France
Military: France
Military branches:
Army (Armee de Terre; includes Marines, Foreign Legion, Army Light Aviation), Navy (Marine Nationale), Air Force (Armee de l'Air (AdlA); includes Air Defense) (2011)
Military service age and obligation:
17-40 years of age for male and female voluntary military service (with parental consent); no conscription; 1-year service obligation; women serve in noncombat posts (2013)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 16-49: 14,563,662
females age 16-49: 14,238,434 (2010 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16-49: 12,025,341
females age 16-49: 11,721,827 (2010 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:
male: 396,050
female: 377,839 (2010 est.)
Military expenditures:
country comparison to the world: 53
Transnational Issues: France
Disputes - international:
Madagascar claims the French territories of Bassas da India, Europa Island, Glorioso Islands, and Juan de Nova Island; Comoros claims Mayotte; Mauritius claims Tromelin Island; territorial dispute between Suriname and the French overseas department of French Guiana; France asserts a territorial claim in Antarctica (Adelie Land); France and Vanuatu claim Matthew and Hunter Islands, east of New Caledonia
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin): 23,225 (Sri Lanka); 12,666 (Cambodia); 12,585 (Democratic Republic of the Congo); 11,767 (Russia); 11,506 (Serbia); 10,887 (Turkey); 8,605 (Vietnam); 7,335 (Laos) (2012)
stateless persons: 1,210 (2012)
Illicit drugs:
metropolitan France: transshipment point for South American cocaine, Southwest Asian heroin, and European synthetics
French Guiana: small amount of marijuana grown for local consumption; minor transshipment point to Europe
Martinique: transshipment point for cocaine and marijuana bound for the US and Europe