Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
1.5% (2004)
Transnational Issues Venezuela
Disputes - international:
claims all of the area west of the Essequibo River in Guyana,
preventing any discussion of a maritime boundary; Guyana has
expressed its intention to join Barbados in asserting claims before
UNCLOS that the Trinidad and Tobago's maritime boundary with
Venezuela extends into their waters; dispute with Colombia over Los
Monjes islands and maritime boundary near the Gulf of Venezuela;
Colombian-organized illegal narcotics and paramilitary activities
penetrate Venezuela's shared border region resulting in several
thousand residents migrating away from the border; US, France and
the Netherlands recognize Venezuela's claim to give full effect to
Aves Island, which creates a Venezuelan EEZ/continental shelf
extending over a large portion of the Caribbean Sea; Dominica, Saint
Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
protest Venezuela's claim that Aves Island sustains human habitation
and other states' recognition of it
Illicit drugs:
small-scale illicit producer of opium and coca for the processing
of opiates and coca derivatives; however, large quantities of
cocaine, heroin, and marijuana transit the country from Colombia
bound for US and Europe; significant narcotics-related
money-laundering activity, especially along the border with Colombia
and on Margarita Island; active eradication program primarily
targeting opium; increasing signs of drug-related activities by
Colombian insurgents on border
This page was last updated on 20 October, 2005
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@Vietnam
Introduction Vietnam
Background:
The conquest of Vietnam by France began in 1858 and was completed
by 1884. It became part of French Indochina in 1887. Independence
was declared after World War II, but the French continued to rule
until 1954 when they were defeated by Communist forces under Ho Chi
MINH, who took control of the North. US economic and military aid to
South Vietnam grew through the 1960s in an attempt to bolster the
government, but US armed forces were withdrawn following a
cease-fire agreement in 1973. Two years later, North Vietnamese
forces overran the South. Despite the return of peace, for over two
decades the country experienced little economic growth because of
conservative leadership policies. Since 2001, Vietnamese authorities
have committed to economic liberalization and enacted structural
reforms needed to modernize the economy and to produce more
competitive, export-driven industries. The country continues to
experience protests from the Montagnard ethnic minority population
of the Central Highlands over loss of land to Vietnamese settlers
and religious persecution.
Geography Vietnam