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Armed forces growth	-57		[121st of 132]
Armed forces personnel	39,000		[78th of 166]
DEFINITION: Total armed forces (2000)
SOURCE: calculated on the basis of data on armed forces from IISS (International Institute for Strategic Studies). 2001. The Military Balance 2001-2002. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Branches Belgian Armed Forces: Land Operations Command, Naval Operations Command, Air Operations Command
DEFINITION: The names of the ground, naval, air, marine, and other defense or security forces
SOURCE: IISS (International Institute for Strategic Studies). 2001. The Military Balance 2001-2002. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Conscription Conscription was abolished as of 1 January 1994 under the so-called Delacroix Bill of 6 July 1993 (WRI).
DEFINITION: A description of the status of conscription in the nation in 1997.
SOURCE: All CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 18 December 2008
Conventional arms imports	$12,000,000.00		[71st of 85]
DEFINITION: Conventional arms transfers (1990 prices) - Imports (US$ millions) Refers to the voluntary transfer by the supplier (and thus excludes captured weapons and weapons obtained through defectors) of weapons with a military purpose destined for the armed forces, paramilitary forces or intelligence agencies of another country. These include major conventional weapons or systems in six categories: ships, aircraft, missiles, artillery, armoured vehicles and guidance and radar systems (excluded are trucks, services, ammunition, small arms, support items, components and component technology and towed or naval artillery under 100-millimetre calibre).
SOURCE: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, Switzerland, 1997. Data collected from the nations concerned, unless otherwise indicated. Acronyms: Amnesty International (AI); European Council of Conscripts Organizations (ECCO); Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC); International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHFHR); National Interreligious Service Board for Conscientious Objectors (NISBCO); Service, Peace and Justice in Latin America (SERPAJ); War Resisters International (WRI); World Council of Churches (WCC)
expenditure > % of GDP	1.24 %		[78th of 145]
DEFINITION: Military expenditures data from SIPRI are derived from the NATO definition, which includes all current and capital expenditures on the armed forces, including peacekeeping forces; defense ministries and other government agencies engaged in defense projects; paramilitary forces, if these are judged to be trained and equipped for military operations; and military space activities. Such expenditures include military and civil personnel, including retirement pensions of military personnel and social services for personnel; operation and maintenance; procurement; military research and development; and military aid (in the military expenditures of the donor country). Excluded are civil defense and current expenditures for previous military activities, such as for veterans' benefits, demobilization, conversion, and destruction of weapons. This definition cannot be applied for all countries, however, since that would require much more detailed information than is available about what is included in military budgets and off-budget military expenditure items. (For example, military budgets might or might not cover civil defense, reserves and auxiliary forces, police and paramilitary forces, dual-purpose forces such as military and civilian police, military grants in kind, pensions for military personnel, and social security contributions paid by one part of government to another.)		View time series
SOURCE: SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute). 2005. SIPRI Arms Transfers. Database. February. Stockholm.
Expenditures > Dollar figure	$3,999,000,000.00		[21st of 111]
DEFINITION: Current military expenditures in US dollars; the figure is calculated by multiplying the estimated defense spending in percentage terms by the gross domestic product (GDP) calculated on an exchange rate basis not purchasing power parity (PPP) terms. Dollar figures for military expenditures should be treated with caution because of different price patterns and accounting methods among nations, as well as wide variations in the strength of their currencies		View time series
SOURCE: World Development Indicators database
Forces in Europe > Aircraft	128		[16th of 24]
DEFINITION: Conventional armed forces in Europe. SIPRI Yearbooks 1991-2003. Conventional arms control. Last update: July 2004
SOURCE: All CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 18 December 2008
Forces in Europe > Battle Tanks	143		[23rd of 24]
DEFINITION: Conventional armed forces in Europe. SIPRI Yearbooks 1991-2003. Conventional arms control. Last update: July 2006
SOURCE: Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE): A Review and Update of Key Treaty Elements (US Department of State: Washington, DC, Jan. 2002). Joint Consultative Group (JCG), Group on Treaty Operation and Implementation, JCG document JCG.TOI/22/03, 23 June 2003
Forces in Europe > Helicopters	46		[11th of 22]
DEFINITION: Conventional armed forces in Europe. SIPRI Yearbooks 1991-2003. Conventional arms control. Last update: July 2007
SOURCE: Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE): A Review and Update of Key Treaty Elements (US Department of State: Washington, DC, Jan. 2002). Joint Consultative Group (JCG), Group on Treaty Operation and Implementation, JCG document JCG.TOI/22/03, 23 June 2003
Gulf War Coalition Forces	400		[21st of 30]
DEFINITION: Number of troops who served on active duty in the Gulf War theater of operations between August 2, 1990, and June 13, 1991.
SOURCE: Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE): A Review and Update of Key Treaty Elements (US Department of State: Washington, DC, Jan. 2002). Joint Consultative Group (JCG), Group on Treaty Operation and Implementation, JCG document JCG.TOI/22/03, 23 June 2003
Manpower > Availability > Males age 15-49	2,497,420		[77th of 175]
DEFINITION: The total numbers of males aged 15-49. This statistic assumes that every individual is fit to serve.
SOURCE: "Gulf War Veterans: Measuring Health" by Lyla M. Hernandez, Jane S. Durch, Dan G. Blazer II, and Isabel V. Hoverman, Editors; Committee on Measuring the Health of Gulf War Veterans, Institute of Medicine. Published by The National Academies Press 1999
personnel	37,000		[83rd of 170]
DEFINITION: Armed forces personnel are active duty military personnel, including paramilitary forces if the training, organization, equipment, and control suggest they may be used to support or replace regular military forces.		View time series
SOURCE: CIA World Factbook, 28 July 2005
personnel > % of total labor force	0.82 %		[91st of 168]
DEFINITION: Armed forces personnel are active duty military personnel, including paramilitary forces if the training, organization, equipment, and control suggest they may be used to support or replace regular military forces. Labor force comprises all people who meet the International Labour Organization's definition of the economically active population.		View time series
SOURCE: World Development Indicators database
Service age and obligation 18 years of age for voluntary military service; conscription suspended
DEFINITION: This entry gives the required ages for voluntary or conscript military service and the length of sevice obligation.		View time series
SOURCE: World Development Indicators database
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier > National examples > Description The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the base of the location.
DEFINITION:
SOURCE: All CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 18 December 2008
Weapon holdings	793,000		[72nd of 137]
SOURCE: Wikipedia: Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
WWII > Jew killed	40,000		[9th of 14]
DEFINITION: "The War Against the Jews" by Lucy Dawidowicz. Dawidowicz researched birth and death records in many cities of prewar Europe to come up with a death toll of 5,933,900 Jews. Some historians consider this number an underestimate since many records were lost during the war, and since many births and deaths were not recorded in small towns and villages.
SOURCE: Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC)
WWII > Jewish population before war	65,000		[9th of 16]
DEFINITION: "The War Against the Jews" by Lucy Dawidowicz
SOURCE: Wikipedia: The War Against the Jews
WWII > Percent of Jew killed	60		[7th of 14]
DEFINITION: "The War Against the Jews" by Lucy Dawidowicz. Dawidowicz researched birth and death records in many cities of prewar Europe to come up with a death toll of 5,933,900 Jews. Some historians consider this number an underestimate since many records were lost during the war, and since many births and deaths were not recorded in small towns and villages.
SOURCE: Wikipedia: The War Against the Jews

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