Military service age and obligation: 21 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service; in practice, volunteers may be taken at the age of 18; both sexes are eligible for military service; conscript tour of duty - 18 months (2004)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 21-49: 1,295,230
females age 21-49: 1,301,936 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 21-49: 749,774
females age 21-49: 751,329 (2005 est.)
Manpower reaching military service age annually:
males age 18-49: 76,661
females: 75,068 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$100.9 million (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
2.3% (2005 est.)
Transnational Issues Benin
Disputes - international:
Benin and Burkina Faso military clash in 2006 over sections of
riverine boundary involving disputed villages and squatters; much of
Benin-Niger boundary, including tripoint with Nigeria, remains
undemarcated; in 2005, Nigeria ceded thirteen villages to Benin as a
consequence of a 2004 joint task force to resolve maritime and land
boundary disputes, but clashes among rival gangs along the border
persist; a joint boundary commission continues to resurvey the
boundary with Togo to verify Benin's claim that Togo moved boundary
stones
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin): 26,632 (Togo) (2006)
Illicit drugs:
transshipment point for narcotics associated with Nigerian
trafficking organizations and most commonly destined for Western
Europe and the US; vulnerable to money laundering due to a poorly
regulated financial infrastructure