Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
1.9% (FY01)
Transnational Issues Lithuania
Disputes - international:
Lithuania and Russia committed to demarcating their boundary in
2006 in accordance with the land and maritime treaty ratified by
Russia in May 2003 and by Lithuania in 1999; Lithuania operates a
simplified transit regime for Russian nationals traveling from the
Kaliningrad coastal exclave into Russia, while still conforming, as
a EU member state having an external border with a non-EU member, to
strict Schengen border rules; the Latvian parliament has not
ratified its 1998 maritime boundary treaty with Lithuania, primarily
due to concerns over potential hydrocarbons; as of January 2007,
ground demarcation of the boundary with Belarus was complete and
mapped with final ratification documents in preparation
Illicit drugs:
transshipment point for opiates and other illicit drugs from
Southwest Asia, Latin America, and Western Europe to Western Europe
and Scandinavia; limited production of methamphetamine and ecstasy;
susceptible to money laundering despite changes to banking
legislation
This page was last updated on 8 February, 2007
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@Luxembourg
Introduction Luxembourg
Background:
Founded in 963, Luxembourg became a grand duchy in 1815 and an
independent state under the Netherlands. It lost more than half of
its territory to Belgium in 1839, but gained a larger measure of
autonomy. Full independence was attained in 1867. Overrun by Germany
in both World Wars, it ended its neutrality in 1948 when it entered
into the Benelux Customs Union and when it joined NATO the following
year. In 1957, Luxembourg became one of the six founding countries
of the European Economic Community (later the European Union), and
in 1999 it joined the euro currency area.
Geography Luxembourg