Military expenditures - dollar figure: $2,424,400,000 (FY01)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 12.2% (FY01)

Transnational Issues Oman

Disputes - international: Oman signed a boundary treaty with the UAE in 1999, but the completed boundary is not expected until the end of 2002; undefined segments of the Oman-UAE boundary remain with Ra's al-Khaymah and Ash Shariqah (Sharjah) emirates, including the Musandam Peninsula, where an administrative boundary substitutes for an international boundary

This page was last updated on 1 January 2002

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Maldives

Introduction

Maldives

Background: The Maldives were long a sultanate, first under Dutch and then under British protection. They became a republic in 1968, three years after independence. Tourism and fishing are being developed on the archipelago.