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)

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