Military branches:
Bangladesh Defense Force: Bangladesh Army, Bangladesh Navy,
Bangladesh Air Force (Bangladesh Biman Bahini, BAF) (2006)
Military service age and obligation:
18 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription
(2005)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 18-49: 35,170,019 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 18-49: 26,841,255 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$1.01 billion (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
1.8% (2005 est.)
Transnational Issues Bangladesh
Disputes - international:
discussions with India remain stalled to delimit a small section of
river boundary, exchange 162 miniscule enclaves in both countries,
allocate divided villages, and stop illegal cross-border trade,
migration, violence, and transit of terrorists through the porous
border; Bangladesh resists India's attempts to fence or wall off
high-traffic sections of the porous boundary; a joint
Bangladesh-India boundary inspection in 2005 revealed 92 pillars are
missing; dispute with India over New Moore/South Talpatty/Purbasha
Island in the Bay of Bengal deters maritime boundary delimitation;
Burmese Muslim refugees strain Bangladesh's meager resources
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin): 21,053 (Burma)
IDPs: 65,000 (land conflicts, religious persecution) (2006)
Illicit drugs:
transit country for illegal drugs produced in neighboring countries