The 2008 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency

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СКАЧАТЬ years of age for voluntary military service; laws allow for conscription only if volunteers are insufficient; conscription has never been implemented; volunteers typically outnumber available positions by 3:1 (2008)

      Manpower available for military service:

      males age 16–49: 74,605 females age 16–49: 72,926 (2008 est.)

      Manpower fit for military service:

      males age 16–49: 54,627 females age 16–49: 53,500 (2008 est.)

      Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:

      male: 3,580 female: 3,449 (2008 est.)

      Military expenditures:

      1.4% of GDP (2006)

      Transnational Issues

       Belize

      Disputes - international:

      OAS-initiated Agreement on the Framework for Negotiations and Confidence Building Measures saw cooperation in repatriation of Guatemalan squatters and other areas, but Guatemalan land and maritime claims in Belize and the Caribbean Sea remain unresolved; the Line of Adjacency created under the 2002 Differendum serves in lieu of the contiguous international boundary to control squatting in the sparsely inhabited rain forests of Belize's border region; Honduras claims Belizean-administered Sapodilla Cays in its constitution but agreed to a joint ecological park under the Differendum

      Illicit drugs:

      transshipment point for cocaine; small-scale illicit producer of cannabis, primarily for local consumption; money-laundering activity related to narcotics trafficking and offshore sector

      This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008

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      @Benin

      Introduction

       Benin

      Background:

      Present day Benin was the site of Dahomey, a prominent West African kingdom that rose in the 15th century. The territory became a French Colony in 1872 and achieved independence on 1 August 1960, as the Republic of Benin. A succession of military governments ended in 1972 with the rise to power of Mathieu KEREKOU and the establishment of a government based on Marxist-Leninist principles. A move to representative government began in 1989. Two years later, free elections ushered in former Prime Minister Nicephore SOGLO as president, marking the first successful transfer of power in Africa from a dictatorship to a democracy. KEREKOU was returned to power by elections held in 1996 and 2001, though some irregularities were alleged. KEREKOU stepped down at the end of his second term in 2006 and was succeeded by Thomas YAYI Boni, a political outsider and independent. YAYI has begun a high profile fight against corruption and has strongly promoted accelerating Benin's economic growth.

      Geography

       Benin

      Location:

      Western Africa, bordering the Bight of Benin, between Nigeria and

       Togo

      Geographic coordinates:

      9 30 N, 2 15 E

      Map references:

      Africa

      Area:

      total: 112,620 sq km land: 110,620 sq km water: 2,000 sq km

      Area - comparative:

      slightly smaller than Pennsylvania

      Land boundaries:

      total: 1,989 km border countries: Burkina Faso 306 km, Niger 266 km, Nigeria 773 km, Togo 644 km

      Coastline:

      121 km

      Maritime claims:

      territorial sea: 200 nm

      Climate:

      tropical; hot, humid in south; semiarid in north

      Terrain:

      mostly flat to undulating plain; some hills and low mountains

      Elevation extremes:

      lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Mont Sokbaro 658 m

      Natural resources:

      small offshore oil deposits, limestone, marble, timber

      Land use:

      arable land: 23.53% permanent crops: 2.37% other: 74.1% (2005)

      Irrigated land:

      120 sq km (2003)

      Total renewable water resources:

      25.8 cu km (2001)

      Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):

      total: 0.13 cu km/yr (32%/23%/45%) per capita: 15 cu m/yr (2001)

      Natural hazards:

      hot, dry, dusty harmattan wind may affect north from December to March

      Environment - current issues:

      inadequate supplies of potable water; poaching threatens wildlife populations; deforestation; desertification

      Environment - international agreements:

      party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

      Geography - note:

      sandbanks create difficult access to a coast with no natural harbors, river mouths, or islands

      People

       Benin

      Population:

      8,532,547 note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2008 est.)

      Age structure:

      0–14 years: 45.5% (male 1,978,897/female 1,901,005) 15–64 years: 51.9% (male 2,195,667/female 2,236,458) 65 years and over: 2.6% (male 91,213/female 129,307) (2008 est.)

      Median СКАЧАТЬ