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United Kingdom:
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Other pages in this profile of the United Kingdom:
Geography, People, Government, Economy, Communications & Transportation,
Geography, People, Government, Economy, Communications & Transportation,
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Military branches |
Army, Royal Navy (includes Royal Marines), Royal Air Force |
Military service age and obligation |
16-33 years of age (officers 17-28) for voluntary military service (with parental consent under 18); women serve in military services, but are excluded from ground combat positions and some naval postings; must be citizen of the UK, Commonwealth, or Republic of Ireland; reservists serve a minimum of 3 years, to age 45 or 55 (2007) |
Manpower available for military service |
males age 16-49: 14,607,724 females age 16-49: 14,028,738 (2005 est.) |
Manpower fit for military service |
males age 16-49: 12,046,268 females age 16-49: 11,555,893 (2005 est.) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP |
2.4% (2005 est.) |
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Disputes - international |
in 2002, Gibraltar residents voted overwhelmingly by referendum to reject any "shared sovereignty" arrangement between the UK and Spain; the Government of Gibraltar insists on equal participation in talks between the two countries; Spain disapproves of UK plans to grant Gibraltar greater autonomy; Mauritius and Seychelles claim the Chagos Archipelago (British Indian Ocean Territory), and its former inhabitants since their eviction in 1965; most Chagossians reside in Mauritius, and in 2001 were granted UK citizenship, where some have since resettled; in May 2006, the High Court of London reversed the UK Government's 2004 orders of council that banned habitation on the islands; UK rejects sovereignty talks requested by Argentina, which still claims the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; territorial claim in Antarctica (British Antarctic Territory) overlaps Argentine claim and partially overlaps Chilean claim; Iceland, the UK, and Ireland dispute Denmark's claim that the Faroe Islands' continental shelf extends beyond 200 nm |
Illicit drugs |
producer of limited amounts of synthetic drugs and synthetic precursor chemicals; major consumer of Southwest Asian heroin, Latin American cocaine, and synthetic drugs; money-laundering center |
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