Military
Military branches: People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) (includes Ground
Forces, Navy, and Air Force)
Military manpower - military age: 17 years of age
Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 19,172,473 (1996 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service: males: 12,123,118 (1997 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males : 802,154 (1997 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $544 million (1995)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 2.7% (1995)
Transnational Issues
Disputes - international: maritime boundary with Cambodia not defined; involved in a complex dispute over the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea with China, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, and possibly Brunei; unresolved maritime boundary with Thailand; maritime boundary dispute with China in the Gulf of Tonkin; Paracel Islands in the South China Sea occupied by China but claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan; offshore islands and sections of boundary with Cambodia are in dispute