males age 16-49: 5,062
females age 16-49: 4,772 (2010 est.)
Tuvalu
males age 16-49: 1,981
females age 16-49: 2,005 (2010 est.)
Uganda
males age 16-49: 4,138,180
females age 16-49: 4,028,125 (2010 est.)
Ukraine
males age 16-49: 6,970,035
females age 16-49: 9,015,224 (2010 est.)
United Arab Emirates
males age 16-49: 2,157,211
females age 16-49: 816,363 (2010 est.)
United Kingdom
males age 16-49: 12,113,310
females age 16-49: 11,604,784 (2010 est.)
United States
males age 16-49: 60,388,734
females age 16-49: 59,217,809 (2010 est.)
Uruguay
males age 16-49: 713,223
females age 16-49: 697,197 (2010 est.)
Uzbekistan
males age 16-49: 6,456,675
females age 16-49: 6,658,475 (2010 est.)
Vanuatu
males age 16-49: 42,450
females age 16-49: 43,894 (2010 est.)
Venezuela
males age 16-49: 5,504,152
females age 16-49: 5,976,339 (2010 est.)
Vietnam
males age 16-49: 20,153,269
females age 16-49: 20,980,830 (2010 est.)
Virgin Islands
males age 16-49: 17,675
females age 16-49: 21,070 (2010 est.)
Wallis and Futuna
males age 16-49: 3,326
females age 16-49: 3,305 (2010 est.)
West Bank
males age 16-49: 562,570
females age 16-49: 531,532 (2010 est.)
Western Sahara
males age 16-49: 76,483
females age 16-49: 83,988 (2010 est.)
Yemen
males age 16-49: 3,902,186
females age 16-49: 3,952,370 (2010 est.)
Zambia
males age 16-49: 1,401,481
females age 16-49: 1,274,583 (2010 est.)
Zimbabwe
males age 16-49: 1,327,894
females age 16-49: 1,525,815 (2010 est.)
======================================================================
@2026
Field Listing :: Manpower reaching militarily significant age
annually
This entry gives the number of males and females entering the
military manpower pool (i.e., reaching age 16) in any given year and
is a measure of the availability of military-age young adults.
Country
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually
Afghanistan
male: 378,996
female: 357,822 (2010 est.)
Albania
male: 35,249
female: 31,855 (2010 est.)
Algeria
male: 365,503
female: 352,009 (2010 est.)
American Samoa
male: 810
female: 796 (2010 est.)
Andorra
male: 396
female: 350 (2010 est.)
Angola
male: 151,237
female: 147,919 (2010 est.)
Anguilla
male: 111
female: 111 (2010 est.)
Antigua and Barbuda
male: 763
female: 758 (2010 est.)
Argentina
male: 340,570
female: 323,953 (2010 est.)
Armenia
male: 24,611
female: 22,682 (2010 est.)
Aruba
male: 738
female: 715 (2010 est.)
Australia
male: 144,232
female: 136,525 (2010 est.)
Austria
male: 49,455
female: 47,046 (2010 est.)
Azerbaijan
male: 84,441
female: 78,905 (2010 est.)
Bahamas, The
male: 2,840
female: 2,758 (2010 est.)
Bahrain
male: 6,590
female: 6,475 (2010 est.)
Bangladesh
male: 1,550,385
female: 1,676,137 (2010 est.)
Barbados
male: 1,897
female: 1,884 (2010 est.)
Belarus
male: 55,758
female: 52,572 (2010 est.)
Belgium
male: 60,726
female: 57,882 (2010 est.)
Belize
male: 3,678
female: 3,543 (2010 est.)
Benin
male: 105,468
female: 101,603 (2010 est.)
Bermuda
male: 436
female: 397 (2010 est.)
Bhutan
male: 7,432
female: 7,153 (2010 est.)
Bolivia
male: 108,336
female: 104,934 (2010 est.)
Bosnia and Herzegovina
male: 26,134
female: 24,518 (2010 est.)
Botswana
male: 23,496
female: 22,944 (2010 est.)
Brazil
male: 1,712,427
female: 1,652,491 (2010 est.)
British Virgin Islands
male: 174
female: 167 (2010 est.)
Brunei
male: 3,509
female: 3,427 (2010 est.)
Bulgaria
male: 35,604
female: 34,199 (2010 est.)
Burkina Faso
male: 188,394
female: 185,975 (2010 est.)
