Part 613

Military branches: Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force

Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age

Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 1,027,630 (1997 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service: males: 632,433 (1997 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males : 49,552 (1997 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $27.48 million (1996)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.35% (1996)

Transnational Issues

Disputes - international: territorial disputes with Colombia over the Archipelago de San Andres y Providencia and Quita Sueno Bank; with respect to the maritime boundary question in the Golfo de Fonseca, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) referred the disputants to an earlier agreement in this century and advised that some tripartite resolution among El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua likely would be required; maritime boundary dispute with Honduras

Illicit drugs: transshipment point for cocaine destined for the US ______________________________________________________________________

NIGER

@Niger:Geography

Location: Western Africa, southeast of Algeria

Geographic coordinates: 16 00 N, 8 00 E

Map references: Africa

Area: total: 1.267 million sq km land: 1,266,700 sq km water : 300 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly less than twice the size of Texas

Land boundaries: total : 5,697 km border countries: Algeria 956 km, Benin 266 km, Burkina Faso 628 km, Chad 1,175 km, Libya 354 km, Mali 821 km, Nigeria 1,497 km

Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims: none (landlocked)

Climate: desert; mostly hot, dry, dusty; tropical in extreme south

Terrain: predominately desert plains and sand dunes; flat to rolling plains in south; hills in north

Elevation extremes: lowest point : Niger River 200 m highest point: Mont Greboun 1,944 m

Natural resources: uranium, coal, iron ore, tin, phosphates

Land use: arable land: 3% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 7% forests and woodland: 2% other: 88% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 660 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: recurring droughts

Environment - current issues: overgrazing; soil erosion; deforestation; desertification; wildlife populations (such as elephant, hippopotamus, and lion) threatened because of poaching and habitat destruction