Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
3.1% (FY99) (2004)
Transnational Issues Lebanon
Disputes - international:
intense international pressure prompts the removal of Syrian troops
and intelligence personnel from Lebanon; Lebanese Government claims
Shab'a Farms area of Israeli-occupied Golan Heights; the roughly
2,000-strong UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has been in place
since 1978
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin): 394,532 (Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA))
IDPs: 300,000 (1975-90 civil war, Israeli invasions) (2004)
Illicit drugs:
cannabis cultivation dramatically reduced to 2,500 hectares in
2002; opium poppy cultivation minimal; small amounts of Latin
American cocaine and Southwest Asian heroin transit country on way
to European markets and for Middle Eastern consumption
This page was last updated on 20 October, 2005
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@Lesotho
Introduction Lesotho
Background:
Basutoland was renamed the Kingdom of Lesotho upon independence
from the UK in 1966. King MOSHOESHOE was exiled in 1990, but
returned to Lesotho in 1992 and reinstated in 1995. Constitutional
government was restored in 1993 after 23 years of military rule. In
1998, violent protests and a military mutiny following a contentious
election prompted a brief but bloody intervention by South African
and Botswanan military forces under the aegis of the Southern
African Development Community. Constitutional reforms have since
restored political stability; peaceful parliamentary elections were
held in 2002.