Burma
male: 526,557
female: 510,538 (2010 est.)
Burundi
male: 111,829
female: 111,802 (2010 est.)
Cambodia
male: 168,519
female: 166,418 (2010 est.)
Cameroon
male: 213,538
female: 209,549 (2010 est.)
Canada
male: 220,538
female: 208,033 (2010 est.)
Cape Verde
male: 6,077
female: 6,075 (2010 est.)
Cayman Islands
male: 326
female: 347 (2010 est.)
Central African Republic
male: 54,024
female: 53,203 (2010 est.)
Chad
male: 125,073
female: 125,069 (2010 est.)
Chile
male: 143,778
female: 138,058 (2010 est.)
China
male: 10,699,186
female: 9,460,217 (2010 est.)
Colombia
male: 432,280
female: 416,051 (2010 est.)
Comoros
male: 8,519
female: 8,498 (2010 est.)
Congo, Democratic Republic of the
male: 842,020
female: 839,044 (2010 est.)
Congo, Republic of the
male: 48,365
female: 47,874 (2010 est.)
Cook Islands
male: 136
female: 115 (2010 est.)
Costa Rica
male: 42,486
female: 40,745 (2010 est.)
Cote d'Ivoire
male: 240,989
female: 237,180 (2010 est.)
Croatia
male: 27,670
female: 26,503 (2010 est.)
Cuba
male: 74,084
female: 70,445 (2010 est.)
Cyprus
male: 8,317
female: 7,542 (2010 est.)
Czech Republic
male: 55,139
female: 52,440 (2010 est.)
Denmark
male: 37,831
female: 35,930 (2010 est.)
Djibouti
male: 8,260
female: 8,503 (2010 est.)
Dominica
male: 729
female: 688 (2010 est.)
Dominican Republic
male: 98,394
female: 94,576 (2010 est.)
Ecuador
male: 150,296
female: 145,184 (2010 est.)
Egypt
male: 799,377
female: 764,602 (2010 est.)
El Salvador
male: 71,292
female: 68,821 (2010 est.)
Equatorial Guinea
male: 7,186
female: 6,920 (2010 est.)
Eritrea
male: 64,489
female: 64,476 (2010 est.)
Estonia
male: 6,945
female: 6,564 (2010 est.)
Ethiopia
male: 934,523
female: 947,103 (2010 est.)
Faroe Islands
male: 379
female: 368 (2010 est.)
Fiji
male: 9,131
female: 8,776 (2010 est.)
Finland
male: 33,297
female: 32,233 (2010 est.)
France
male: 389,956
female: 372,312 (2010 est.)
French Polynesia
male: 2,592
female: 2,481 (2010 est.)
Gabon
male: 17,283
female: 17,276 (2010 est.)
Gambia, The
male: 20,858
female: 20,762 (2010 est.)
Gaza Strip
male: 18,931
female: 18,010 (2010 est.)
Georgia
male: 30,314
female: 28,299 (2010 est.)
Germany
male: 421,227
female: 398,809 (2010 est.)
Ghana
male: 270,993
female: 263,961 (2010 est.)
Gibraltar
male: 250
female: 233 (2010 est.)
Greece
male: 53,222
female: 49,828 (2010 est.)
Greenland
male: 511
female: 484 (2010 est.)
Grenada
male: 987
female: 1,026 (2010 est.)
Guam
male: 1,687
female: 1,597 (2010 est.)
Guatemala
male: 168,959
female: 166,414 (2010 est.)
Guernsey
male: 347
female: 350 (2010 est.)
Guinea
male: 114,353
female: 111,873 (2010 est.)
Guinea-Bissau
male: 17,300
female: 17,523 (2010 est.)
Guyana
male: 8,842
female: 8,452 (2010 est.)
Haiti
male: 110,514
female: 108,208 (2010 est.)
Honduras
male: 94,501
female: 90,757 (2010 est.)
Hong Kong
male: 41,717
female: 38,240 (2010 est.)
Hungary
male: 58,894
female: 55,922 (2010 est.)
Iceland
male: 2,318
female: 2,263 (2010 est.)
India
male: 12,011,217
female: 10,639,158 (2010 est.)
Indonesia
male: 2,227,993
female: 2,156,427 (2010 est.)
Iran
male: 636,558
female: 604,658 (2010 est.)
Iraq
male: 323,328
female: 313,360 (2010 est.)
