Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$9,801.7 million (2003)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
1.1% (2003)
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; working toward greater
cooperation with US in monitoring people and commodities crossing
the border; uncontested sovereignty dispute with Denmark over Hans
Island in the Kennedy Channel between Ellesmere Island and Greenland
Illicit drugs:
illicit producer of cannabis for the domestic drug market and
export to US; 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 20 October, 2005
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@Cape Verde
Introduction Cape Verde
Background:
The uninhabited islands were discovered and colonized by the
Portuguese in the 15th century; Cape Verde 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.