Disputes - international:
southeast Asian states have enhanced border surveillance to check
the spread of avian flu; Cambodia and Laos protest Vietnamese
squatters and armed encroachments along border; after years of
Cambodia claiming Vietnam had moved or destroyed boundary markers,
in 2005, after much domestic debate, Cambodia ratified an agreement
with Vietnam that settled all but a small portion of the land
boundary; establishment of a maritime boundary with Cambodia is
hampered by unresolved dispute over offshore islands; in 2004,
Laotian-Vietnamese boundary commission agrees to erect missing
markers in two adjoining provinces; demarcation of the China-Vietnam
boundary proceeds slowly and although the maritime boundary
delimitation and fisheries agreements were ratified in June 2004,
implementation has been delayed; China occupies Paracel Islands also
claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan; involved in complex dispute with
China, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, and possibly Brunei over the
Spratly Islands; the 2002 "Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in
the South China Sea" has eased tensions but falls short of a legally
binding "code of conduct" desired by several of the disputants;
Vietnam continues to expand construction of facilities in the
Spratly Islands; in March 2005, the national oil companies of China,
the Philippines, and Vietnam signed a joint accord to conduct marine
seismic activities in the Spratly Islands
Illicit drugs:
minor producer of opium poppy; probable minor transit point for
Southeast Asian heroin; government continues to face domestic
opium/heroin/methamphetamine addiction problems despite longstanding
crackdowns
This page was last updated on 8 February, 2007
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@Virgin Islands
Introduction Virgin Islands
Background: During the 17th century, the archipelago was divided into two territorial units, one English and the other Danish. Sugarcane, produced by slave labor, drove the islands' economy during the 18th and early 19th centuries. In 1917, the US purchased the Danish portion, which had been in economic decline since the abolition of slavery in 1848.
Geography Virgin Islands
Location:
Caribbean, islands between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic
Ocean, east of Puerto Rico
Geographic coordinates:
18 20 N, 64 50 W