Ireland
male: 27,987
female: 26,240 (2010 est.)
Isle of Man
male: 469
female: 449 (2010 est.)
Israel
male: 61,613
female: 58,679 (2010 est.)
Italy
male: 280,255
female: 263,336 (2010 est.)
Jamaica
male: 32,723
female: 32,098 (2010 est.)
Japan
male: 626,115
female: 593,905 (2010 est.)
Jersey
male: 594
female: 555 (2010 est.)
Jordan
male: 73,554
female: 69,359 (2010 est.)
Kazakhstan
male: 133,884
female: 127,415 (2010 est.)
Kenya
male: 417,061
female: 412,438 (2010 est.)
Kiribati
male: 1,107
female: 1,083 (2010 est.)
Korea, North
male: 184,631
female: 178,565 (2010 est.)
Korea, South
male: 370,645
female: 321,765 (2010 est.)
Kuwait
male: 19,038
female: 19,787 (2010 est.)
Kyrgyzstan
male: 56,269
female: 54,004 (2010 est.)
Laos
male: 77,910
female: 77,761 (2010 est.)
Latvia
male: 11,536
female: 11,058 (2010 est.)
Lebanon
male: 37,856
female: 36,072 (2010 est.)
Lesotho
male: 19,435
female: 20,400 (2010 est.)
Liberia
male: 33,411
female: 35,264 (2010 est.)
Libya
male: 59,842
female: 57,357 (2010 est.)
Liechtenstein
male: 209
female: 208 (2010 est.)
Lithuania
male: 21,606
female: 20,536 (2010 est.)
Luxembourg
male: 3,211
female: 3,057 (2010 est.)
Macau
male: 4,488
female: 3,900 (2010 est.)
Macedonia
male: 15,338
female: 14,445 (2010 est.)
Madagascar
male: 242,334
female: 241,359 (2010 est.)
Malawi
male: 177,376
female: 176,905 (2010 est.)
Malaysia
male: 267,646
female: 253,529 (2010 est.)
Maldives
male: 4,369
female: 3,765 (2010 est.)
Mali
male: 153,198
female: 154,762 (2010 est.)
Malta
male: 2,570
female: 2,410 (2010 est.)
Marshall Islands
male: 602
female: 580 (2010 est.)
Mauritania
male: 35,322
female: 36,035 (2010 est.)
Mauritius
male: 10,565
female: 10,447 (2010 est.)
Mayotte
male: 2,627
female: 2,619 (2010 est.)
Mexico
male: 1,108,032
female: 1,069,885 (2010 est.)
Micronesia, Federated States of
male: 1,270
female: 1,221 (2010 est.)
Moldova
male: 30,012
female: 28,450 (2010 est.)
Monaco
male: 147
female: 133 (2010 est.)
Mongolia
male: 29,240
female: 28,156 (2010 est.)
Montenegro
male: 3,407
female: 3,741 (2010 est.)
Montserrat
male: 38
female: 36 (2010 est.)
Morocco
male: 300,262
female: 298,227 (2010 est.)
Mozambique
male: 272,922
female: 272,062 (2010 est.)
Namibia
male: 26,152
female: 25,790 (2010 est.)
Nauru
male: 174
female: 168 (2010 est.)
Nepal
male: 374,882
female: 361,848 (2010 est.)
Netherlands
male: 104,694
female: 99,874 (2010 est.)
New Caledonia
male: 2,138
female: 2,061 (2010 est.)
New Zealand
male: 30,956
female: 29,236 (2010 est.)
Nicaragua
male: 71,171
female: 68,948 (2010 est.)
Niger
male: 177,985
female: 172,180 (2010 est.)
Nigeria
male: 1,731,734
female: 1,652,632 (2010 est.)
Northern Mariana Islands
male: 430
female: 346 (2010 est.)
Norway
male: 32,045
female: 30,610 (2010 est.)
Oman
male: 31,827
female: 30,148 (2010 est.)
Pakistan
male: 2,144,574
female: 2,000,479 (2010 est.)
Palau
male: 212
female: 218 (2010 est.)
Panama
male: 31,398
female: 30,182 (2010 est.)
Papua New Guinea
male: 66,139
female: 64,244 (2010 est.)
Paraguay
male: 72,455
female: 70,910 (2010 est.)
Peru
male: 312,375
female: 302,452 (2010 est.)
Philippines
male: 1,039,679
female: 1,001,448 (2010 est.)
