Military service age and obligation:
20 years of age for conscript military service; 12-month service
obligation (2004)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 20-49: 2,792,770
females age 20-49: 2,849,519 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 20-49: 2,338,428
females age 20-49: 2,380,327 (2005 est.)
Manpower reaching military service age annually:
males age 18-49: 133,922
females age 20-49: 129,758 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$650 million (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
2% (2005 est.)
Transnational Issues Ecuador
Disputes - international:
organized illegal narcotics operations in Colombia penetrate across
Ecuador's shared border and caused over 20,000 refugees to flee into
Ecuador in 2004
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin): 9,851 (Colombia), note - UNHCR
estimates as many as 250,000 Columbians are seeking asylum in
Ecuador, many of whom do not register as refugees for fear of
deportation (2006)
Illicit drugs:
significant transit country for cocaine originating in Colombia and
Peru; importer of precursor chemicals used in production of illicit
narcotics; attractive location for cash-placement by drug
traffickers laundering money because of dollarization and weak
anti-money-laundering regime; increased activity on the northern
frontier by trafficking groups and Colombian insurgents