Manpower available for military service:
males age 16-49: 14,607,724
females age 16-49: 14,028,738 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16-49: 12,046,268
females age 16-49: 11,555,893 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$42,836.5 million (2003)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
2.4% (2003)
Transnational Issues United Kingdom
Disputes - international:
in 2002, Gibraltar residents voted overwhelmingly by referendum to
reject any "shared sovereignty" arrangement between the UK and
Spain; the Government of Gibraltar insists on equal participation in
talks between the two countries; Spain disapproves of UK plans to
grant Gibraltar greater autonomy; Mauritius and Seychelles claim the
Chagos Archipelago (British Indian Ocean Territory), and its former
inhabitants since their eviction in 1965; most Chagossians reside in
Mauritius, and in 2001 were granted UK citizenship, where some have
since resettled; in May 2006, the High Court of London reversed the
UK Government's 2004 orders of council that banned habitation on the
islands; UK rejects sovereignty talks requested by Argentina, which
still claims the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) and South Georgia
and the South Sandwich Islands; territorial claim in Antarctica
(British Antarctic Territory) overlaps Argentine claim and partially
overlaps Chilean claim; Iceland, the UK, and Ireland dispute
Denmark's claim that the Faroe Islands' continental shelf extends
beyond 200 nm
Illicit drugs:
producer of limited amounts of synthetic drugs and synthetic
precursor chemicals; major consumer of Southwest Asian heroin, Latin
American cocaine, and synthetic drugs; money-laundering center
This page was last updated on 8 February, 2007
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@United States