Poland
male: 235,248
female: 224,801 (2010 est.)
Portugal
male: 62,628
female: 55,737 (2010 est.)
Puerto Rico
male: 30,616
female: 29,196 (2010 est.)
Qatar
male: 6,403
female: 5,144 (2010 est.)
Romania
male: 121,391
female: 115,258 (2010 est.)
Russia
male: 712,838
female: 678,623 (2010 est.)
Rwanda
male: 98,164
female: 97,839 (2010 est.)
Saint Barthelemy
male: 21
female: 21 (2010 est.)
Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha
male: 48
female: 47 (2010 est.)
Saint Kitts and Nevis
male: 402
female: 430 (2010 est.)
Saint Lucia
male: 1,627
female: 1,521 (2010 est.)
Saint Martin
male: 172
female: 165 (2010 est.)
Saint Pierre and Miquelon
male: 36
female: 34 (2010 est.)
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
male: 990
female: 979 (2010 est.)
Samoa
male: 2,219
female: 2,058 (2010 est.)
San Marino
male: 176
female: 164 (2010 est.)
Sao Tome and Principe
male: 1,997
female: 1,922 (2010 est.)
Saudi Arabia
male: 280,041
female: 269,580 (2010 est.)
Senegal
male: 157,468
female: 156,689 (2010 est.)
Serbia
male: 43,925
female: 41,342 (2010 est.)
Seychelles
male: 704
female: 672 (2010 est.)
Sierra Leone
male: 53,349
female: 56,307 (2010 est.)
Singapore
male: 27,430
female: 25,918 (2010 est.)
Slovakia
male: 33,915
female: 32,448 (2010 est.)
Slovenia
male: 9,979
female: 9,610 (2010 est.)
Solomon Islands
male: 7,256
female: 6,995 (2010 est.)
Somalia
male: 99,919
female: 99,771 (2010 est.)
South Africa
male: 492,743
female: 496,374 (2010 est.)
Spain
male: 193,038
female: 181,703 (2010 est.)
Sri Lanka
male: 172,081
female: 166,358 (2010 est.)
Sudan
male: 506,742
female: 487,434 (2010 est.)
Suriname
male: 4,046
female: 4,056 (2010 est.)
Swaziland
male: 16,024
female: 15,630 (2010 est.)
Sweden
male: 58,937
female: 56,225 (2010 est.)
Switzerland
male: 47,043
female: 43,033 (2010 est.)
Syria
male: 253,578
female: 241,777 (2010 est.)
Taiwan
male: 166,141
female: 155,070 (2010 est.)
Tajikistan
male: 77,585
female: 75,201 (2010 est.)
Tanzania
male: 498,815
female: 500,941 (2010 est.)
Thailand
male: 535,884
female: 511,444 (2010 est.)
Timor-Leste
male: 12,795
female: 12,443 (2010 est.)
Togo
male: 71,081
female: 69,969 (2010 est.)
Tonga
male: 1,448
female: 1,392 (2010 est.)
Trinidad and Tobago
male: 8,572
female: 7,966 (2010 est.)
Tunisia
male: 96,697
female: 90,599 (2010 est.)
Turkey
male: 695,326
female: 666,026 (2010 est.)
Turkmenistan
male: 55,805
female: 54,908 (2010 est.)
Turks and Caicos Islands
male: 229
female: 223 (2010 est.)
Tuvalu
male: 120
female: 110 (2010 est.)
Uganda
male: 412,640
female: 408,521 (2010 est.)
Ukraine
male: 256,196
female: 244,473 (2010 est.)
United Arab Emirates
male: 27,256
female: 24,305 (2010 est.)
United Kingdom
male: 386,492
female: 369,185 (2010 est.)
United States
male: 2,174,260
female: 2,065,595 (2010 est.)
Uruguay
male: 27,631
female: 26,703 (2010 est.)
Uzbekistan
male: 306,743
female: 299,264 (2010 est.)
Vanuatu
male: 2,346
female: 2,249 (2010 est.)
Venezuela
male: 276,612
female: 273,819 (2010 est.)
Vietnam
male: 877,075
female: 816,076 (2010 est.)
Virgin Islands
male: 805
female: 849 (2010 est.)
Wallis and Futuna
male: 178
female: 153 (2010 est.)
West Bank
male: 30,547
female: 29,062 (2010 est.)
