Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$7.861 billion (FY01/02)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
1.1% (FY01/02)
Transnational Issues Canada
Disputes - international:
managed maritime boundary disputes with the US at Dixon Entrance,
Beaufort Sea, Strait of Juan de Fuca, and around the disputed
Machias Seal Island and North Rock; uncontested dispute with Denmark
over Hans Island sovereignty in the Kennedy Channel between
Ellesmere Island and Greenland
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; transit point for heroin and cocaine
entering the US market; vulnerable to narcotics money laundering
because of its mature financial services sector
This page was last updated on 18 December, 2003
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@Cape Verde
Introduction Cape Verde
Background:
The uninhabited islands were discovered and colonized by the
Portuguese in the 15th century; they subsequently became a trading
center for African slaves and later an important coaling and
resupply stop for whaling and transatlantic shipping. Following
independence in 1975, and a tentative interest in unification with
Guinea-Bissau, a one-party system was established and maintained
until multi-party elections were held in 1990. Cape Verde continues
to exhibit one of Africa's most stable democratic governments.
Repeated droughts during the second half of the 20th century caused
significant hardship and prompted heavy emigration. As a result,
Cape Verde's expatriate population is greater than its domestic one.
Most Cape Verdeans have both African and Portuguese antecedents.