Military branches: People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) (includes
Ground Forces, Navy, and Air Force), Coast Guard
Military manpower—military age: 17 years of age
Military manpower—availability:
males age 15-49: 20,492,806 (1999 est.)
Military manpower—fit for military service:
males age 15-49: 12,933,945 (1999 est.)
Military manpower—reaching military age annually:
males: 877,714 (1999 est.)
Military expenditures—dollar figure: $650 million (1997)
Military expenditures—percent of GDP: 9.3% (1997)
Transnational Issues
Disputes—international: maritime boundary with Cambodia not defined; involved in a complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with China, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, and possibly Brunei; maritime boundary with Thailand resolved, August 1997; maritime boundary dispute with China in the Gulf of Tonkin; Paracel Islands occupied by China but claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan; offshore islands and sections of boundary with Cambodia are in dispute; sections of land border with China are indefinite
Illicit drugs: minor producer of opium poppy with 3,000 hectares cultivated in 1998, capable of producing 20 metric tons of opium; probably minor transit point for Southeast Asian heroin destined for the US and Europe; growing opium/heroin addiction; possible small-scale heroin production