Western Sahara
male: 5,376
female: 5,280 (2010 est.)
Yemen
male: 279,283
female: 269,824 (2010 est.)
Zambia
male: 151,586
female: 150,839 (2010 est.)
Zimbabwe
male: 155,117
female: 152,875 (2010 est.)
======================================================================
@2028
Field Listing :: Background
This entry usually highlights major historic events and current
issues and may include a statement about one or two key future
trends.
Country
Background
Afghanistan
Ahmad Shah DURRANI unified the Pashtun tribes and
founded Afghanistan in 1747. The country served as a buffer between
the British and Russian Empires until it won independence from
notional British control in 1919. A brief experiment in democracy
ended in a 1973 coup and a 1978 Communist counter-coup. The Soviet
Union invaded in 1979 to support the tottering Afghan Communist
regime, touching off a long and destructive war. The USSR withdrew
in 1989 under relentless pressure by internationally supported
anti-Communist mujahedin rebels. A series of subsequent civil wars
saw Kabul finally fall in 1996 to the Taliban, a hardline
Pakistani-sponsored movement that emerged in 1994 to end the
country's civil war and anarchy. Following the 11 September 2001
terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., a US,
Allied, and anti-Taliban Northern Alliance military action toppled
the Taliban for sheltering Osama BIN LADIN. The UN-sponsored Bonn
Conference in 2001 established a process for political
reconstruction that included the adoption of a new constitution, a
presidential election in 2004, and National Assembly elections in
2005. In December 2004, Hamid KARZAI became the first democratically
elected president of Afghanistan and the National Assembly was
inaugurated the following December. Karzai was re-elected in August
2009 for a second term. Despite gains toward building a stable
central government, a resurgent Taliban and continuing provincial
instability - particularly in the south and the east - remain
serious challenges for the Afghan Government.
Akrotiri
By terms of the 1960 Treaty of Establishment that created
the independent Republic of Cyprus, the UK retained full sovereignty
and jurisdiction over two areas of almost 254 square kilometers -
Akrotiri and Dhekelia. The southernmost and smallest of these is the
Akrotiri Sovereign Base Area, which is also referred to as the
Western Sovereign Base Area.
Albania
Albania declared its independence from the Ottoman Empire in
1912, but was conquered by Italy in 1939. Communist partisans took
over the country in 1944. Albania allied itself first with the USSR
(until 1960), and then with China (to 1978). In the early 1990s,
Albania ended 46 years of xenophobic Communist rule and established
a multiparty democracy. The transition has proven challenging as
successive governments have tried to deal with high unemployment,
widespread corruption, a dilapidated physical infrastructure,
powerful organized crime networks, and combative political
opponents. Albania has made progress in its democratic development
since first holding multiparty elections in 1991, but deficiencies
remain. International observers judged elections to be largely free
and fair since the restoration of political stability following the
collapse of pyramid schemes in 1997; however, there have been claims
of electoral fraud in every one of Albania's post-communist
elections. In the 2005 general elections, the Democratic Party and
its allies won a decisive victory on pledges to reduce crime and
corruption, promote economic growth, and decrease the size of
government. The election, and particularly the orderly transition of
power, was considered an important step forward. Albania joined NATO
in April 2009 and is a potential candidate for EU accession.
Although Albania's economy continues to grow, the country is still
one of the poorest in Europe, hampered by a large informal economy
and an inadequate energy and transportation infrastructure.
Algeria
After more than a century of rule by France, Algerians
fought through much of the 1950s to achieve independence in 1962.
Algeria's primary political party, the National Liberation Front
(FLN), was established in 1954 as part of the struggle for
independence and has largely dominated politics since. The
Government of Algeria in 1988 instituted a multi-party system in
response to public unrest, but the surprising first round success of
the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) in the December 1991 balloting
spurred the Algerian army to intervene and postpone the second round
of elections to prevent what the secular elite feared would be an
extremist-led government from assuming power. The army began a
crackdown on the FIS that spurred FIS supporters to begin attacking
government targets, and fighting escalated into an insurgency, which
saw intense violence between 1992-98 resulting in over 100,000
deaths - many attributed to indiscriminate massacres of villagers by
extremists. The government gained the upper hand by the late-1990s,
and FIS's armed wing, the Islamic Salvation Army, disbanded in
January 2000. Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA, with the backing of the
military, won the presidency in 1999 in an election widely viewed as
fraudulent, was reelected to a second term in 2004, and
overwhelmingly won a third term in 2009 after the government amended
the constitution in 2008 to remove presidential term limits.
Longstanding problems continue to face BOUTEFLIKA, including
large-scale unemployment, a shortage of housing, unreliable
electrical and water supplies, government inefficiencies and
corruption, and the continuing activities of extremist militants.
The Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) in 2006 merged
with al-Qai'da to form al-Qai'da in the Lands of the Islamic
Maghreb, which has launched an ongoing series of kidnappings and
bombings targeting the Algerian Government and Western interests.
American Samoa
Settled as early as 1000 B.C., Samoa was "discovered"
by European explorers in the 18th century. International rivalries
in the latter half of the 19th century were settled by an 1899
treaty in which Germany and the US divided the Samoan archipelago.
The US formally occupied its portion - a smaller group of eastern
islands with the excellent harbor of Pago Pago - the following year.
Andorra
For 715 years, from 1278 to 1993, Andorrans lived under a
unique co-principality, ruled by French and Spanish leaders (from
1607 onward, the French chief of state and the Spanish bishop of Seu
d'Urgell). In 1993, this feudal system was modified with the titular
heads of state retained, but the government transformed into a
parliamentary democracy. For decades Andorra enjoyed its status as a
small refuge of fiscal and banking freedom and benefitted from
Spanish and French tourists attracted to the country's duty-free
shopping. The situation has changed in recent years as Andorra
started to tax foreign investment and other sectors. Tourism
accounts for over 80% of Andorra's gross domestic product.
Angola
Angola is rebuilding its country after the end of a 27-year
civil war in 2002. Fighting between the Popular Movement for the
Liberation of Angola (MPLA), led by Jose Eduardo DOS SANTOS, and the
National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), led by
Jonas SAVIMBI, followed independence from Portugal in 1975. Peace
seemed imminent in 1992 when Angola held national elections, but
fighting picked up again by 1996. Up to 1.5 million lives may have
been lost - and 4 million people displaced - in the quarter century
of fighting. SAVIMBI's death in 2002 ended UNITA's insurgency and
strengthened the MPLA's hold on power. President DOS SANTOS held
legislative elections in September 2008 and, despite promising to
hold presidential elections in 2009, has since made a presidential
poll contingent on the drafting of a new constitution.
Anguilla
Colonized by English settlers from Saint Kitts in 1650,
Anguilla was administered by Great Britain until the early 19th
century, when the island - against the wishes of the inhabitants -
was incorporated into a single British dependency along with Saint
Kitts and Nevis. Several attempts at separation failed. In 1971, two
years after a revolt, Anguilla was finally allowed to secede; this
arrangement was formally recognized in 1980 with Anguilla becoming a
separate British dependency.
Antarctica
Speculation over the existence of a "southern land" was
not confirmed until the early 1820s when British and American
commercial operators and British and Russian national expeditions
began exploring the Antarctic Peninsula region and other areas south
of the Antarctic Circle. Not until 1840 was it established that
Antarctica was indeed a continent and not just a group of islands or
an area of ocean. Several exploration "firsts" were achieved in the
early 20th century, but generally the area saw little human
activity. Following World War II, however, there was an upsurge in
scientific research on the continent. A number of countries have set
up a range of year-round and seasonal stations, camps, and refuges
to support scientific research in Antarctica. Seven have made
territorial claims, but not all countries recognize these claims. In
order to form a legal framework for the activities of nations on the
continent, an Antarctic Treaty was negotiated that neither denies
nor gives recognition to existing territorial claims; signed in
1959, it entered into force in 1961.
Antigua and Barbuda
The Siboney were the first to inhabit the
islands of Antigua and Barbuda in 2400 B.C., but Arawak Indians
populated the islands when COLUMBUS landed on his second voyage in
1493. Early settlements by the Spanish and French were succeeded by
the English who formed a colony in 1667. Slavery, established to run
the sugar plantations on Antigua, was abolished in 1834. The islands
became an independent state within the British Commonwealth of
Nations in 1981.
Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean is the smallest of the world's five
oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and
the recently delimited Southern Ocean). The Northwest Passage (US
and Canada) and Northern Sea Route (Norway and Russia) are two
important seasonal waterways. In recent years the polar ice pack has
thinned allowing for increased navigation and raising the
possibility of future sovereignty and shipping disputes among
countries bordering the Arctic Ocean.