio