Eritrea:
Military & Transnational Issues


Military branches	Definition Eritrean Armed Forces: Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force (2008)
Military service age and obligation	Definition 18-40 years of age for male and female voluntary and compulsory military service; 16-month conscript service obligation (2006)
Manpower available for military service	Definition males age 16-49: 1,108,836 females age 16-49: 1,096,120 (2008 est.)
Manpower fit for military service	Definition - World rank and map males age 16-49: 715,531 females age 16-49: 731,511 (2008 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually	Definition males age 16-49: 62,504 females age 16-49: 62,153 (2008 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	Definition - World rank and map 6.3% (2006 est.)

Disputes - international	Definition Eritrea and Ethiopia agreed to abide by 2002 Ethiopia-Eritrea Boundary Commission's (EEBC) delimitation decision but, neither party responded to the revised line detailed in the November 2006 EEBC Demarcation Statement; UN Peacekeeping Mission to Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), which has monitored the 25-km-wide Temporary Security Zone in Eritrea since 2000, is extended for six months in 2007 despite Eritrean restrictions on its operations and reduced force of 17,000; Sudan accuses Eritrea of supporting eastern Sudanese rebel groups
Refugees and internally displaced persons	Definition IDPs: 32,000 (border war with Ethiopia from 1998-2000; most IDPs are near the central border region) (2007)