Part 883

Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49 : 5,997,099 (1997 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service: males: 4,333,497 (1997 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 238,650 (1997 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $902 million (1996)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.4% (1996)

Transnational Issues

Disputes - international: claims all of Guyana west of the Essequibo River; maritime boundary dispute with Colombia in the Gulf of Venezuela

Illicit drugs: illicit producer of cannabis, opium, and coca leaf for the international drug trade on a small scale; however, large quantities of cocaine and heroin transit the country from Colombia; important money-laundering hub; active aerial eradication program primarily targeting opium ______________________________________________________________________

VIETNAM

@Vietnam:Geography

Location: Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, Gulf of Tonkin, and South China Sea, between China and Cambodia

Geographic coordinates: 16 00 N, 106 00 E

Map references: Southeast Asia

Area: total: 329,560 sq km land: 325,360 sq km water : 4,200 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly larger than New Mexico

Land boundaries: total: 4,639 km border countries: Cambodia 1,228 km, China 1,281 km, Laos 2,130 km

Coastline: 3,444 km (excludes islands)

Maritime claims: contiguous zone : 24 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin exclusive economic zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: tropical in south; monsoonal in north with hot, rainy season (mid-May to mid-September) and warm, dry season (mid-October to mid-March)

Terrain: low, flat delta in south and north; central highlands; hilly, mountainous in far north and northwest

Elevation extremes: lowest point: South China Sea 0 m highest point: Ngoc Linh 3,143 m

Natural resources: phosphates, coal, manganese, bauxite, chromate, offshore oil and gas deposits, forests

Land use: arable land: 17% permanent crops: 4% permanent pastures : 1% forests and woodland: 30% other: 48% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 18,600 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: occasional typhoons (May to January) with extensive flooding

Environment - current issues: logging and slash-and-burn agricultural practices contribute to deforestation and soil degradation; water pollution and overfishing threaten marine life populations; groundwater contamination limits potable water supply; growing urban industrialization and population migration are rapidly degrading environment in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City

Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Nuclear Test Ban

@Vietnam:People