Belize
Military: Belize
Military branches:
Belize Defense Force (BDF): Army, BDF Air Wing (includes Special Boat Unit), BDF Volunteer Guard (2011)
Military service age and obligation:
18 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; initial service obligation 12 years (2012)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 16-49: 81,284
females age 16-49: 79,185 (2010 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16-49: 59,431
females age 16-49: 57,221 (2010 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:
male: 3,723
female: 3,584 (2010 est.)
Military expenditures:
country comparison to the world: 118
Transnational Issues: Belize
Disputes - international:
Guatemala persists in its territorial claim to half of Belize, but agrees to the Line of Adjacency to keep Guatemalan squatters out of Belize's forested interior; both countries agreed in April 2012 to hold simultaneous referenda, scheduled for 6 October 2013, to decide whether to refer the dispute to the ICJ for binding resolution; Belize and Mexico are working to solve minor border demarcation discrepancies arising from inaccuracies in the 1898 border treaty
Illicit drugs:
transshipment point for cocaine; small-scale illicit producer of cannabis, primarily for local consumption; offshore sector money-laundering activity related to narcotics trafficking and other crimes (2008)
