Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 2,847 (2001 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $17 million (FY98/99)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 2.4% (FY98/99)

Belize Transnational Issues

Disputes - international: Guatemala periodically asserts claims to territory in southern Belize; to deter cross-border squatting, both states in 2000 agreed to a "line of adjacency" based on the de facto boundary, which is not recognized by Guatemala

Illicit drugs: minor transshipment point for cocaine; small-scale illicit producer of cannabis for the international drug trade; minor money-laundering center

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@Benin

Benin Introduction

Background: Dahomey gained its independence from France in 1960; the name was changed to Benin in 1975. From 1974 to 1989 the country was a socialist state; free elections were reestablished in 1991.